Sweet Georgia Sweet

Monday, May 18, 2015

Oliver's Our Little Duckling Adoption Party

Eight months have passed since Oliver was born. Eight glorious, precious, life changing, beautiful (okay and unbelievably hard) months have passed since our curly headed, dimple faced baby boy bounced into our world, our lives, our hearts. And it was high time we celebrated him!!!! We threw a double celebration for Oliver commemorating both his adoption and his baby dedication. It was a semi-small (our families are huge, so small never really happens) event held at the grandparents house. It was a beautiful day! And we had the sweetest of times.

For obvious reasons, the dessert table is my favorite part of any celebration. And for other sweets lovers, it's your favorite as well; hopefully you exercise more than I do though. THE CAKE: I have this obsession with icing and two tiered cakes and Kathi (My Sweet Things) knew just how to make me swoon. Look at those perfect vertical ruffles, that darling shade of soft yellow, and the yellow ombre layers. THE CAKE POPS: Little duckling cake pops. Um, need I say more? Have you ever seen anything so precious as those that Nicole (Bella's Bakery) made for us? I am still crying sad little tears over the fact that I didn't get to taste a single cake pop! While I was busy hostessing, every single one of those cake pops vanished. THE COOKIES: If you have seen some of our other parties, you will remember seeing cookies from Nicole (Crumbles) before. Now with Nicole's cookies, I have wised up and I always stash away one or two for me to have after the celebration. To say that her cookies taste good is a serious understatement; they are incredible!!!! This year I discovered that Nicole also makes macarons; and well, macarons, are an indulgence that I don't get very often, so I knew I wanted to include those as well. THE MARSHMALLOWS: I have followed Autumn (Sparkling Sweets Boutique) on Instagram for a long time, and I just swoon at all of her yummy desserts. When I asked for some light yellow marshmallow pops, Autumn created exactly what I wanted. Aren't they beautiful? THE FONDANT DUCKLINGS: Make sure you oogle those itty, bitty fondant ducks topping the petit fours. Brittany (Edible Details) crafted the most darling little ducklings; check out the little details she etched into them. So precious! THE CUPCAKES: I'm not sure why I can't throw a party without cupcakes, but I just can't. It's an impossibility. And cupcakes need decorations too. I fell in love with the cupcake toppers and wrappers (Loralee Lewis) that matched perfectly with our party invitation, so that was a must have for Mr. Oliver's first Mommy-thrown party. THE DRINKS: And, finally, it's not dessert, but it's an essential pairing to sweets. Milk! I am in love with those vintage glass milk bottles from Kate Aspen. They were simply perfect for the children at our celebration, and I even caught a few adults sipping them down as well.

Since we celebrated outside, I wanted to make sure that all of our guests had places to sit and enjoy being together. I created the centerpieces (Sweet Georgia Sweet) and offset them on either side with white flowers and greenery (Bloomfield Plantation.) Each guests place was set with darling, whimsical polka dot cups and napkins (The TomKat Studio.) Make sure you check out the detail on the straws (More Sprinkled Joy.) I also hand crafted a wreath (Sweet Georgia Sweet) from yellow seersucker for Ollie's special celebration. There are few things that say "Southern summer" quite like seersucker. Lastly, Walker is always asking to match with his baby brother. Their darling matching yellow gingham outfits were so sweet and blended beautifully with the party.

Photography

Lisa Housman of Party of 7 Photography

Party Styling

Bethany Farrar of Sweet Georgia Sweet

Desserts

Cake - My Sweet Things

Cookies and Macarons - Crumbles

Cake Pops - Bella's Bakery and Bowtique

Marshmallow Pops - Sparkling Sweets Boutique

Fondant duck toppers - Edible Details

Bubblegum balls - The TomKat Studio

Cupcake toppers - Loralee Lewis

Decor

Invitation - Loralee Lewis

Wreath and Topiary Centerpieces - Sweet Georgia Sweet

Milk Glass Bottles - Kate Aspen

Fringe Garland, Cups, Napkins - The TomKat Studio

Paper Fans - Kara's Party Ideas the shop

Honeycomb Balls - DecoPoms

Straws - More Sprinkled Joy

Flowers - Bloomfield Plantation

Monday, February 23, 2015

Walker's 8th Birthday LEGO PARTY!

As most of you know, our sweet boy, Walker, joined our family at the adorable age of 5 via the beauty of adoption. He spent his first several birthdays without the love and care of an adoring Mommy & Daddy, so it's understandable that we kinda make a big-to-do of birthdays in our house. It is so fun to celebrate our precious boy! He is always so eager to help me plan (this year he even sketched out his decorations) and pull the whole party together. He jumped up and down and smiled from ear to ear as he saw his party sketch becoming a reality. We had a blast!!!!

When Walker chose a Lego theme for his 8th birthday, it seemed a perfect fit. He & his Daddy love to spend their free time building & creating Lego masterpieces. Our first order of duty was to find the perfect invitation for Walker's big day. After scouring the web, we finally decided on a fun boxed invitation from IDEA Event Style. These creative invites were a great way to set the tone & theme of his party, and the kiddos loved them!

I wanted to create a modern feel for Walker’s party, so I decorated with lots of white & then added in pops of those classic Lego colors - red, yellow, blue, and green. I decided to use honeycomb balls on the backdrop for a crisp, mod feel. Stampin Fanatic created Lego heads and Lego blocks which we used as decoration on the lunch boxes and milk bottles. The confetti filled balloons were a fun & whimsical touch. Custom party hats from Emerald Cove Designs were a fabulous addition to our decorations. I also created a personalized Lego inspired banner for Walker. He loved it, & even hung his banner in his room after the party.

The focal point of the dessert table was a two-tier cake from My Sweet Things, and we topped the cake off with an edible fondant topper by none other than Roni Sugar Creations. Roni worked meticulously to create a personalized Lego man complete with a W for Walker and the number 8. The fondant cupcake toppers from Pattycakes and the cake pops by Brandi at Painted and Sprinkled were loved by all. I loved the white chocolate rice krispy treats made by Sweet U Off Your Feet; they reminded me of a Lego block. And cookies from Crumbles by Nicole are an absolute necessity; her Lego man cookies were delicious & adorable. Each child also received a custom candy wand party favor created by the talented Lisa Frank of Hand Crafted Parties.

We had such a wonderful time celebrating our sweet Walker. It's hard to believe that he is already 8 years old. What a joy & a blessing he is to us. I couldn't imagine our lives without him!