April 19, 2021

Where to get your Inspiration from (A)

When creating a table design I'm often asked "Where do you get your ideas from?" And in my opinion when you find the answer to this question you are well on your way.

Sometimes we have TOO many ideas floating around in our minds and therefore we get lost and lose focus of what we are really trying to accomplish. So I always suggest a theme (which just makes everything easier from there) but if you don't have a theme then perhaps it's an object you want to focus on. Or if you are celebrating someone special maybe they are the theme and focus on that person. Once we get to a single idea I promise you the rest will unfold.

The next few Blogs will be some ideas I’ve used to help me create that final Tablescape.

(A) MY DAUGHTER'S FIRST BIRTHDAY PARTY

The first Birthday of your child is always the most stressful I think, because we know this is really for the adults and we want to NAIL that first big party and set the tone for the many years to follow. For me, I wanted it to be the perfect child/adult celebration. So I focused on my daughter. She was not into anything at this age just yet and I was struggling with what that theme would be. So I chose to focus a little deeper on the things she had done in her first year. We had traveled quite a bit (22 flights, 3 countries, 5 states, 3 provinces, a cruise ship and MANY sporting events in her first 12 months on this earth) and that is how I came upon "Oh the Places you will Go" by Dr. Seuss.

So here we go....

I was told too many balloons at this age can be very distracting, but I knew I wanted a few, so we created mini hot air balloons for her centerpieces. What better way to create this image than to attach them to her flowers and I choose the baskets for a real hot air balloon effect. These are by the incredible @flowersonfirst here in NYC.

I purchased the paper plates, napkins, water bottle labels, party hats and name tags all based on this theme. I added my own chargers to elevate the table and to tie in our base color into the design.

I knew I wanted a type of step and repeat for all the memorable photos we would gather and found the perfect backdrop on Amazon.

We live in an apartment building and I found these amazing signs for our hallway to lead everyone to the party (Dr. Seuss would approve), along with lots and lots of balloons.

I asked a local baker (@Sweetsilverlinings) to create amazing treats to suit this theme and of course the perfect birthday cake alongside her very own smash cake made by the AMAZING @KimBurnhamCakes

Last but not least her party favors (my favorite things to give, even at adult parties -I will have a blog on this coming soon) and to this day these were the BEST party favors I've ever created. I wanted to not just throw gifts at people, but I wanted them to have significant meaning. I knew I was giving the book, as that was a no brainer. Then I found these wonderful water bottles for the kids, which made me then think of the parents and found these wonderful mugs. Then my ultimate favorite item, that we will use forever, were passport holders. How perfect "Oh the places you will go!" Lastly, in case the kids got bored, I purchased coloring books with crayons. Now what to put them in... I found these themed backpacks and I was all set. And what better place to position them than on the backs of the chairs. It elevated my table design so much and I LOVED it.

For the rest of the decor I added my own placemats, chargers, napkin rings and had to have real flowers because that is my thing.

This party was so sweet, thoughtful, specific, on point and very cost effective (the party favors were the most expensive) and everyone surely enjoyed themselves.