One of my projects this summer has been to plan, organize, and design my mother's 60th birthday celebration. The party took place on Saturday and it was a beautiful celebration. It all started out as a simple party consisting of a few friends ... then she gave me her list (120 guests) ... and they all RSVP'd, "yes we're coming!" So, we re-strategized and planned a very large soiree for a very popular lady! The theme for this extravaganza - Garden Party - very fitting, as my parents have recently landscaped their yard and my mother is an avid gardener. The decor consisted of watering cans & jars as flower vases, mini shovels as serving utensils, beautiful paper flowers that my sister created, fresh flowers from the farmers market, Italian cafe lighting overhead and along the patio railings, and various lanterns hanging from trees and along the walkways! The entertainment was a 6 piece Irish Band called the Gas Men, also very fitting as my mother is from Ireland and a very large portion of the guests are from Great Britain and Ireland.
To save on costly items, we were very creative with the setup. Instead of renting 100 chairs, we used the brick wall framing the yard as seating and added cream cushions for comfort, and we used a lot of tall cocktail tables that don't require chairs. We also inquired within our guest list to see if any friends could lend us furniture. Turns out, our friends have quite the selection of banquet tables, chairs, galvanized tubs, and tents! We only had to rent 2 dining tables, 6 cocktail tables, 15 chairs, 2 rounds, and 16 linens - the rest we thankfully borrowed! Since I am waiting to receive several pictures, I am using our inspirational images for examples of how the party looked - stay tuned to see a peak at the party!
