Charlotte & Stella's 1st birthday

place...albert park, melbourne, australia

for...twins charlotte and stella's 1st birthday

from mom, Rebecca (I'm paraphrasing a bit): "We wanted the party to be as much for the girls as for the adults. They both love playing under our lemon tree and being outside. They also both love their tea set. They also love music, especially Charlotte. She always bops along to any music playing and has got real rhythm! Alejandro plays at our local farmers market and the girls love dancing to his music, so I asked him to play at the party. He was brilliant and got all the children involved- from ages 6 months to 8 years old. And of course the adults loved it also. His spanish beats echoed around the neighborhood and there was lots of dancing. It created focus and was a real talking point.

I could not resist a mix of pinks and mint green. The theme was carried through the cakes, gingerbread letters and meringue toadstools and kisses. Our guests took home a gingerbread memento. I set up two tables- one for the children and one for the adults. The children's table featured some lunch-boxes with sultanas, cheese (cut into stars) and vegemite sandwiches (cut into hearts). There were juice pop-tops and fruit cups in lovely pink daisy cups. I bought some cheap bottles of bubbles for the kids to blow or take home, and wrapped some lovely ribbon to hide the labels! I put labels on all the food so the parents knew what everything was.

The adult table was Amy Atlas-inspired. I set the table using lots of lovely cake stands, plates, and glasses. Homemade cupcakes with flowers, chocolate crackles (with flags I made from toothpicks and wrapping paper), musk sticks and marshmallows, meringue and mints for dessert. I also served the usual party favorites like chicken sandwiches, salmon bagels, sausage rolls, mini quiches, fairy bread, fruit sticks and grisini.We offered Pimms and some pink soda for drinks, since it was a morning party. 

My friend Nathalie made the beautiful banner to match the invitations she created for me as well. The paper lanterns also looked brilliant. The girls wore dresses made of vintage fabric (including vintage Oscar de la Renta!)- which was over the top, but fabulous. I bought the girls a pearl bracelet for their birthday present as a keepsake (adult size but fitted twice around). And they refused to take off the tiaras their Nana bought them!"

Thanks so much for sharing, Rebecca. Charlotte & Stella are very lucky girls! You need to clarify a couple of things for your uneducated (me) State-side friends, however- what is vegemite? musk sticks? chocolate crackles? and fairy bread?

invitations, banner....imprintables, australia

reader question of the week

I'm going to try something new this week, and we'll see if it works. I often get questions for party-planning ideas and tips- and while I would like to answer all of them, in detail- I simply don't have the time in addition to all my other (paying and nonpaying) duties. The blog is a labor of love- an unpaid internship, shall we say- and knowing that I have such a creative, smart bunch of readers I figure I might turn these questions to you. I'll publish one question a week and see how it goes. If it doesn't work, this little feature will go away quietly.

Question of the week: 

"I'm looking for creative food ideas for parties that work for both adults and kids alike. My daughter is celebrating her first birthday next month. Pre-kids, I used to have fancy gourmet dinner parties. But now I need to tone things down so that the food appeals to both kids and parents and doesn't take me all day to prepare. For my son's third birthday, we had a taco bar. I'd like to do something a bit more sophisticated/unique for my daughter's party. Any ideas? One thought I had was a noodle bar- can have all the fixings for asian noodles (shredded chicken, cilantro, peanuts, etc) plus Italian style with marinara or pesto. Would love to hear any other ideas or thoughts!  Thanks– Julia"

thank you, Jen Gotch + Lucky

Thank you so much to Jen Gotch for listing the Party as one of her favorite blogs on Lucky mag's site! What an honor. The feeling is mutual...

(and thank you to Chelsea for letting me know!)

i spy: lollipop flower trend?

I love the use of these perfectly round suckers as candy flower decor- so clever! Now I'm going to try to hunt down a source for them...the Amy Atlas ones seem particularly lovely and round.

On a side note, there is a feature in Food & Wine this month on Amy Atlas and how she creates her beautiful table displays. Lots of great tips, as well as revealing that she is a LAWYER in addition to (?) event caterer- who knew!?

And now, I'm really off for the weekend...

images...martha stewart, top; amy atlas, bottom

happy anniversary, babe!

I'm checking out early for the weekend- a lot on my plate, including my 6th wedding anniversary! Our wedding was such a fun day. I still am in awe as to how much has changed in the wedding biz since then. I would definitely do some things differently, but I still adore the dress (and the man)!  

photos from our wedding via Martha Stewart Weddings, Spring 2004