June 27, 2021

Where to get your Inspiration from (E)

LET THE PERSON BE YOUR INSPIRATION

As simple as that.

I had the good fortune of designing one of my closest friends 60th Birthday dinner here in New York City. Her weekend away got canceled because of COVID (Boy did I have some great party favors for that weekend - a separate blog will come) but I was not going to let this awesome ladies birthday go by without some sort of celebration.

So, a birthday dinner in a private room with no more than 10 was the next best thing.

In preparing for this dinner I went straight to the source: The Birthday Girl.

I asked her three simple questions:

-your favorites colors

-your favorite candies/chocolates

-your favorite cake flavor.

With this information I created this Tablescape Design

Let me talk you through this.

Once I selected her favorite color (she had a few) the Table Designing commenced. I wanted something sophisticated, sexy and warm. After-all, we are in the middle of a global pandemic and had many rules to follow. I choose plum as the main color and decided to pair it with black and gold. So rich in every way and the private room was in gold too so it was a MUST. The restaurant had black tablecloths and linen napkins which was amazing and one less detail for me to focus on. I had my very own gold chargers, cutlery and candles (yes I schlepped all of my own items to the restaurant) and it was all coming together nicely. I LOVE my florist (www.flowersonfirst.com) and real flowers were a must (I also requested their vases be in gold and they turned out beautifully.) Because it was a special birthday I wanted something extra special for each settings and had asked my florist for 10 individual large Dahlia's I could attach to the napkins. Sometimes a flower is all you need to elevate each setting.

All I was missing now was the ambiance. Because the flowers were all at a lower level in design, I needed some height and my gold candlesticks for all of the taper candles was all that was missing. That and I had 120 gold balloons floating all around us creating our own private world of gold and gold! I couldn't wait for my dear friend to see her Birthday table.

Lastly, her party favors. I am a SUCKER for party favors and have been giving different gifts since I was in my early twenties. It's that little extra that is NOT necessary but as a planner fun and as a giver more rewarding.

The second question I asked the birthday girl guided me to this gift. When I decided to go with Skittles I was then on the search as to what do I put them in and I found these GORGEOUS acrylic large S's and it was a done deal for me. Yes her name starts with the letter S, but she is truly the Sweetest person I've ever met and she loved Skittles and she was turning Sixty. The S was all I needed for her and her guests. Success!

And Lastly her cake which was her third answer to my questions. I have the BEST cake maker @kimburnhamcakes and she created this gorgeous, simple and elegant cake for my friend. Again I had asked the florist for some extra Dahlia's so we could top the cake and tie it all together.