My friend Michelle (we had gone bridal dress shopping with her recently, see here) reached out to our group of girlfriends to put together a surprise dinner for our friend Kaisa's 30th birthday. She was thinking of getting together table setting rentals, balloons and catering, focusing around a theme of rose and yellow gold, and a touch of glitz and glam - and I knew exactly who to go to for rentals, Lily Oliver Vintage Rentals of course; the lovely ladies behind the rentals company that styled my bridal party reveal. Since it would be a small party of about 10 people, and planning and tasks were split between three of us girls (Michelle, Marissa and I), we knew we could execute this swiftly (especially with a pinterest board for inspiration).

LOCATION

Originally, we were going to have the party at Michelle's house in LA, but since we couldn't transport the table and chairs that I had at my house, and Kaisa's 8 months pregnant - we decided it best to host the party at my house and move it up to late lunch time (it gets cold and dark so early now). I love hosting events and such in my patio space because it's just open and enclosed enough and has a beamed patio cover which makes it easy to hang decorations from.

DECOR

Everything game together nicely with the touches of rose and yellow gold from the plates, votives, balloons, sequin backdrop and desserts. The floral arrangements were bursting with shades of blush pinks and pops of deep magenta which contrasted nicely. We included three arrangements on the main table (2 larger arrangements framing 1 smaller arrangement in the center) with votives and confetti sprinkled down the center of the table. We threw in extra flatware into a mercury glass vase and placed it amongst the center piece. I noticed that the space was limited in the center due to the charger plates and glasses, therefore if you find yourself in that predicament and can't fit larger vases, you can create smaller floral arrangements to disperse throughout the center of the table. We also added a touch of floral to the cake/dessert table. Golden 'Happy Birthday' letter balloons were hung in front of a rose gold sequin backdrop, large 3-0 balloons above the cake/dessert table (which was adorned by a rose gold sequin table cloth) and shades of pink as well as the gold confetti balloons floating above the space.

FOOD & BEVERAGE

For the guests, we set up a mimosa bar cart including prosecco and three juice options in carafes as well as three fresh fruit garnishing options. We also had other sparkling fruit beverage options (blood orange and lemonades) for the mom to be, and she could top off her sparkling drinks with fresh fruit.
We started with a charcuterie (cheeses, meats, brioche toasts and pita crisps from Trader Joe's) served on a wooden slab board; then enjoyed Stonefire Grill's breadsticks, salad, mashed potatoes, BBQ tri-tip and garlic chicken for dinner. We ended with Kaisa's Happy Birthday song over a fresh berry cake covered in pink frosting and metallic gold and silver edible beads. The cake was accompanied by the yummiest hand painted and '30' adorned cookies and a side of macarons.

Kaisa had the loveliest surprise (she thought her husband was taking her to a restaurant and she had been blindfolded with a scarf for the car ride to the surprise spot) and it was nice to be able to all spend time together celebrating such an amazing friend. For details on styling a similar dining event, see below:

Event Details & Supplies

Mylar '30' Balloons (Inflated by Party City along with the a 5 or so confetti balloons for $10)
Latex Balloons (we got a handful of balloons from Party City)
Latex Balloons w/Confetti
Happy Birthday Mylar Balloons
Photography Backdrop Stand
Rose Gold Backdrop
Rose Gold Circular Table Cloth
Glittery 'Thirty' Cake Topper

Blush Goblets | Salad & Dinner Plates, Lily Oliver Vintage Rentals
Gold Charger Plates & Brocade Silk Napkins, Cake Stands (Lily Oliver Vintage Rentals also provides Charger Plates for rental, the chargers and napkins used in this party are from home)
Mercury Glass Votives
Disposable Gold Flatware
Flowers, OC Wholesale Flowers, arranged by Marissa's mom
Floral Vases, Shinoda Design Center

Cake and Cookies, A Milly Sweets
Catering, Stonefire Grill
Charcuterie and Macarons, Trader Joe's