Champagne and Cupcakes

I suppose if one must turn thirty-five, marking the occasion with a fabulous fete thrown by a thoughtful Honey and attended by the best besties would absolutely be the way to do it.  So, on 3/5 we celebrated my 35th birthday in said fashion.  Honey reserved the private party room at our favorite small plates piano bar for the champagne and cupcake birthday soiree.  And it was certainly a convivial celebration.

About two seconds after Honey mentioned wanting to throw lil’ old me a party, I hopped on the phone with Courtland at Savannah’s Number Four Eleven.  I’ve wanted her to design my custom monogram for ages, so, armed with the party excuse, I didn’t waste a minute convincing Honey that it was an essential element to my birthday fete.  I almost died when she presented this stunning Alexa Pulitzer-esque custom monogram.  SO perfect on SO many levels!  And now I can use it on every other paper good and monogrammable surface in my home!!! *swoon*

With the monogram in hand and my Lilly party dress on the hanger, my next stop was friend Callie over at calliespondence.  Although sister and I did a brief stint as co-owners of a custom paper business, I didn’t want a to-do list miles long and days of work and preparation before the (rare) party in my honor.  Callie  married one of Honey’s fraternity brothers, is mommy a darling son, owns an amazing custom paper biz AND writes a splendidly stylish must read blog.  Not only was she a doll to work with, but she exceeded all of my expectations with these deliciously chic invitations.  Everything from the dull gold envelope to the pink geometric liner to her signature wrap around address label was just perfection. 

So, while Red Sky was taking care of the champagne and Callie had the invitations, the cupcakes were the one thing on my to-do list.  The night before the party, my ever-so-helpful mother rushed into town to help bake the little confections, assemble tissue pom toppers and wrap them in Cupcake Concepts’ pretty paper liners.  I was only marginally successful at photographing and documenting the construction of the poms, seeing as they turned out to be quite the devil to make.  More on that later this week…

When I ran across the bright pink lacquered frame on sale for ten dollars at Hobby Lobby, I couldn’t resist. So, inspired by my love of the Keep Calm and Carry On posters and my brand spanking new frame, I whipped up the Eat Cupcakes sign during Cookie’s nap last week to finish out the display.  For anyone wanting to create your own variation of the poster, there are a few must-dos (as far as I’m concerned): 1) Use a sans serif font (I used Gill Sans), 2) Always have a white border and white copy on a colored background, 3) Ensure the spacing and sizing is in the right proportion to the image.

I really, really wanted to use my new monogram on the napkins so I was just as pleased as punch when the Paper Affair had a half off Groupon ($40 for $20) right in the nick of time.  I rushed over there right after purchasing it and got a hundred napkins in brushed gold and a hundred in black (for the basement) for fifteen dollars after the deal!!!  *squeal*

After discussing various options over numerous days with sister, I settled on a Southern crowd pleaser that is also a family birthday tradition – two count boxes of original glazed Krispy Kreme donuts.  After explicit instruction and a hands-on demonstration, Daddy-O kindly wrapped the sweet confections in kraft paper, topped them with bright pink bulletin board paper (that I just happened upon at Lakeshore Learning Center last week) and finished them off with circle monogram labels.

Monograms, invitations, cupcakes and favors aside, it was having Honey, sister and and her mister and most of my closest friends there that made the night.  I couldn’t help but feel lucky and loved as I looked around the room at the stylish lot of them laughing, drinking, toasting and chatting, knowing that they all hired sitters and many traveled clear across town on a cold, rainy night just to celebrate ME.  Wow.

Thanks y’all for once again being the best besties and the most fantastic family a girl could ever want.  I’m about to hit the hay after a yummy Sunday Supper with sister, her mister and baby Bird at Houston’s.

xoxo

PS. I think we captured all the gals in attendance in at least one pic with the exception of sweet friend M.  Boo.

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11 thoughts on “Champagne and Cupcakes

  1. HAPPY 35th!!! You just reminded me that I'll be turning 35 this year…but not until December. Looks like you had the PERFECT party and so much fun!!! LOVE every detail!

  2. oh my goodness!! Lilly?? yes please, adore the colors and I have been DYING for one of those monograms!!!! happy happy birthday to you!!

  3. Happy Birthday and thanks for being such a special friend over the past 17 years! (dang – that makes us sound really old!) The party was Amanda-fabulous!! love you! xoxo

  4. I know I am a little late, but I just started following your blog! LOVE IT! I am in love with your custom monogram. I was wondering if you bring all your items to No. Four Eleven to monogram everything or if they give you copy right of it? I am DYING to get one for my home! Love your blog!

  5. Hi Ashley – I do use them but its convenient for me since I'm there. I know that they will give you the file so I'd call them to get all the details and make sure it will work for you :-). Amanda

  6. Love your Blog and have been following you for a few months. I am interested in your custom monogram which is beautiful. Is this yours and your husband's first initials or your first and last initial?? Which initials are you using? Thanks for sharing!
    Tami

    1. Thanks Tami :-). As luck would have it, it's my first initial (a) and the w is both Honey's first and our last. I would go w each person's first if it didn't work that way. xo

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