The Finishing Touch — Weddings, Events, Design, Paperie

We had an absolute blast helping plan and design a fun circus themed 3rd birthday bash! Our good friend Damon from Absolute Media Productions reached out to TFT to help put together a fabulous party for his adorable daughter, Lilia. We were so excited and went straight to work! For the invitation, a 4 x 9 1/4 custom 3-layer invite was created in red, white and teal. A teal RSVP ticket was printed and attached with red & white bakery string and mailed in a deep red envelope.

Before long the big day was here! As guests entered, the room was covered in red and white pipe and drape along with circus caricatures and figures provided by Audience Pleasers. Rectangular tables featuring linens in red and white were adorned with balloons attached to popcorn baskets and surrounded by vintage tickets. At the children’s tables, a variety of coloring books and crayons were placed at each seat. While guests arrived, they signed a guestbook by taking photos in a booth provided by Shutterbooth! After taking their photos, the pictures were attached to a scrapbook for the birthday girl to keep.

After guests enjoyed a delicious buffet luncheon, our friend Arlene from Celebrate with Music came for some musical fun. All of the children (and some adults!) were on their feet dancing and singing to some classic tunes. They also played games like Limbo, Ring A Round and much more!

Once all of the dancing and singing was over, it was time for dessert! An awesome circus tent cupcake creation was made by our good friend Missy at Cupcakes by Missy. The cupcake tower featured cute designs like clowns and tents accompanied with a giant tent cupcake on top adorned with a flag made by TFT. We also had the chance to design a custom candy bar table featuring kisses, M&Ms, pixi stix, whirly pops and more.

We had such a fun time working with Damon, Denise and Lilia on this awesome party – we’re already looking forward to next year!

Check out this fun highlight video from Damon to see the party in action!

Special Thanks to all the Fabulous Vendors:

Venue: Union Beach Fire Co.

Catering: Giusseppe’s

Photography: VeroLuce Photography

Videography: Absolute Media Productions

Decor: Audience Pleasers

Photo Booth: Shutterbooth

Entertainment: Celebrate with Music

Cupcakes: Cupcakes by Missy

We had a blast planning a baby shower for Ailyn and Janine last year – so we were beyond excited to plan their son Aiden’s first birthday bash! We couldn’t believe how quickly the time went and that he was already turning one! Ailyn and Janine wanted to have a super fun Curious George themed party so we went right to work. We designed a custom invitation featuring palm trees, bananas and of course one mischievous monkey!

When the big day arrived we started bright and early and headed over to the venue to begin set up. The party was held at St. George’s Parish Hall in Maplewood, which features a perfect space for events and parties as it has a great room, a full kitchen, stage and more. As guests entered, they were greeted with vines hung around the door way along with a ‘Happy Birthday’ banner. They then had the chance to meet Curious George and take a picture with him under some tall balloon banana trees provided by Life O’the Party.

In the ballroom, tables were set with red, blue, green and yellow napkins on white linens as jungle vines hung down from the chandeliers. The centerpieces alternated by table with blossoming silk banana trees and  custom hand painted Curious George illustrations. The children at the party enjoyed coloring on TFT designed coloring sheets that read ‘Happy Birthday Aiden’ while they viewed episodes of the Curious George show on the big screen. Lunch was provided by Rustic Food and they did a fantastic job! With choices like chicken paillard, salmon fillet, butternut squash and of course chicken fingers, every guest was surely satisfied.

 Once lunch had ended, Arlene Britt of Celebrate with Music came to sing songs, dance and play games with everyone. As you can tell from these photos, everybody was participating and having a great time! Then it was time to pull the pinata, where all of the children pulled strings to get individual bags of goodies.

After all of the dancing and singing, it was time for dessert! Our good pals Stephanie and Pam at Confectionary Designs created yet another masterpiece with this fun Curious George cake design.  The bold and colorful cake featured Curious George causing mischief and writing on the cake just as he was on the invitation we had designed! Aiden’s smash cake was another a great sight to see – he certainly had fun tasting it. Guests were also treated to custom designed cookies from Confectionary Designs.

