60th Birthday Bash :: Garden Party! Flowers & Stripes!

 

Well, hello! I’m popping back into my blog to finally share my mom’s 60th birthday bash we put on last month.The invites set the tone. We were so stumped on a theme for awhile and then it became blindingly clear. She is SUCH a flower girl. Her first job was as a florist, she always has fresh cuts in her house, and the flowers in her garden seem so happy to grow just for her. Keeping things on the bold side, we paired bright Mary Englebreit inspired flowers with black and white stripes with flashes of green.Here’s the overview of the backyard. I was convinced that we needed to place big banners up all over the backyard. We ended with a “Jan is 60″ sign that you could walk under. It was pretty cool but was such a Lucy/Ethel moment when my mom and I tried to set it up. (Standard!) We knew we wanted the dance floor black and white… and we’d seen them checkered before… but we made it striped instead to keep with the vibe. We printed 12×12” flowers and put them on big green dowels to place throughout the garden. The Kalama Brothers jammed for us and, as always, were fabulous.The big flowers, stripes, and black banner were repeated throughout the party.On the mantle as well as on the invites, we used a quote from Emerson: “Earth Laughs In Flowers.” We thought it was fitting for my mom and this party… since if there are two things that are SO my mom, it’s laughter and flowers.My mom also has the tastebuds of a 5 year old boy. We had the menu reflect that and had gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches, donuts, and cupcakes (among other more normal food!). The first station that greeted you was the dessert table. Eat Dessert First why don’t you?The little flowers on the table are actually cookies my mom made and put on dowels covered with black and white straws so they would look like they were growing.We actually had these as favors for everyone as well but FORGOT TO PUT THEM OUT! What a dingbat! That was my job and I totally forgot about it! Oh well!Flowers grew at the front of the house too!More signage…We even brought my couch over to the party since it’s black and white! (See if up there in the top right corner? That was the loungy area.)The centerpieces were made with flowers pulled straight from the garden among other potted plants and surrounded by picket fences. All my mom’s doing.Black and white fabric from Ikea was sewn by Crafty Jan into tablecloths and we added to the black and white stripe thing with an umbrella, a water tent, the dance floor and the couch.It was a fabulous party for the most fabulous mom ever! Love our Crafty Jan!Photography: Stephanie Anderson Photography (and a couple iPhone photos from my Aunt Chris! Ha!)
Caterer & Rentals: Thank Goodness It’s Sofia
Music: Kalama Brothers
Cupcakes: It’s All About The Cake
Styling… Crafty Jan & Me