Happy Monday! This past weekend brought us Rosie's Retirement Party! After a little discussion with the clients it became clear that a Hawaiian theme would be perfect! So with the theme set it was easy to start putting together a party plan. Now here is the kicker...we got almost everything from the Dollar Store and our homes in order to dress up this party! Proof that you CAN have a great party and still not spend a fortune.
These little signs were already pre-made at the store. One for each table dressed them up perfectly!
The Tiki God vases are actually glasses I got on a trip last year. When I heard the theme I knew they would work beautifully to hold the multi-colored flatware. Although they may have worked a little too good because a few people overlooked the flatware thinking it was just more color for the table!
The Dollar Store had these adorable Hula Girl paper plates and napkins as well as the Tiki themed plastic trays. They dressed up the table, extended our theme and were easy for clean up.
There were even these little Hawaiian candles. Each stood about 4 inches tall and really did put out a lot of light when we lit them later in the evening. (no they were not citronella, just regular scentless which is great around food!) Notice the flowers behind the candle? Yup, just those inexpensive floral leis you see everywhere tucked around the umbrella pole!
I already had this conch shell and it worked quite well on the cake table. We were even able to get dessert plates in the same pattern as the dinner plates!
You can even find festive paper lanterns at the Dollar Store! We were able to find these that have paper umbrellas on them as well as some with Tiki Gods on them.
If you have an option to dress the area above your head it just adds that much more to your party decor! We used metallic palm trees for one side and then cute signs like this one for the other side of each umbrella pole. We continued to dress up that space with the paper lanterns.
The tables were dressed with colored plastic tablecloths we had slit up to the middle and then wrapped around the umbrella pole and then wrapped with grass skirt tableskirts! One wasn't enough for each table so we wrapped one, using double stick tape, going one direction and then overlapped it again to completely cover the tables. Finally we used plastic tropical leaves to cover the seams and covered where those met the poles with those floral leis and some of the streamers off the metallic palm trees.
We offered two type of drinks. Tory did an amazing job with the water bottle labels. They quickly became the talk of the party. As each new person arrived they were automatically shown the labels! (click on the photo to see the big picture and be able to read the Retirement Facts!) The Guest of Honor laughed till she cried.
We presented them in an ice filled aluminum bucket tucked just a bit under the grass skirts of the tables. They were such a hit that most of the guests saved their bottles to take home with them. It has become a signature touch for us and Tory does such a wonderful job personalizing each label for every one for the events!
The other drink we had was a tropical punch. I found this adorable Hula Girl tray and just knew it would be a great way to present the drinks to the arriving guests! I fell in love with the stir sticks and decided to use them to dress up the plain frosted cups. SO cute!
Ok, so sharing this recipe...it's so easy! Just put together 2 cups of Pineapple Juice, 1 cup Lemonade, 1 cup Raspberry Lemonade, and 2 cups Orange Juice. Put in some ice and some fresh orange slices and you are done! This is SOOOO good! Ok, ok, confession time. We made this up off a recipe we found on Pinterest that also wanted us to add Ginger-ale. We were going to add it at the last minute so the punch would be bubbly but, honestly, we forgot. But the punch is SO good without the soda it wasn't even missed. We WILL be serving this again!
Finger foods were what the guests got to feast upon brought in potluck style by the guests. And it was all truly amazing food! These are two types of turkey pinwheels made to look even more yummy by the use of sliced peppers, cherry tomatoes, lettuce and parsley on the tray. These little details really help you to eat with your eyes before the food even gets to your mouth!
The other side of the same tray were two types of roast beef pinwheels. Giving this type of selection allows your guests who may not care for peppers in their sandwiches to choose the pepper free version. Something for everyone.
And speaking of something for everyone. These veggie filled Afghan pockets were sublime! Perfect for the vegetarians in the group. They were hot, good and very filling!
For a summer evening (it was 95 degrees on the patio) it is wonderful to have cold fresh fruit on the table. This freshly cut ice cold watermelon was so wonderful!
I couldn't wait to share these photos. This is truly how to serve a pre-packed treat. You can get all types of taquitos in bags in the frozen section of your grocery store. But when you go to plate them up fresh from the hot oven, place them on a decorative plate and then sprinkle with grated cheese and then dress the plate up with fresh sliced limes. It proves that you don't have to be a gourmet chef in order to make something look like it came from one!
And I loved these little signs! Used with an erasable marker, these are perfect for whenever you throw a party. In this case they were used to identify the beef or chicken filled taquitos.
Even a veggie tray right from the store can be made to look amazing on the table. I watched how the guest opened up the tray and removed each different item and arranged them upon the bottom tray. And instead of a guest book we had everyone sign a card to Rosie for her to keep.
Even if you are just serving up cold cuts it doesn't mean your tray has to be boring! By placing these little condiment cups in the center of the tray you get extra texture and color to the presentation.
Finally there is cake! You can see close ups of this cake over at Cat's Cakes but this beach themed cake really touched the heart of the Guest of Honor. The little sugar Adirondack sand chair, a fru-fru drink on one arm and her Bible on the other as well as the happy crab and octopus really made her happy. I was even able to match the grass skirt trimmed table with a grass skirt trimmed cake!
This was truly a fun party to put together! I was very happy to be included and to help her friends put together a party that overjoyed Rosie as well as her friends and family and that they had such a wonderful time!
See you next week with an elegant Birthday Party Plan!
Cat
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