50th Anniversary Party Decor

 

Cupcakes...all good parties must have cupcakes. 

 

Mason jar + water beads + water + vintage record + flowers =

 

 

 

Record + tortilla shell bowl + really hot oven + melting = bowl

 

The record bowls on tables with popcorn, M&M's, and nuts.  

 

Memorabilia from the early 60's plus family photos. This book on 1963 I found on Amazon.

 

My mothers wedding dress and my dad's army uniform. My mom found the price tag still on the dress when she pulled it out. It was something like $16.00. 

 

More pictures on display, a bouquet of my mothers favorite flowers in a crystal vase that was etched with their anniversary on it. 

 

Records hanging from the ceiling.

 

A slushie machine...because what is more fun than talking to people with blue teeth and lips? Plus, it was really really hot that day, so it was a perfect cold treat!

 

Signs welcoming people at the entrance

 

I also found a deck of 1963 trivia cards on Amazon...I took them to a local print shop and had them blown up...they were hanging through out the lodge.

 

A photo is a great alternative to a guest book! In our case we still had a traditional guest book for people to sign as well...

 

However this book with a copy of the guests pictures glued in and a special message they have written...

 

Is a priceless treasure that my parents will savor forever!

 

I can not tell you the importance of hiring a professional D.J. service for your functions. A good D.J. can make or break a party! Hire A Special Even DJ Service for your next function! They also have the photo booths and many other amenities you can add to your party experience! You will quickly find that your DJ will be a wealth of information for all the other areas of your party that you need to hire...from catering to decorating...to what gets a party going to what kills a party!

  

Transform...turn your food area into a themed part of the party! Sugar Shack is a song from the era of this party....and family members had fun making the sign! 

  

 

Remember to have a place for cards! Even if you specify "no gifts" on a party invite, there will inevitably be some gift givers, make sure you have a space designated for them.

 

Take the party outside! Consider your crowd...if you know you are going to have a lot of energetic youth...set up areas outside for them to run off that energy...and the sugar from the slushie machine. :) We had volleyball and bean bag toss games...as well as plenty of room to run!
 

Professional musicians...hire them! Ok...well....these aren't professionals...but this picture shows you just how hard these boys partied! They had more cupcakes and sugar in one day than they do an entire year!

 

Lastly...hire a photographer to take your candid photos! A lot of time was spent on the details of this party...and a couple hundred people I hadn't seen in years...because I hired a photographer to go around and capture the people and details of the party..I was not stuck behind my phone or camera. Plus...they were good pictures! For this type of photo assignment, finding a photographer that will give you the rights to the pictures and a flash drive with the pictures is ideal! Our photographer happens to also be family...double plus!

 Thank you to all of our family and friends who made this once in a lifetime event a memory we will always cherish!

My 33rd Birthday: The Drinks

 I turned our dining room table into a drink station. We had water, wine, and spiked slushies on this table.

 The wine: we had a moscato, a shiraz, and 2 bottles of Tassel Ridge "Red, White, & Blue"..which tastes like Welches grape juice! Every last drop of the Red White & Blue was drank. Only 1 glass of shiraz was drank....and the moscato was not even opened!

 The centerpieces: We have a tall glass vase which was borrowed from a friend who is having their wedding soon. The flower arrangement was red, but I used purple floral paint to paint over them. The result was an iridescent affect! I then hung crystals from the bottom of the floral arrangement, put a ribbon about 3/4 of the way down...and filled the bottoms of the vases with candy hearts.

 At the far end I have a punch bowl (bought from the local Salvation army for $6!). In it there is 1 can of pineapple frozen juice, 1 can of frozen orange juice, 4 cups vodka. This was all frozen ahead of time. Then you pour 7-Up over it at the end! The problem was that my mixture didn't fully freeze. I was told to put the vodka in before I froze the mix...but alcohol really doesn't freeze well. I was then told that I added TOO much vodka...which is why it didn't freeze. Go figure. It still tasted great though!

 Since this was a spa themed water, I did a refreshing cucumber orange water. Just water with cucumber and orange slices in it! The result is very refreshing! This was a huge hit and every last drop was drank!

 Next we have the beer. My husband has recently started brewing his own beer. In a short amount of time he has become quite good at it. Anything that my husband decides to do...he does to the extreme. If he is going to take the time to do something...he is going to do it well. So he makes kegs instead of bottling individual bottles. Although he has the capability to bottle as well. We have this vintage fridge which we purchased for next to nothing. It is in perfect working condition and even had the original manual!

 He then drilled some holes on the front and the sides...to turn the fridge into a tap for the kegs! We are going to do a chalkboard paint on the front to create nicer labels soon! Right now he has an Imperial Stout, and Octoberfest (girly beer) and just plain ol' Root beer. It all tastes amazing!

 We can even put all of his frosty mugs right into the freezer of this fridge!

Next we have pop! Just bought some fancy flavored sodas from the grocery store!

I found this drink bin at The Pottery Barn. I love the galvanized tub, the stand and most of all the built in bottle opener!

If you are going to have drinks in ice...make sure you keep a towel handy for your guests to wipe down their bottles!

Next post will be about...The pampering!

My 33rd Birthday: The Food

This cake was the stepping off point for the inspiration behind the food at my party. I found it on Pinterest, but I am giving you the link directly to the website which it is based from....because I think credit should be given where it is due!

So my baker, Yumi's Bakery, created a very similar cake. Only they topped it with the lavender roses...and I finished it off my surrounding the base of the cake with the roses as well. Also in this picture you see red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (my favorite), chicken salad sandwiches, meat and cheese platter, veggie platter, freshly made pico de gallo and guacamole, and chips.

On the other side of the island was the chocolate. It was suppose to be a chocolate fountain, but the heater never heated, so we threw the chocolate into a crock pot. Still tasted good! We had salted nut rolls, strawberries, rice krispy treats, pineapple, & bananas for dipping into the chocolate.

 

Don't these strawberries look so fresh and yummy!

 

The inside of the cake! I later heard that one of the guest was just certain that this cake was grape flavored! Nope...it was just white cake with regular frosting inbetween the layers and fondant on the outside. The cake did lean a bit...but still turned out great! I have made these stacked cakes many times before (never with fondant) but one of the most important things is to freeze it every couple of layers..for a couple of hours before adding your new layers. Otherwise you will get a leaning cake. 

 These were mini quiches! They were my favorite right behind the cupcakes!

 In all...the foods were easy to handle, finger foods. The only thing the forks were required for were for the cake. I wanted to create an environment where people mixed and mingled. I pulled all the chairs away from my tables and island and placed them throughout the house. I think all of these foods worked great for this atmosphere!

My next post will be about the party drinks!