I mentioned my uncle’s 50th Birthday Party in an earlier post about the dessert tablescape I created for the event. I LOVED the island themed party in the cold of winter and project managing this for my aunt was a blast. Here’s a quick behind the scenes look at things you can do to recreate the night. Mini island vacation during February?! Yes, please!
Guests were greeted at the door with a lei, pair of sunglasses, and a Drunken Fish jello shot (blue jello with vodka, coconut rum, and a Swedish Fish). Decorations were a mix of purchases and pulling out vacation things the Schriefers already owned (such as the over-sized margarita glass and coconut bowl above).
When curating the decorations for your party have a budget and know where you will put everything you buy. My aunt always says bigger is better when it comes to decorations, so we gravitated towards things that helped transform the space such as lit palm trees and tiki hut printed on a roll of plastic (it transformed the bar space as well as the dessert tablescape). We also had some fun little things like extra long drinking straws and mini pails to hold cutlery and veggies.
The big hit at the party was our DIY photo booth. We ordered the background pictured above as well as the plastic cut out featured below. My uncle bought a bunch of Rasta hats with fake dreadlocks, I ordered a grass skirt and coconut bra, and we pulled out some sarongs, a bathing suit and Hawaiian shirt. Ashley’s old Roxy luggage was the perfect thing to hold the Polaroid film and props. We took over 100 Polaroid photos!
When throwing a house party, remember to think about the flow of your guests and ways you can utilize the space you have. The photo booth was in the guest room that also housed the dessert tablescape and coat closet. This way guests would see everything coming in and have a chance to grab dessert or snap a photo at the end of the night if they hadn’t made their way back to the room during the party (though most everyone meandered back to the photo booth during the party!).
The Schriefer’s basement was a perfect getaway for a more intimate party space. Ashley, Adrien and some of his great friends took over basement decorating. It’s like the drop ceiling was made for helium balloons. Plastic buckets full of candy completed the bright island look and was the perfect takeaway for guests.
I knew from the beginning that leis would be part of our decorations so I looked through lots of different options before I landed on these. I pulled our color palate from these by using the color dropper tool in Photoshop Elements. The best thing about an island party is that bright colors all come together in a fun vacation way! We used these colors on the tablescapes as well as throughout the house.
Add in island vacation drinks, an appetizer tablescape, barbecue for dinner, an iPod filled with party music and guests excited for a mini vacation in the comfort of your own home. It was absolutely a night to remember.
Cheers! {xo celine}
