It started with a dress

So excited that my Great Gatsby party was featured on 100 Layer Cake. It's so fun to think that it all started with a dress that I simply needed an excuse to buy... Well that excuse turned into some inspiration (and cute threads) for my Roaring Mid-20's birthday party! I had so much fun and was able to spend it with some great friends who were good sports about getting all dolled up. Aren't they adorable? Anyhow, enjoy my #throwbackthursday Instagram round up from that party and be sure to follow me @sugarandsoirees for sneak peeks and a look behind-the-scenes on things coming up!

My Roaring Mid-20's

Reaching my mid-20’s was a huge deal for me. I don’t know if it’s a girl thing, but there’s something a little scary about life after 25. All of a sudden you’re in your late 20’s, on the fast track to 30, and you've hit what my barely-20's sibling and cousin consider old. I know that type of thinking is absolutely ridiculous because I've found that the life experience that comes with getting older contributes so much more to a woman's self-worth than any wrinkle can ever take away, but if I’m being completely honest, it was something that was on my mind.

So instead of obsessing over the inevitability of aging, I decided to live it up with some close friends and family in celebration of this monumental year. The look of the Roaring 20’s is incredibly classy and timeless so when the Great Gatsby movie came out, I was inspired. That and the fact that I needed an excuse to buy a dress - but that'll be another post!

There is so much luxury and opulence that is often tied to this type of inspiration that it's easy to go over the top. Instead, I focused on a more minimalist approach and utilized pieces to draw on that era - art deco inspired stands, crystal elements in the fixtures, feathers, and tassels. I love the vintage pieces that were mixed in as well.

Everyone knows that I love my sweets so I focused on the dessert table. Guests helped themselves to birthday cake, assorted candy, french macarons, cake pops, and cake bites. After lunch and desserts, popcorn was made available to guests to snack on during a screening of the film. It was a roaring good time! Be on the lookout for another post with a roundup of some photos I’ll be #throwbackthursday-ing on Instagram! Follow me @sugarandsoirees

I was able to work with some amazing vendors so be sure to check out their links after all the pictures!

VENDOR CREDITS:
Event Styling and Coordination - Sugar and Soirées
Photography - Rachel Manning Photography 
Vintage Rentals - Etablir Shop
Cake  - Marinold Cakes
Cake Pops - Melanie Rose Baking
French Macarons - Desiree Dacasin

The Power of a Flower

What little girl doesn't love flowers? They come in all kinds of colors and shapes and they smell AMAZING! I am obsessed with the LA Flower District. I love turning onto Wall St when the smell of fresh flowers immediately fills your car. It instantly brightens my entire day and is a very welcomed change of pace from the other smells that can be found in downtown LA.

I was tickled pink at all the blooms that awaited me at part 2 of the joint birthday party. For those that follow me on Instagram, you know that I've been busy crafting paper flowers and I am so very proud of how beautiful the rose arch turned out. They matched perfectly with the pink ombre color scheme and with the paper flower bouquets my aunt, Marivic of Marinold Cakes made. Speaking of flowers she made, check out all the amazing blooms that can be found on the framed pictures of the celebrant on the main cake, the square rosette cake, and the cookies. I still can't believe she made the sweets for both parties!

Another flower feature that I loved working on was the pink baby's breath letters that hung above the candy bar. Guests had no problem cleaning out both the dessert table and candy bar. Candies coordinated with the gold, white, and ombre pink color palette; they included sixlets, chocolate balls, gum balls, chocolate kisses, jelly beans, salt water taffy, and Ferrero Rocher. It was truly a sweets spectacular for an even sweeter little girl - Happy 7th Birthday Mia!

Bow Ties are Cool

Last weekend was quite a weekend for Sugar and Soirées. Not only did we complete our first boy party, but it was also our first joint birthday party. Setting up for two completely different themes was quite a task but we're so pleased with how it turned out. Today I'm proud to share with you Gabriel's 10th birthday Dessert table. The theme was a mix of Steampunk elements and Dr. Who - none of which I was familiar with. Internet searches and pinning led to some great ideas. If you follow us on Instagram, you will find the completed gear candy bar tags. I think they compliment the extra large mason jars so perfectly.

I had so much fun collaborating with my oh so talented aunt - Marivic of Marinold Cakes. Can you believe she did the cake, cookies, and cupcakes for both parties?! She's amazing! Details to look out for include the assorted cookies, bow tie print, steampunk clock, cupcakes, and candy bar. The color pallet included Tardis Blue, Shades of Brown, Gold, Copper, Black, and Pops of Red. The candy bar featured salt water taffy, chocolate coins, kisses, truffles, gummy bears, toffee, swirl pops, and Ferrero Rocher. Flavors included Chocolate Hazelnut, Caramel, Milk Chocolate, Black Cherry, Blue Raspberry, and Toffee. It was all so delicious! Such a fun party both plan to attend - Thank you for checking it out and Happy 10th Birthday Gabriel!!

