Gingham Birthday Party by Kate Landers Events, LLC

Description

I designed a custom gingham birthday party for the Summer 2010 issue of the magazine Life: Beautiful. It was a tremendous joy to create! These are photos I took using all the custom products I designed for the photo shoot for the magazine. This gingham collection is by far one of my favorites, perfect for a baby shower or birthday party!

Design Inspiration

I created this party for the magazine Life:Beautiful, and I gave them a number of summer-inspired themes I thought would be delightful, and they selected a gingham theme. My inspiration for this party was to do something sweet, old-fashioned, classic and loaded with charm. I could not have asked for a sweeter turnout!

Decorating Style

For this party, it is absolutely old-fashioned, vintage, traditional and charming. I love the white eyelet tablecloth that is a vintage look, but classic feel as eyelet tends to be timeless. I love all the gingham fabric use--from the table runner and napkins to the bunting and party hats--everything was custom made for this party. We wanted something cheerful, classic, sweet, bright.

Project Details

The colors we used were a watermelon pink, sherbet orange, sunshine yellow and a minty-apple green. It was done with a white base for table, chairs, floor, pink walls (for the magazine shoot--these photos are outside), and gingham accents throughout. The gingham rick rack trimmed napkins are available here: http://katelandersevents.com/asccustompages/products.asp?fav=0&fpage=1&categoryID=6&productID=9&cartID=728750646. The gingham table runner is available here: http://katelandersevents.com/asccustompages/products.asp?fav=0&fpage=1&categoryID=6&productID=102&cartID=728750646. The gingham party hats (with ruffle trim!) are available here: http://katelandersevents.com/asccustompages/products.asp?fav=0&fpage=1&categoryID=20&productID=18&cartID=728750646. We used white salad plates, clear glasses and classic silverware, so as not to compete with the gingham. The sweet table display was a joy. Spun pink cotton candy was used on set at the shoot, and old fashioned bubblegum ribbon candies and grapefruit sours added lots of sweet pink to the room. Custom printed gingham signs and placecards were used, as well as custom printed gingham letters/banner, which is great as it can go from the party to bedroom! The party favors were custom made aprons, absolutely precious!

Favorite Items

This is a tough one, I would say either the bunting or the party hats. I will say it is a tie. I think both add so much charm to a party. The gingham bunting is perfect to use later in a playroom, or for a girlfriend's baby shower. The party hats are what I consider family heirlooms, which can be passed down for generations.

Advice

Yes! All of these items are available and can be re-created for your party. You can view all the party details here on my blog: http://katelandersevents.blogspot.com/2010/07/gingham-birthday-party-new-collection.html. Almost any item you see can be custom created for your party. I suggest using a white base for the table (either white painted table or white tablecloth), white plates, and then a gingham table runner. The cloth napkins can be white or gingham, and the party hats--well, actually, there is a template and full instructions for creating your very own fabric ruffle trimmed gingham party hats in the Summer 2010 issue of Life: Beautiful Magazine! So you can see exactly how to re-create that look! My last piece of advice is to definitely use bunting, and use lots of it! We used white orb balloons for the magazine shoot, which were tied with real gingham ribbons instead of the usual curling ribbons--added such sophistication!