Rebecca's 50th Birthday Party
In June our mom tuned 50! Since 3 of the 4 sisters live out-of-state, we knew this would be a tricky party to throw, but were up for the challenge.
We started with the setting. What kind of party did we want this to be? Intimate and fancy? Large and casual? Who all did we want to be invited? Siblings only? Close friends and family?
The setting of a party is key, it is what you base your decisions off of for the rest of the event. After mulling it over we decided we want to be able to invite those that were close to my mom over the years. Neighbors, family, friends, you name it! Even though there would be a lot of people invited, we wanted the feel of the party to be intimate and convenient for those that would attend. We decided my parents yard would be ideal for these two goals.
Next, we debated if we wanted this to be a surprise party or not. Ultimately, we decided it would be fun for our mom to be able to help with the invite list and make sure we remembered everyone. The invite list was the only thing our mom knew about. We kept the rest a surprise!
Third, we needed to plan out the food. Since the majority of sisters live away, we decided we needed to cater the event. The feel we were going for was "outdoorsy, summer night, and casual." Picking the caterer needed to fit this criteria.
We decided to go with our cousin (okay, perhaps we are a little biased, but after you taste her sugar cookies you'll pick her for your next catering event too), Steffanie Lewis of Gatherings Delivered. {If you are in the Salt Lake Area, you should check her out!} Steffanie was really great at listening to what we had in mind for the food and then giving us some great options. Basically, we told her we wanted appetizers and desserts and this is what she came up with:
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| Veggie Cups |
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| Seven-layer Dip with Chips |
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| Bacon-Wrapped Water Chestnuts |
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| Cheese ball with Crackers |
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| Sugar Cookies |
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| Cheesecake |
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| Chocolate and Lemon Magleby's Cake (we picked this up from Magleby's in Orem, Utah) |
My mouth is watering just looking at those photos!
Fourth, for decorations we wanted something that definitely said "happy 50th birthday" (aka black balloons) but in a classy, upbeat way. We decided to get all of our party decor from the Oh Happy Day Shop, We love Oh Happy Day! Here are the black balloons, yellow balloons, sunshine yellow cups, the painted floral plates (pictured above), the painted floral napkins, and "50" silver balloons.
Lastly, it was really important to us to have this event documented. Mostly so our mom can have photos to look back on in years to come, but partially because we (the-sisters-that-planned-the-event-but-didn't-actually-attend-the-event) wanted to see the fruits of our labors. There is nothing worse then getting to the end of an event and realizing you don't have any pictures of said event. Not only did we want pictures, but we wanted good quality pictures. Can I get an amen sista'?
We opted for our childhood friend, Angela {Rowberry} Hatch to come photograph the event. She has turn photography into quite the art and now does it for a living: Angela Hatch Photography. {If you are in the Salt Lake Area, you should check her out!}
We loved how the night turned out! Thanks to Gatherings Delivered and Angela Hatch Photography for making it such a special night!
I also think that this party would have been so tricky to throw as 3 of the 4 sisters live out-of-state. But I must say that you all nailed this party. Loved everything about it! Food is so yummy and party venue is just perfect. At the private parties Los Angeles venue I am also thinking to host such a fun birthday party for my mom. Thanks for the inspiration dear!
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