{Real Parties} Monkey Love, Part II - Inside Decor

I have so many gorgeous pictures to share with you from the Monkey Love party! Ellen Johnson did a fabulous job capturing the party and literally sent me over a thousand images! Today I’m showing you pictures of the inside décor from the table arrangements, beverage station, cake and DIY ribbon backdrop.

When my client and friend, Shannon, first started working on Alexandra’s party, she came across Kelly of The Party Dress and WH Hostess and enlisted her help to create an inspiration board and all of the paper goods. The board Kelly created was beautiful and served as a great inspiration piece for Shannon and I. One of our favorite ideas from the board was to use moss throughout the party décor. I contacted one of my favorite Houston florists, Lisa Tran of Wedding Flowers by Lisa, to turn our vision into a reality. Lisa did an AMAZING job!

As guests walked up the pathway to the front door, they were surrounded by the most gorgeous ribbon moss balls hung on shepherd hooks.

The inside tables were another focal point. Each table was draped in a pink linen and held three small arrangements. I found the daintiest ceramic vases from Heart to Heart which Lisa filled with bright yellow Billy Balls, pink roses and hydrangeas in pink and green. Lisa also designed a moss cone which she adorned with pink spray roses and yellow Calla Lilies.

Shannon’s dining room is gorgeous to begin with! But we of course wanted to add to the party décor, so Wedding Flowers by Lisa created three stunning monochromatic arrangements that were set on top of a light pink satin tablecloth that adorned the table. Shannon’s buffet piece served as the table for the adorable monkey cake made by Cakes by Gina!

To highlight the area where the birthday girl would dive into her smash cake, I created a ribbon backdrop which consisted of a mixture of satin and grosgrain ribbon in all of the party colors. I purchased ribbon in widths varying from 1” to 3”. The backdrop was stunning since the ribbons hung from Shannon’s tall ceiling. This was our labor of love since we had to be ever so careful with her draperies. You should have seen me on the tall ladder and on my tippy toes! Probably not the safest, but anything for a party, right?!

In the kitchen, we set up the beverage station. We assembled a runner out of the adorable grass mats I originally saw on HWTM. This turned out really cute! Behind the runner, I placed 3 glass beverage servers which were embellished with drink tags (and ribbon) designed by Kelly. The dispensers were filled with strawberry lemonade, regular lemonade and iced tea. Water bottles, with custom labels by Kelly, we placed here as well. September is HOT in Houston, so we needed to keep the guests cool!

For the adults, pink mojitos were offered! Cups were preset with mint and a pink striped straw from Hey Yo Yo.

As a parting gift, the kids took home a plush monkey and custom bubble tin created by WH Hostess! These were perfect and my boys still love on their monkey!

Here is a picture of the precious birthday girl, Alexandra, and her doting parents!

Stay tuned for Part III which will highlight the outside decor. Incase you missed the dessert table details, you can see Part I here!

{Real Parties} A Burger Bash!

A friend of mine from college, Ashley, quite possibly hosted THE CUTEST burger bash I have ever seen!!! This party was in honor of her son, Graham's, first birthday. Ashley added so many handmade touches that I know you will love!

The party colors were the ever-so-popular red and blue which is perfect for a boy or girl! The "G" door sign was a simple touch, yet so special. I love how Ashley added gingham ribbon inside the letter for that added touch!

Can we please talk about how adorable the Happy Meal boxes are?! All Ashley did was collect a few authentic boxes from McDonald's and then cover them with paper in the party colors. Precious!

Mason jars were found throughout the party. Here they are used as vases. I always have trouble finding ways to incorporate flowers into a boy birthday party. Sunflowers are a not too girly and were perfect for this theme!

If you haven't guessed it yet, Ashley is crafty! She used her Cricut machine to create the birthday banner. I really like the large circles!

The burger baskets and paper from Sur la Table added the perfect touch!

Veggie Sticks which looked just like fries!

I love how Ashley used water bottle stickers instead of wrap around labels. Don't get me wrong, I love wrap around labels, but the sticker was a unique touch!

This just might be my favorite part! These are sugar cookies made to look like fries!! How clever!

Ashley made the hamburger cupcake toppers!! Still can't get over that. She used Nilla Wafers, dyed coconut, icing and a Keebler Grasshopper Cookie.

