Ever since high school I have loved planning parties! Upon joining student council my sophomore year, I almost immediately was put in charge of our school dances. Everything from coming up with the theme to decorating the cafeteria. I even planned my Junior Prom! Which I didn’t mind in the slightest. I, in fact, loved it! I guess it shouldn’t be a shock then that I have made my way to blogging and party throwing for a living.

Up until now, my party planning has been limited to blog parties, parties for my kids birthdays, and helping out a few friends with their parties. But a few weeks ago I was contacted by one of my favorite local business women, Katie Kime, who loves color and pattern as much as me and asked if I would be interested in styling and decorating her home for her birthday! Of course I jumped at the chance! After a week of planning and ordering supplies, the party came together so perfectly last Tuesday. I of course snapped a few pictures of the set up so that I could share them with you!

Since her birthday fell on February 13th, the party was love themed but not in a traditional Valentine’s Day way, but more of a botanical and punny way. We focused on three main elements for the party along with a few smaller vignetted spaces and it all just turned out too pretty for words!

First up the balloon installation! It helps when you have a gorgeous canvas of a home to work in, but this installation was the perfect over the top way to great guests as they arrived. 

Next up we set up a dessert bar with a variety of small petit fours, macarons, and bite sized tartlets. I used pieces from Target and plates from the new Sugar and Cloth line. There was also a small scale balloon garland over this dessert area, but I didn’t end up getting a photo of it! Oops!

The last area that we focused on was the bar area where the bartenders were serving two signature cocktails for the event, The Heartbreaker (an orange tequila flavored drink) and a black cherry old fashioned. In this space we created a floral and greenery backdrop by using floral wire to to attach stems of greenery into long strips. Then we used command hooks to attach them in front of the window. On the bar top we had a black and white table cloth that played off the black and white spotted wall paper that Katie has up in her kitchen.

We also created floral ice cubes to place in a clear ice bucket to have as a bottle chiller.

Finally, the finishing touches included flowers by Posey Floral and acrylic hand lettered signs by Jen Krause at each area with the menu as well as a few quipy love themed signs in various spots.

I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed and learned about my first professional party planning experience. It really was amazing to see it all come together. Now I can officially say that I am open for business on the party planning front. If you are in the Austin area, feel free to reach out about any event production or party styling needs you may have. This week I am on to creating more balloon installations for the Thrive blog conference here in Austin! Who would have ever thought back when I was planning my “night under the clouds” high school dance that I would one day be doing this for a living?! Life is crazy sometimes isn’t it?