Golden Silhouette's 5th Anniversary Party

Carryn M. Golden of Golden Silhouette sent in this chic 5th anniversary party she hosted for her custom invitation business.

From Carryn: On May 1st, I hosted a 5th Anniversary Party for Golden Silhouette, the custom invitation business I started at the kitchen table of a one-bedroom apartment that has quickly grown into my full-time obsession. Friends, colleagues, clients and even some family from Michigan flew into town to attend the event at In Riva, a rustic Southern Italian restaurant in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia.

Taking a cue from the restaurant’s retro-industrial decor, materials like aluminum, metal, wire, and raw, aged wood were incorporated into the overall party design. I enlisted the assistance of Tanti, owner of Papertini Floral Design, to come up with centerpiece arrangements that would fill my collection of vintage metal boxes and painted aluminum cans and ordered a custom cake from Ciao Bella Cakes, that Stefanie designed to match my party invitations! And musician, Steve Surgalski, created an ethereal “industrial lounge” live soundtrack for the entire three-hour event.

At the entrance to the party space, I propped up three metal screens, and attached round hang-tag drink tickets personalized with each guest’s name. Hanging above the screens was a sign I made from a sheet of metal, painted with light mint paint and adorned with a variety of Number Five fonts printed onto natural butcher paper. I then draped vintage-style string lights onto the sign to help highlight this area. A set of three filament light bulb sculptures made from reclaimed Industrial light bulbs and reclaimed Douglas fur wood, were made by William O’Brien of Old No. 5 and bookended the table of invitation sets.

I placed samples of my paper goods on the walls around the room and scattered them among the centerpieces. Hand-stamped vellum paper wraps were placed on all of the votive candle holders and tied with gold wire, creating a fun pattern from the candlelight. Both the bar and buffet table were draped with white linen and then decorated with handmade paper bunting and coordinating menu signage.

Chef Cavaliere pulled together an amazing menu that included margherita and pepperoni wood-fired pizzas, tray-passed crispy artichokes with black olives and lemon yogurt, an arugula and mushroom salad with shallots and parmigiano, as well as Italian beers and wine.