Graham's smash cake came from Kroger!

Ashley ALSO made the mason jar cupcake favors! These are to die for! The favors were made from vanilla cupcakes, brownies and icing.

Here is a sweet picture of the birthday boy before he dove into his smash cake!

Thank you Ashley for letting me share Graham's first birthday celebration! Your kids are so lucky to have such a talented mommy!

Sources:

Burger baskets and paper, cupcake wrappers - Sur la Table

Water bottle stickers, fry stickers, favor stickers - Kim's Custom Gifts via Etsy

Birthday banner and fry holders - Made by Ashley using a Cricut and cardstock

{Real Parties} Monkey Love, Part I: The Dessert Table

The Monkey Love party I styled for my client and friend, Shannon, and the collaboration with Kelly from The Party Dress and WH Hostess was one of my most favorite party experiences yet to date! I have so many fabulous pictures to share with you which I am going to split up between several posts so I don't overwhelm you with pictures and details.

Here are the details on the dessert table!

** Ellen Johnson of Ellen Zilla Photography did a phenomenal job capturing every detail! **

When I first met with Shannon for a walk through of the party space, we needed to determine the best spot for the dessert table. We found the perfect area with a large blank wall that just so happened to fit a 6 ft. table exactly. Initially, we were going to create a fabric backdrop, but instead, I thought it would be fun and different to anchor the space with a bright pink monogram decal in the birthday girl's initials! Shannon wanted to use poms from the beginning, so we hung three on each side of the monogram.

The table was full of scrumptious sweets! The guests were able to choose from macarons in the party colors, cupcakes, white chocolate covered Oreos, rock candy, yellow and pink salt water taffy and gumballs.

The Oreos were precious! We placed the Oreos in mini tulip cups and topped each one with a small fondant banana.

To make the banana stick, a little icing was dabbed on the fondant piece.

Kelly designed so many cute paper goods for this party! On the dessert table, her candy jar tags, cupcake toppers and tent cards were found by each selection along with an adorable flower sticker that adorned the take-home white gable boxes.

To give the table an additional pop of yellow, we filled the rock candy jars with lemon drops first which also served as a candy anchor.

Shannon bought several apothecary jars from Pottery Barn which she can reuse at home and at future parties!

She also fell in love with the pedestals by Rosanna, Inc. and purchased two to be used as cupcake stands. They were gorgeous!

Guests were given white gable boxes, adorned with a sticker by WH Hostess, to fill up with as many treats as they wanted to indulge in!

The next picture makes me laugh! It's always so funny to see the parent's gasp when their child is the first to run up to a dessert table and attempt to start grazing! I was there to let this cute little boy know he could go ahead and dig in. The look on his face is priceless!

Please stay tuned for Part II of the Monkey Love party which will showcase many gorgeous pictures of the party decor! In the meantime, you can visit the party post on Hostess with the Mostess!

Dessert Table Sources:

Paper goods by WH Hostess - cupcake toppers, candy jar tags, tent cards, flower sticker

Monogram Decal - Open Heart Creations

Poms - Party Poms

Mini tulip cups - Hey Yo Yo

White chocolate covered Oreos - The Chocolate Bar

Macarons - Maison Burdisso

Cupcakes - Central Market

Rock Candy - Oh Nuts

Taffy and Gumballs - Bulk Foods

Ribbon - Michael's

Apothecary jars - Pottery Barn

Sqaure cake stands - Rosanna, Inc.

Circle cake stands - Sur la Table

Gable boxes - Palmer Packaging

{Mentions} P is for Party on Hostess with the Mostess!!!

A dream of mine came true today! I know...that sounds unbelievably corny, but it's true! It's every party girls dream to be featured on HWTM, so I was ECSTATIC when the "Monkey Love" party I recently styled debuted today on Hostess with the Mostess! This party would not have been so amazing had it not been for the amazing talent of Kelly from The Party Dress and WH Hostess, Ellen Johnson's incredible photography and my dream client and friend, Shannon.

I have SO MANY photos to share with you from this first birthday party and I am working on the posts now. Stay tuned for lots of gorgeous shots and fun details! But for now, you can read the write up on HWTM. Thank you Jenn for making a dream come true!