Garden Themed 1st Birthday

This last weekend I had the opportunity to travel to San Diego to help my dear friend Joy with her daughter's 1st birthday party. Our families have remained close over the years - her father is my brother's god-father and our mothers were best friends back in the day. I've always considered Joy to be like an older sister to me and it has been so fun to watch as she's become a successful clinical psychologist, loving wife, and now 1st time mom. You can only imagine my excitement when I had the chance to to help her with the dessert table for Amelia's 1st birthday and baptism celebration.

The party had a garden theme with a pink and gold color palette. The backdrop consisted of paper lanterns and tissue paper poms in various shades of pink. I love how the poms resemble flowers and that the custom birthday banner added the perfect pop of gold. The dessert table featured an all pink candy bar as well as baked desserts. The birthday cake by Marinold Cakes was a sweet design of lace and bows in pink and white. The mini chocolate chip cookies were homemade.The gold vases with pink gerber daisies and carnations in the petites fleurs crate added an elegant touch in keeping to the garden theme.

Additional details to look out for are the gold painted mason jars with pink and white flower arrangements that were done Joy's friend Liza and were the centerpieces for the tables. The favor consisted of stamped muslin bags filled with seeds. They were arranged on the wooden herb garden set up. I adore how the paper roses I wrapped the sides with turned out. They transformed an otherwise rustic piece into looking sweet and dainty. I love the overall look and am thrilled that Joy was happy with the dessert table. Happy 1st birthday dear Amelia! I look forward to watching you and Kaylen grow in the years to come.

VENDOR CREDITS:
Dessert Table Styling - Sugar and Soirées
Birthday Cake - Marinold Cakes
Birthday Banner - Little Retreats

Milk and Cookies Birthday Social

Last year, we didn't really get to celebrate my husband's birthday with our daughter's birth and all... so this year Ryan wanted to have a few friends over to celebrate. This was a last minute decision. As in the week before this little shindig was to take place. For most people that is probably not a big deal but for me, that made my mind reel and I went right into planning mode.

To keep things simple, I knew I was only going to serve dessert but the thought of a traditional dessert table seemed too girly and just serving cake seemed way too simple to me. So I focused on one of Ryan's favorite sweets - cookies. We served 3 of his favorite kinds - Burt's Bomb Diggity Chocolate Chip Cookies, Molasses Cookies, and Oreos (his absolute favorite). I baked the cookies myself and even dressed up some of the Oreos with the help of a handy dandy cookie mold and white chocolate.

The recipe for the Molasses Cookies and a tutorial on how to make the Oreos can be found on my Pinterest. The chocolate chip cookies are actually a secret family recipe that my father-in-law doesn't give out. If I can ever convince him to one day give me the ok to share it, I'll be sure to do a feature on how to make them because they are sooo good.

I kept the decor simple and rustic, utilizing a blue and white color palette with pops of silver and brown. I had plain milk in glass bottles that were on ice in a galvanized tub from Etablir Shop. Chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry mixes were available so our guests could flavor their milk to their own preference. Instead of cake, we served cupcakes that I dressed up with some DIY'ed mini paper fans that I made to coordinate with the paper fans used in the background. Overall, I think it all came together nicely and Ryan was happy that I was able to pull together his 'man' party haha. We had a great time with some friends we haven't seen in a while and we're blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful company. Happy Birthday Ryan!

 

Kaylen's Mermaid 1st Birthday

When Kaylen was born last summer, I knew I wanted to do an outdoor celebration for her 1^st birthday. Living in Southern California, the beach quickly became a natural fit for the venue. The mermaid theme emerged upon inspiration from a mint and purple swim suit that I knew would be perfect for Kaylen. With the help of Pinterest, the ideas quickly came to life.

When it comes to kids parties I don’t like to take the theme too literally. I feel like there is a very fine line between pretty and too kiddie. In fact, you won’t find any actual mermaids anywhere in this party. Instead, I focused on mermaid-like elements like the mermaid “tail” tier of the birthday cake and the fun mermaid hair chalking station. I utilized other elements of the ocean to create a cohesive feel – sea shells, sea creatures, sand, bubbles, and loose gems.

I got to get down and DIY dirty by crafting the tassel garland, making the white chocolate sea shells for favors in upcycled baby food jars, re-purposing additional jars for simple centerpieces, and coordinating a candy bar onto the dessert table. I absolutely love how the party turned out and all of our guests had a blast at the beach. I am so very thankful to my wonderful vendors for their amazing talent. Make sure to check out the links to their work below!

VENDOR CREDITS:
Party Design and Styling - Sugar and Soirées
Photography - Jessica Downey Photo
Decorated Cookies and Ruffled Smash Cake - Marinold Cakes
French Macarons - Merely Sweets
Paper Straws - Spiral Sage