So here is a little birthday board inspiration… instead of eating cake off of plates, why not decorate with plates and eat out of your hands instead?? Scatter the tables with letterpress coasters representing each year of your life… Wear a big poufy party dress, tease your hair and wear a glittering birthday crown. Dangle bangles of teacups off of your wrist and decorate your cake with festive bunting!

Amanda Koster, Sophie Brown, ‘I’m so Happy Today’, White petticoat via This is Glamorous

• Cake Bunting; $21.00
• Letterpress Numbers Coasters; $18.00
• Silk Organza Polina Dress; $225.00
• Vintage Bonechina Teacup Bracelets; $50.00

Recently we found a great excuse to have all of our best friends over to enjoy wine, amazing food, and each other. Vanessa, the youngin’ of the bunch, rounded the corner out of her 20’s and gave us another great reason to throw a party! As an avid foodie, getting a local chef to come and cook for us was a perfect way to celebrate her birthday.

We also used the party as a guinea pig for some great design ideas we had brewing for an recent wedding we had. The tic-tac-toe mirror design on the table, the gorgeous centerpiece (yes, we do a bit of floral design as well!) with white and blood red dahlias, and the use of vintage glassware lit up with soft candle light all passed the test! We can’t wait to show you how they transformed into the Great Gatsby/Hampton inspired wedding we just finished up.

Simple gold twine was tied around the napkins wrapped around the menus.

We made this vintage cake stand out of a lead cut crystal candy dish and glass platter! We have made quite a few of these this past year, but also have a great resource if you would like to buy them. We will be posting her products very soon! A perfect base for a gorgeous floral design.

The birthday girl herself with good friend (and possible model for our upcoming Jessica Claire workshop shoot!) Renn.

We know that in these tough times, going out to dinner can definitely be pricey. We discovered that having a private chef come to your home and cook a six course gourmet dinner was actually less expensive then going out, and SO much more fun! If you love wine like we do, we really saved on purchasing retail wine. Restaurants typically mark wine up 200-300%!

Let Lollipop into your home to plan your next dinner party! Turn any birthday, anniversary or holiday party into a gorgeous gourmet affair!

The photos look like they belong in the pages of a storybook and the delightful day had a plethora of details! Guests made their way down a path lined with bunny soldiers and placed ‘wish’ tickets into a box before entering the ‘maddest place on earth’! They were then greeted by the Mad Hatter and tables filled with delightful sweets and treats and surrounded by toadstools and faeries. Vanessa from A Fanciful Twist did everything from the design and decor to snapping all of the photographs! 

You are invited to another Tea Party by  Apparently Jessy and A Fanciful Twist…

We were so smitten and enthralled with the images from these tea parties, that we simply had to find out more about Vanessa from A Fanciful Twist. We asked her to tell a little bit about her design process and inspiration for these purely delightful events. 

“I have been throwing little parties and holding events since I was a teenager, and I find that my process is always the same. I don’t plan way ahead of time, I let the inspiration hit me like a brick when it chooses to visit, and then I jump into it.”

“In 2008 I held my first Mad Tea Party on a whim. I needed some excitement in the boring summer heat, so I thought up said event and invited anyone who read my blog to hold their own event and share photos. Before you knew it, 300 people were having Mad Tea Parties and sharing scrumptious images. The same thing happened in 2009.”

“Truth be told, I like to stay busy and I feel that in the summer, the creative vibe starts to slip. Fall, Spring and Winter are so exciting for full time artists (such as myself), but I was finding Summer to be lacking that creative spark. The Mad Tea Party completely filled that void.”

“I own a whole lot of junk, I mean ‘treasures’. So decorating for these such events is always quite easy. I also try to not go out and buy things. For example, my mom had bolts of tulle that I was able to use to decorate my gazebo for the Mad Tea Party. Everything else used were items I have in my home.”

