I’m very fortunate to have Paula as a wonderful, repeat client and who has welcomed me into the lives of her three adorable and vibrant little girls. Inviting me to be a part of all their special milestones, getting to know them personally and watching them grow into their unique personalities. It has certainly been a gift and treasure to have been able to plan and style the Alves’ sisters birthday celebrations, and little Delia’s since she was 1, and now 4!! I love how their lovely mama Paula is easygoing and effortlessly vibes with my aesthetic, and that she gives me the creative freedom to run with whatever theme idea or often just an inspiration image from another party. I love that! It makes my job so much more fun, and especially now as I’ve also gotten to know the girls better, I make sure their celebrations are uniquely theirs!
And for some unknown reason, Delia’s birthday themes seem to be ones I instantly click with, whether it was her enchanted woodland forest 1st birthday or Ice Cream bash 3rd birthday — her 4th birthday was no exception! Although, I will say I love all the themes I create for these darlings, Olivia certainly has kept me creatively challenged with Dinosaurs and Lego 🙂
Paula sent me an image of a simple not overly theme-y butterfly birthday and I just went with it, choosing to focus on the softness and beauty of Butterflies! As a child, and even now, I’ve always had a fascination with butterflies, so styling a party inspired by these amazing insects became almost an homage to them.
Most designers and stylists will say, you find inspiration in the least likely of places, and the color palette for this butterfly birthday was actually inspired by the soft amber sunset glow in the photographs I took on an afternoon drive while in Portugal. I kept being drawn to this particular image, and when I pinpointed the exact tones and colors the photograph possessed, I knew this was all I needed to create a soothing yet fun Butterfly Garden birthday fit for any little girl.
Then there are the textures and shapes of butterfly wings; they are immensely intricate, full of depth — each one so different and stunning! And along with the color palette, the blend of distinct textures and shapes is exactly what I wanted the styling to focus on. Of course it needed to be done in a natural way, like our beautiful butterflies!!
The dessert table was an ethereal beauty if I say so myself…a gradient light pink fabric draped behind pink and white papel picado streamers, which at first glance reminded me of butterfly wings. Beyond Linen Rental provided this gorgeous and ultra lux feeling pink velvet linen, that draped so lovingly over the table, wrapping around the spot on custom chalkboard by Chalkboard Memories. She perfectly captured the color palette, don’t you think?!!
Jamm Events did an amazing job with the cake and desserts, as usual! Chocolate covered pretzels, sweet tiny rose decorated cake pops and darling marble Butterfly sugar cookies captured the varying tones in our color palette in the most loveliest of ways. But the cake! Oh, that cake!!! It is simply beautiful! I provided her with the feather butterflies, and she worked her magic, arranging them so gorgeously onto the cake as if the butterflies were naturally flying and migrating within Nature!!
Hints of warm golden sun palm leaves, a lush textured floral arrangement in a geometric shaped ceramic vase, rose gold geo shapes and light natural woods, were all that was needed to complete the dessert table’s look of delicate texture — just like a butterfly’s wings!
Ahh but the etherealness, that certainly came from the billows of baby’s breath bunched together and draped atop the table. Wisps of baby’s breath became like a pretty cloud above sweet hanging white butterflies…
May you always
Be Brave
enough to Fly…
Our photo booth was certainly the eye-catcher of the party! It’s not that the dessert table wasn’t stunning, but, it’s hard to miss a grand backdrop of beautiful butterflies reflective of those soft amber sunset hues, so vibrantly and yet so delicately adorned with the same papel picado streamers resembling wings in shades of pink, white and orange, and even more beautiful paper butterflies in the same color palette.
A gorgeous ode to the magnificent Butterfly indeed!! I didn’t want to take away from any of the backdrop elements, so we styled it with another lush floral arrangement atop a rattan round for that added textural element, a few stems of the warm and soothing terra-cotta toned sun palms and a darling handprinted wood sign.
Has your eye caught all the beautiful colored and shaped butterflies spread througougt the decor spaces? A butterfly garden simply wouldn’t be complete without them flying, and resting, freely onto the tables, photo booth and wherever they saw fit. Like on the Welcome Sign that resembled the sweet invitation, to the floral card box fit with a darling message.
After all, children’s birthdays should always be amazing!!
I can’t say that these floral centerpieces are my absolute favorite since I’ve created so many beauties over the years, but they certainly rank pretty high up there! I certainly let my creativity run wild with these, allowing my heart and soul to guide me, as butterflies often do when roaming the Earth. These pretty geometric shaped ceramic vases were the perfect pairing to the rich textured floral blend of :: Quicksand and Amnesia Roses, Peachy Pink Carnations, White Ranunculus, Baby’s Breath, Dried Bleached Grasses, Italian Ruscus and Pink and Golden Terracotta Sun Palm Leaves.
I loved how the different tones and shapes, blended so naturally perfect together — a lovely compliment to the textured dusty rose and dusty blue table linens.
And the Alves’ sister certainly know how to make sure all their friends have lots of fun at their birthdays! Cotton Candy Clowns serendipitously has the most perfectly themed bounce house…a Butterfly Garden Dollhouse! I couldn’t have made one more fitting to the theme if I tried, especially one with similar colors. It’s not often you find a nice looking bounce house for a children’s party, we definitely lucked out!!
The bounce house is always a hit with Delia and her friends, and when they weren’t releasing all their fun energy, they were coloring their very own butterfly wings while wearing pretty sequin butterfly masks, just happily flying about and having fun!
Now as our world of events has been darkened; weddings, showers and birthday celebrations paused for months, I am beyond grateful that we were able to put this all together and celebrate darling Delia turning 4!! Because had it been a week or two later, all the beautiful memories and details — all the work, the heart and care that went into creating this party would have never happened…And I’m soo grateful, and even more excited to be able to share it with you today!!
Styling, Planning, Flowers + Backdrops : Dreamery Events | Photography : Maklian Photography | Cake + Small Custom Desserts : Jamm Events | Table Linens : Beyond Linen Rental | Signs : Dreamery Events | Custom Chalkboard : Chalkboard Memories | Butterfly Dollhouse Bounce House : Cotton Candy Clowns | Catering : Valenca Restaurant | Venue : Sport Club Portuguese Newark | Invitations : Minted | Paper Butterfly Garlands : Oriental Trading | Cake Butterflies : CraftCabaret | Butterfly Sequin Masks : Oriental Trading | White Butterfly Garland : The Purple Dream | Vases + Sun Palm Leaves : Afloral |
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