Under the Sea

In April we celebrated Caroline's 3rd birthday 

with a whimsical "Under the Sea" inspired soiree.  

We used a color palette of light blues, turquoise 

and silver throughout and we're so pleased 

with the way it all came together.

We wanted to stay away from the typical "Little Mermaid" decorations (although who doesn't love Ariel) and go with a little more unique, stylized approach.

We tried to bring in natural elements like driftwood, seashells, lots of sand and fresh flowers to enhance the decorations.  

The only thing we weren't prepared for was the wind.  It's so hard to plan a party outside, but we know that weather can be unpredictable- and it was a chance we were willing to take.  

You will notice in a lot of the photos, the decorations are a 
little windblown.  We just tried to imagine that we were 
on a beach somewhere enjoying the salty sea breeze!

This was a picture a portion of our food table.  I found the printables on Etsy and used them 

throughout the event.  I love using a designer who has a whole range of party products so you 

can have that continuity from start to finish.  In this case; the invitations, party favor bucket tags, 

the food tent cards, the personalized banner, the game prize tags, the crayon bags and the 

numerous 8x10 signs all coordinated and I was so pleased with the way they turned out.

 Here are some 
examples of the 
printable items 
in use.

My mother-in-law made 

all the amazing cookies at the party and was incredibly involved in the entire planning process.  I could not have done it without her.  Thank you Mimi!!!

And here is the birthday girl holding up one of her prizes!  

We had a fishing game complete 
with bamboo poles where each 
child was able to catch a "fish" 
to take home with them

(actually... they just caught play fish in a bar of glycerin soap).  

What's better than having soap that 

your children actually want to play with?

Nothing says a "day by the ocean" like a Steel Drum band!  

We had Cecil Francis from Austin Community Steelband come out and he and an apprentice kept the guests dancing all afternoon.  They were such a highlight of the party and totally set the mood!

This was the party 
favor table.  We used palm fronds for the canopy and had her name spelled out in wooden letters along with a turquoise mermaid to boot!

This was a picture of the front lawn and some of the 
children's activities.  There was the "S.S. Caroline" boat that 
was filled with sand and buried treasures for the children to find.  
There was an "Octo-toss" game in the back of the 
picture, along with the photo booth area in the far right.

Here is a closer picture of our octopus ring toss game!  

We had a few high school students help with each of the game stations, and that freed us up to tend to other areas of the party.


The games kept the children entertained so the adults could
have a little time to chat with one another, as well.  

This was one of the prize tables for the games.  

This was our fishing game and the kids probably had the most fun at this station!

Such precious kiddos.

The food table turned out really nicely.  I wish the wind wouldn't have been blowing our "sea kelp" streamers all over the place, but what do you do?

I loved the way the carrot "crab claws" in the hummus "sand" turned out!  So many fun ways to tie in food with the theme.  I wish I would have had a bigger table.

The shell topped toothpicks were 
another Etsy find.  

Simple things like adding 
pearls to silverware can 
really make an impact.

The guests were all sent their invitations in a bottle and you can see an example of one of the invitations in the left hand picture.  
We also added two live fish to the decor.  :) There is one in the 
jar seen in the picture on the right.  (FYI both the little 
guppies are now swimming happily around their bowls in my kitchen and have been dubbed "Ping" and "Pong" by my daughter.

The dessert table was one of my favorite areas of the party, 
(and not just because of all the sweets).  I loved the way the mismatched blue bottles added color to the already pretty baked goods.  I found the sweet mermaid statue at Home Goods 
and just had to have her.  The cookies were all baked by my mother-in-law and my husband made the beautiful cake.  We used 
sea urchin shells on top of the cake to hold the candles.

We had seahorse cookies swimming around on sticks.  They were perfect for little hands to grab on the go.

Here's a closer look 
at some of the yummy 
cookies and we just 
displayed them on 
raw sugar to make 
it look like they were 
sitting on sand.

Here's another picture 

of the birthday cake.

After having 3 of the vases tip over- we decided to clear the kids tables 

of pretty much everything.  I was sad to see some of the decorations make their way back inside, but it wasn't worth 

the hassle.  I found the starfish and seahorse statues at 

Michael's and we made the table runners out of pillow cases.

Here are some additional pictures of the decorative details 

of the party.  I know there are a lot, but trust me... I narrowed 

them down from over 500 pictures taken.  And a HUGE 

thanks to Holly Rich for her incredible photographs!  

Thanks for capturing Caroline's special day!

Happy Birthday Sweet Caroline!

Thanks for celebrating with us!

Stella's Country Fair

Jubilee Events had the incredible honor of helping an 

adorable little lady named Stella celebrate her very first birthday!

We went with a country fair theme and were just 

thrilled with the way it turned out. 

  

Here's the birthday girl!  Isn't she the cutest?  Her mother had her decked out in the sweetest little outfit that matched the party colors of aqua and red to kick off the shindig!  

I think someone was enjoying some of the yummy food :)

The party was held at the family's home in Cedar Park and I couldn't have imagined a 

more perfect space for an event like this.  They had an incredible back yard that allowed 

us to really stretch out and incorporate our design over the entire area.  

We used our children's tables and benches, along with 

our red and white striped cushion covers for the children's eating area.

Each of Stella's guests received a hand painted bucket to collect their prizes 

from the various carnival games.  These served as the party favors for the kiddos as well.

The tiniest guests also received personalized buckets.  There's included a 

barnyard themed board book and a super cute plush chicken to cuddle with.

We set up carnival style games for the children to enjoy and thankfully the weather 

couldn't have been nicer.  It was a perfect day for such a special celebration.

What's a country fair without yummy snacks?  

We set up a popcorn bar with numerous toppings 

for the guests of all ages to enjoy.

There was a collection of trees with a large swing hanging 

from it, which seemed like the perfect place to set up a 

photo booth.  We had numerous props and everyone 

seemed to enjoy smiling for the camera.

Look at these cuties!

Stella's neighbor was nice enough to bring her pony, Pete, 

over for pony rides.  When you combine the pony rides, 

the carnival games and the photo booth- there were more 

than enough activities to keep the kiddos entertained.

Check out Stella's second outfit!  

What birthday girl doesn't like a costume change?

                                                                         

And look at those boots!!!  

    Isn't she the cutest cowgirl ever?        

Here are some more pictures of the 

various design details of the party.  Enjoy!

 

Here is the birthday girl with her sweet family.  

They were some of the nicest people we've had the 

pleasure of working with and we look forward to helping 

them celebrate more special moments down the road.

Happy First Birthday, Stella!  

We can't wait to plan another party for 

such a precious little princess!

A special "thank you" to Elizabeth Moffa 

for taking these incredible photographs 

and sharing them with us!