By the end of the party, everyone was tired from all the playing, laughing and fun. As guests headed home they were given a goodie bag with a plush Curious George doll, bubbles, stickers, puzzles and more.

We had such fun organizing and designing this event and we hope Aiden had a great 1st birthday!!

Special Thanks to Our Vendors:

Venue: St. Georges Episcopal Parish Hall

Catering: Rustic Food

Rentals: Party Rental LTD.

Cake/Dessert: Confectionary Designs

Balloon Decor: Life O’The Party

Entertainment: Celebrate with Music

Character Appearance: Character Visits

Photography: Photography by Melissa

Audio/Visual: Absolute Media Productions

We love keeping in touch with all of our past couples so we were delighted when Christina and Akinyele asked us to plan their daughter Gabrielle’s first birthday party! We had planned their July 27th wedding back in 2009 at Pantagis Renaissance and had such a blast- (click here to check it out!)  They now reside in Texas where Akinyele is a doctor in a hospital and Christina is a nurse, however they wanted to plan the party in Northern NJ (where they grew up), so their close family and friends could attend. We were thrilled to be on board, and after tossing around some potential ideas for themes, we decided on the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse since this is one of Gabrielle’s favorite television shows. The fun was on and the planning began!!

After visiting several locations, Soroya confirmed the party at Space Odyssey in Englewood, NJ. The gorgeous décor of the main event space, coupled with their large entertainment area filled with a train, bowling, laser tag and video games made it the ideal place for the entire family to have a great time to celebrate.

The invitations were exclusive VIP Clubhouse access tickets created by our design team that were a huge hit with all who received them. The ticket style invite was created to set the tone for this fun filled event.

Christina and Akinyele wanted to incorporate a bouncy house in with all of the fun, so we made it happen and added a custom banner that read, “Welcome to Gabby’s Club House!”. We brought in square tables with hot pink linens along with black chivari chairs as chandeliers hung above each table.  The children’s table was positioned in the center of the room so they would be in the center of all of the action. We created a lounge area around the clubhouse so adults could relax and watch the kids (and some adults too!) in the bounce house.

Our design team created vibrantly colored lollipop centerpieces in red pails. The candies were a great touch to the room, and everyone enjoyed the lollipops at the end of the event. They were placed on mirrors on top of pedestals and surrounded by pink crystals to make them pop. Brightly colored balloons were also strategically placed around the room. Beautiful framed pictures of the birthday girl and her parents, taken by Mark Cunningham were also displayed throughout.

Fun food display cards with creative names from the clubhouse show were placed in front of the various food stations. Our couple also wanted to incorporate a few other fun food options so we brought in a hot dog stand, popcorn cart and cotton candy machine to add to the event.

The children were delighted to find official Mickey ears at each of their place settings on top of a Clubhouse place mat. They also received lunch boxes that held Clubhouse activity sheets, a pack of crayons, along with a drink and snack. They enjoyed eating them before the party even ended.

Confectionery Designs made an amazing cake (both to look at and to eat) in the shape of the clubhouse. The top layer was vanilla with mocha filling and the bottom layer was chocolate with cannolli filling. There were also red velvet cupcakes in liners decorated with the characters with Mickey and Minnie ring toppers on a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cupcake stand and an adorable smash cake.

The festive Mickey’s Clubhouse CD was playing throughout the event so all of the children could hear some of their favorite tunes. A face painter was on hand to decorate faces with everything from butterflies to dragons. Minnie Mouse herself also made a grand entrance and even got the adults up on their feet to dance. Akinyele joined in on the fun and did the limbo with Minnie.

Overall, the event was a huge success. Thanks to Christina and Akinyele for allowing us to be involved with such a special and fun event! We loved celebrating Gabby’s 1st birthday!

Best Wishes,

Soroya and The Finishing Touch

Special Thanks:
Elvira Grau, Diana Kim and the entire staff at Space Odyssey
Stephanie from Confectionery Designs
David Toth of David Toth Photography