Remember how I said once Emery came I wouldn’t throw myself birthday parties anymore? I’d have to act all “grown up” instead? Well…that didn’t last. I did however try to redeem myself by throwing a more “sophisticated” party. I don’t know whether that was really achieved or not, but either way, this year’s party was great!! I decided to throw a dinner party and since I have a summer birthday, I thought it’d be fun to have the theme be “garden party.” Instead of having the focus be the food table, I dressed up the main table where everyone sat to eat. My three main focuses were: 1.) have the party feel light, pretty, and feminine; 2.) have the party feel a little nicer (not formal, but not too casual either); and 3.) put the party together as inexpensively as possible (as always)!
Before I get to the party itself, I want to share the invitations. I was really happy with them and the best part: they didn’t cost anything! Grant was beyond thrilled and teased me that this was the first party I’ve ever thrown where we didn’t have to make several trips to FedEx to get stuff printed. He’s right of course, and because I didn’t have to go anywhere, I made the invitations up really fast! I designed them in InDesign, printed them myself using kraft paper I had on hand, and wrapped them with extra fabric I had plus some twine. I even had enough envelopes and stamps on hand—talk about lucky!
The invitations were mailed a few weeks in advance and then it was time to start thinking about the decorations! I did some searching through pinterest for inspiration and landed on a few ideas I could easily do myself. It was really fun to plan and I loved how everything turned out! In order to achieve my first focus of making the party seem light and feminine, I set everything up outside, so the natural light and pretty backdrop helped immensely. I also bought different colored roses and baby’s breath to aid in the garden party theme. It wasn’t hard to make the party feel a little nicer—since it was a dinner party, it already felt more formal, and it also helped that everyone came dressed up in summer dresses and polos. And for my last focus, I saved money by making as much of the decor as possible. I dyed muslin fabric that I had on hand for the napkins, made the place settings with paper I already had, used plates I had on hand, found really cheap salad plates (Target does it again!), and made my own tablecloth and table runner. I also made a banner out of doilies and twine, but it was so windy out that it kind of got ruined. Oh well—it was cute while it lasted! And then of course, I made all the food. In the end it was all relatively cheap and I was so happy with how it all turned out!
A huge thanks to everyone who came and made my birthday AMAZING!! 24 is looking good :)