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!

Lake of the Ozarks Wedding Details in Clover and Pink. Part 2.

Seeing a bride's vision come to fruition is totally awesome. What I do is usually just a smidgen of the work and details a family does to bring everything together. And the details really make a big difference. You can see other details of Brent and Michala's wedding here and here. Michala put so much work into this wedding and it paid off! Everything from the favors (cookies and coozies) to the decor, food and music.

2.5" circle favor/cookie labels

Favors: Coozies

The Parasol Room at Tan-Tar-A resort was (IMO) a perfect reception room. Large windows opened to mile-long views of the Lake of the Ozarks. The inside of this room is supposed to look like the mechanics of an umbrella - and that theme was carried out in the reception decor. I love the DIY a-la-Martha Stewart poms, lanterns and parasols hanging from the ceiling of this room.

Parasol Room - Tan-Tar-A Resort

Martha Stewart Poms and Lanterns

Each table had wine with custom labels and donation cards for the American Cancer Society as a respectful way to honor family members.

Donation Cards

Wedding Reception Wine Labels

Michala made the centerpieces - having family members save any glass jars. She wrapped them with wire and strung pink and green jewels from the neck of the jar, filled them with sand and used a battery operated candle. So cute! This guest book idea deserves its own post when it is finished. The couple had guests sign quilt squares as their guest book. The squares will be sewn together later for the couple to use in their home. Such a great idea.

Guest Book Card: Quilt Squares

Memorial Card and Flowers

And I just had to show this picture - from the gorgeous weather at the ceremony to this!

This is the same window - can you believe it? Outdoor weddings make me so nervous!

Around the House Shower Pics.

This turned out to be a great party - perfect weather, perfect food, perfect couple. The food was AMAZING. My parent's friends are great cooks! We had ham and Sirloin Tip Roast with Horseradish Sauce for little sandwiches, potato salad, cole slaw, 7-layer dip, fruit, chicken ball, relish plate and a Marinated Cheese Platter - which I am working on getting the recipe for - it was delish! All the food was inside, while the party was outside. Dad brings his Jimmy Buffet Margarita Machine everywhere.

The completed dessert table...

We had vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream. The strawberry went first, surprisingly. M&M's, Heath bar, Reese's Pieces, sprinkles, Oreo, nuts, cherries, chocolate and caramel were our toppings. We did Twix and Cupcakes as well - the bride's favorite. The cupcakes turned out so great. I got the black and white mini cupcake liners from Cupcake Social online through Artfire.com. I had leftover white cake mix and bought pink sprinkles. Mom and I iced the cupcakes just before the shower.

After socializing, dinner and dessert, we opened gifts. this I thought was hysterical!

They walked away with some great stuff! Including an ice cream maker, ice cream bowls...you see the trend? It is a well know fact that my brother loves the stuff.

Corporate Place Cards

Leadership Brentwood held their Business & Economic Development Day last week. They had multiple panel speakers and needed professional and readable-from-a-distance place cards.

Brinkley-Kinslow Rehearsal.

Danielle and Kris were married this past Saturday at First Baptist Church in downtown Nashville. The rehearsal went so smoothly...after everyone showed up a little tardy due to Nashville Predators game traffic! Some pictures above are of the bridal party. I especially love the one on the bottom right with Danielle's stunning daughter.





Next, we were off to the Rehearsal Dinner at Sunset Grill. The food, staff and venue were wonderful - I would recommend this place to all brides for their rehearsal dinners. They have a fabulous private room for events such as this. Cocktails were served as guests arrived with a slide show of the couple's favorite memories on the back wall. Notice the menus and place cards? They added a special and personable detail to the space. The bridesmaids presented the couple with a framed picture to use at the reception as a guest book - something the bride never got around to doing on her own and wanted so badly for her reception. Speeches were given by all...and let me tell you...it was a joyous occasion without a dry eye in the house. This couple is so in love and so perfect for each other.

Everything Comes Full Circle.

Kris and Danielle's wedding is quickly approaching! 6 days and counting. Danielle and I have been working on her menu's and place cards for the Rehearsal Dinner - to be held at the yummy Sunset Grill in Nashville. The idea of the circle came from her Rehearsal Dinner invitations from Wedding Paper Divas. The circle was incorporated into both. Got to love a theme.