A "Pretty Dress" Party

I think I may still be in a bit of denial, but it's official, my baby is three. And in true Peanut form, we celebrated in style! Having watched and listened to me plan countless parties, Peanut was not short on opinions when it came time for her big day. As much as I tried to sway her with my suggestions, Peanut knew just what she wanted for her birthday party - A Pretty Dress Party! Huh? In the middle of August? No pool party? How about mermaids? A luau?

Pretty Dress it was! Peanut was also sure that she wanted a picture of herself on the invitation, wearing a pretty dress, of course. Not wanting to use a photograph on the invite (I like to save that for the thank you notes), I decided to draw and digitally color an image of Peanut instead. Once that was approved by the birthday girl ("that's me mama! thank you, thank you!"), we decided on a color scheme of pink and yellow. Peanut wanted pink and I added the yellow because it's a fresh and pretty combination for summer. See, you can successfully collaborate with a soon-to-be three year old!

In our house, the decor for any party starts with tissue poms. At this point, I think my kids would be offended if these were not included in the party plan.

Another mainstay in party decor is a banner (or two!). We hang banners in this spot so often that my husband added nails painted the color of the wall permanently affixed on either side of this entry because he was tired of the little tack holes. 

Banner close-up.

The party was planned for outdoors, but the day was so oppressively hot that we brought all food and drink inside so that it all stayed cool. The beverage bar was a great way to highlight the pink and yellow color scheme!

Tags were made to coordinate with the invites and attached with ribbon.

The tags also served to distinguish the adult beverages from the children.

Target Dollar Spot straws were embellished with polka dot flags.

The birthday girl used a personalized aluminum water bottle that coordinated perfectly with her party, of course.

Even the sandwich platter wore a pretty dress! I attached long bath poufs (another dollar spot item!) that looked just like skirt ruffles to cardboard platter rounds and stacked them to form a leveled platter.

Party favors were displayed in cardstock boxes. I had planned to design boxes to coordinate with the invites, but when I saw these from Style Me Pretty, I thought that the varied designs would be even better! I downloaded them here, then just adjusted the colors slightly to match.

Inside the boxes, these adorable rings for the girls made from beautiful cabachons that I found (score!) and saltwater taffy for the boys.

Here is the birthday girl modeling her rings.

She how hot it was outside? Empty chairs!

The cake got all dressed up for the occasion as well!

At the end of the day, the birthday girl could not have been happier.

But all this excitement can be exhausting!

This party was so much fun to put together because it was a true collaboration with my little birthday girl who truly loved and appreciated every last detail. The pink and yellow color scheme is absolutely one of my favorite combinations. It is fresh and pretty, making the elements of the party easily adaptable for a bridal shower, baby shower, adult birthday or wedding.