Tuesday

Birthday party planning: Conclusion

After almost two months of planning, the big 40th birthday party for my now fiancé came and went.

In the final weeks, I spent most of my time with the smaller details.  My living room started filling up with boxes of decorations, friends and family started getting assignments and things quickly came together.

Now that the party has come and gone, I can say that the theme was Mardi Gras.  For food, we had red beans and rice with Po' Boy sandwiches.  We had smoked pork and ribs and a side salad.  We set up buffet tables and laid out plates with the food as well as floral decor:


The hall was decorated with Mardi Gras decorations bought at Oriental Trading and we had tables strewn with beads and feathered masks.  One table was designated for cards and gifts and another had picture albums of Roberts life.  There was a side room where I set up a slide show and a full sized cutout for people to take pictures with:




I didn't have many tables set up to eat at since I wanted people to walk around and socialize.  I didn't specify a dress code but encouraged people to dress up and have fun.  Several guests brought their own masks and beads and a few wore fancy dresses.




The cake done by my friend Allison at Cake Done Right, was fantastic.  Chocolate with vanilla icing.  Very delicious.  Thank you Allison!


Thanks to my friend Brenda at Botanicals by Brenda for her help with the flowers Friday morning!  For the buffet table, I found large three champagne glasses at Michaels for $38. I filled the bottom with colorful beads and two floral lights.  I then place aspidistra leaves inside to cover the foam.  The flowers used were yellow roses, purple snap dragons, blue gentian, and peacock feathers.  I place more beads around the design and place a feather mask inside:

For the gift table, I found three green candle holders of different sizes at Home Goods, one of my favorite places to shop.  The containers cost $15 all together.  I used purple tulips, red freesia and yellow roses in one of the containers and placed electric candles in the other two.  I put a feather accent in it just for fun:




For the photo table, I found three cubes of varying sizes in my collection of things and place curly willow inside as well as some beads.  I then put 3-4 tulips in each arrangement and secured it to curly willow coming out of the cube:


To save money on entertainment, I downloaded a bunch of Louis Armstrong and other jazz albums and connected an amp to my iPod.  Cost me $34 to have music play all night long.


The party was very successful and the birthday boy had a blast!  All in all, the party totaled around $1700 including food, floral and other decor.  Here are a few more pictures for you to enjoy!








1 comment:

  1. Hope the 40th birthday with all near dear ones was enjoyed well. Have got many gifts and blessings from all my friends and relatives on my birthday few days back. Celebrated it at one of the alluring Seattle venues. Table arrangements were quite good and food quality was appreciated by everyone.

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