Nashville Parties: 60th Birthday Party {Part 2}

Part 2 of Mary Sue's 60th birthday party! Daughter and DIY party planner, Suzanne, came to me a couple of months ago to help her create all the details of her mom's big surprise. Part of her vision included 2 display tables with pictures and messages from old friends.

You'll notice the patterned fabric on the background of this board is also what we used for the runner on the table on on the invitation.

We found the fabric first and created the bottom layer of this pretty little thing, custom to the theme.

The first display was inspired by the boxwood's at Boxwood Bistro. I found boxwood vine and balls to decorate this message display, wrapped in burlap. Each friend wrote a note to Mary Sue which was compiled in a keepsake book for her to keep.

Each scalloped card had an adjective to describe Mary Sue and hand made (sewn) flowers attached to the board -  more favors! We also framed the invitation and the recipe cards they gave as favors to the party guests - even more favors!

The other display board was wrapped in the patterned fabric. We used an old window, picked up for $5, and spray painted it to match the yellow in the theme - along with the crates that held photos in beautiful white picture frames, among the scattered boxwood and twine balls.

Mary Sue was in such a state of shock when she walked in - priceless look on her face. I love being behind the scenes to see people's reactions!

Nashville Parties: 60th Birthday Party {Part 1}

Party planning isn't always for kids, babies and brides. It's for 60th birthday's too! This fun and vivacious birthday party was for Mary Sue, aka: owner of B. Jackson's Bakery in Arrington, TN - check her out. Delicious stuff.

The vision of the party was built by Mary Sue's daughter and party host, Suzanne. She pulled pictures from the web and over a couple of coffees at Starbucks, we designed and planned the whole thing together. The party was held in a private room at Boxwood Bistro, located at the Factory in Franklin, TN. The idea of a warm spring Saturday and boxwood started the brainstorming. We incorporated coral pink, bright yellow and summery greens into all of the paper details.

Mary Sue showed up thinking that she was just having a quiet lunch with a couple of close friends. She had no idea that she was getting a custom made party with all these details and was completely surprised!

 
The back room at Boxwood Bistro, over looking the deck and courtyard, was the perfect room - lots of light and room for one big table and displays. The dining room was transformed! Linens were by Southern Events in Franklin - sage table cloth and pin point corn silk yellow napkins with large square white chargers. The runner was custom made - more on that later.

Every part of this party had touches of Mary Sue - a baker, and gardener and grandmother, a "Paula Deen", a mother and a friend. On top of the charger, we folded the napkin to show off the custom menus and (one of the many) party favors, an olive wood spatula. The place cards sat on top of hand folded paper boxes. The paper was chosen to specifically match the color palette and just happen to also have lilies too. The box was filled with green moss and another party favor - lily bulb for guests to plant at home. We even were able to find coral pink striped paper straws on Etsy from Dandy You. For all of these goodies, we had favor bags with a custom sticker. Mary Sue's seat was marked with a custom monogrammed sign.

One of my favorite favors was a little box of custom designed and baked chocolates from Schakolad Chocolate Factory in Cool Springs. They last thing you can give a person who bakes cakes everyday is more cake, so we gave her what every woman can never get enough of - chocolate. They created a special 3-piece chocolate box, with dark, champagne and cheesecake chocolates, with a custom 60 piped on the center treat. We matched the ribbon to the coral ribbon used in the rest of the party. This cheesecake chocolate was to die for - Schakolad is serious about chocolate. And you can get just about anything you want there.

This is just the beginning of the beautiful birthday party. Part II later this week!

Favors: Your Jar of Hearts

Favors are a lovely way to thank your guests for enjoying a special day with you and all your family and friends. It's also a great way to send them home with little memory of your day by incorporating your wedding theme into the favor. You can fill these little jars with anything and they come in sizes from 1oz. all the way up to 16oz. You can use hexagon, oval or round, tall, skinny or even blue.

There are also these cute little tins. Great for candied almonds, jelly beans, mints or you could even put your ticker tape in these for a grand exit.

The options for these are seriously endless and can be custom designed for your event.

Valentine's Proposal: Message in a Bottle.

Happy Valentine's Day to all our brides! What a special day for each of you to spend with your fiance.

For those of you who are still waiting for the *bling* or... for you guys who are trying to figure out how to pop the big question... here's a little proposal inspiration.

The star of this little proposal was a "message in a bottle" glass container. I just received these new favor containers. You could fill these with anything! Bath beads, candy, sand from your beach wedding, flower seeds, hot coco mix, local honey...the list goes on and on! Customize your favors to coordinate with your wedding festivities.

Inspiration for these favor containers coming soon...

Nashville Cake Pops: My New Obsession

If given a choice, would you eat the cake or the icing? People fall into 2 categories: a cake person or an icing person. I...am a cake person. And a chocolate person. So, I have the best of both worlds in cake pops. Don't worry, you icing fans will still get your icing. It's inside. Making for a moist, delicious little piece of cake on a stick.

Nashville Cake Pops is located right here in Nashville. I first tried these yummy little things at a Tennessee Titans tailgate party. They were red velvet (um...yes, please) with cream cheese icing inside and light blue white chocolate on the outside. Nicole, owner of Nashville Cake Pops, is the creator of these little bits of heaven. Trust me, you will crave them once you've had just one.

Nicole and I started collaborating about her new business, and she asked me to create some cake pop tags (above) to match the bunny shower invitations we did for a shower she hosted. That lead to more and more cake pop tags, and eventually we designed her company logo. Nicole wanted something retro and fun - like a retro sign from a vintage soda shop. I love the colors and the vibe this fun logo implies.

Other flavors include Chocolate, Devils Food, Vanilla, Coconut, Oreo, Lemon and Carrot Cake. Is your mouth watering yet?

Nashville Cake Pops is offering Valentine's Day & Easter specials, shipping nationwide. Order some for your sweety...or for yourself (guilty!).


...how cute would these be for wedding favors?!?

Check them out at www.nashvillecakepops.com or on Facebook here.

Gifts for Your Guests: Favor Boxes.

...can't wait to start mocking up some ideas for the new favor boxes that just came in...just thrilled! These come in just about every color and pattern you can imagine. A perfect little package to thank your guests for showering you and yours with love on a special day.