” I think that mostly working with what you have on hand lets your imagination get involved and makes for amore creative spread. Usually things just unravel for me, an dI go with the flow. Of course, planning for a Mad Tea Party means ‘wacky wonderful’ so it is easy to let yourself go crazy decorating for such and event…”

“I decorated for the Mad Tea Party in one afternoon, and I had my guests over the next day. It was a wonderful time!” -Vanessa 

You must see ALL of the incredible photos on A Fanciful Twists blog. 

You are now cordially invited by Itty Bitty Birdy to even two more Tea Parties! Get “all dolled up” for the first one! 

We hope you are still thirsty, because you are invited to one more party by Itty Bitty Birdy! For this one, please be sure to bring a friend! Preferably a fuzzy, stuffed friend! 

The devil is in the details. Or as we like to say, the design is in the details. What makes a special event so special are the small little touches that really make the event a memorable one. Here we showcase some of our special touches that we have done on some of our crafty tables such as Alice in Wonderlandia, Barnyard Chic & Where does your Eco Garden Grow?

Christine did such a stunning job of capturing Ali and her daughter together! We love how the photos of little Estella truly remind us of old Shirley Temple films. There were also so many fun activities from face painting and sand castle building, to waitresses who interacted with the children while dressed up as Shirley Temple. The guests played in the sand on ‘The Sunny Beach of Peppermint Bay’ and sipped on lemonade from a bright red and white striped lemonade stand. 

Smiles were in abundance as guests lounged on beach chairs propped in front of vintage Shirley Temple photos while enjoying the sun and watching the children play. The sign of a successful party is when both children and parents are having a good time, and they clearly were at this event!

Photographed by Christine Chang 

Our darling one year old fairy princess even made an appearance! She was our main inspiration for the event as her mommy reads her favorite fairy book every night before bed! We custom designed a woodland patterned table runner that laid on the kids table for them to color with bright crayons! We found adorable unicorns and toads for the children to paint and give to mommy and daddy as gifts at the end of the storybook day… Wouldn’t this decor just be gorgeous for a wedding as well! Stay tuned for our DIY tips tomorrow!!! (Photographs: Justin Lee Photography)

Guests feasted on everything from custom candy bags of ‘Merlins Magical M & M’s’, cookies frosted with golden crowns, and fluffy white donut holes to a cake topped with handmade golden marzipan acorns and leaves.  Parents were each given hand soaps wrapped in a gold patterned print and served in a white ceramic swan to wash the messes off of their little ones after the day of delight!

Stay tuned for part III tomorrow! The magical drink area, kids play table and stunning tablescapes! Photography: Justin Lee Photography

All the amazing photographs were taken by the extraordinarily talented Justin Lee!

Top row: Sailboat Pillows, High Seas Plate Row 2: Striped Linen Napkins, Sea Bird Tea Towel, Acrylic Drink Dispenser Row 3: Whale Watching Beach Tote, Galvanized Metal Serving Pieces, Ship-in-a-bottle Plate Row 4: Suspended Seagull Sculpture, Whale Salt & Pepper Row 5: Outdoor Lounge, Organic Anchor Napkin 

We at Lollipop Events & Designs have a love for the sea as well.See our our Nantucket Nautical table below (Cary Pennington Photography) and get the  DIY instructions here. 

We created adorable Nantucket menus in the shape of large cherry red lobsters and placed one at each table setting and used nautical elements to form table numbers! You can see more of our seaside inspired ideas featured alongside many others on Brides.com from floral arrangements to favor ideas. 

To top this off and ensure that your guests enjoy a feast of fireworks, host a “Sticks and Spice Poolside Grilling Party”  (Via Celebrations) that is easy, creative and interactive for your guests! The menu is designed to allow guests to flavor their own appetizers, and cook them on tabletop grills by the pool. The “sticks” are one-bite portions of chicken, beef, and vegetables on bamboo skewers. The “spice” is a selection of dry rubs for guests to season their food before grilling. To personalize it further guests can grill their portions on their own tabletop grills shown below and set the mood even further with fabulous lighting and handmade ‘good grub’ and smores tags.