Nautical Themed Birthday Party
This mom knew right off the bat that she wanted to make her little guy’s 2nd birthday party nothing short of extraordinary. She also knew she wanted something unique and creative, while telling a story. “I love curated spaces with obvious color palettes and although I hardly slept at all the week prior, the whole day was worth it!.” We would have to agree! This Nautical Themed Birthday Party turned out amazing!
Captured and designed by Shannon Von Eschen of Shalynne Imaging, it went from a simple “nautical” vision that popped in mom’s head a week before this little guy’s birthda, and turned into a full-blown whimsical party that came to life before everyone’s eyes. The family owns a tree nursery and chose to host the birthday party at an old barn on the property. How awesome!
Many family members pitched in to bring this vision to life in such a short time frame. Grandpa helped build the pergola out of 4 vintage wooden, front-porch posts that mom found outside of an old 1900’s home. Old barn wood was used to attach them all together.
Grandpa also made a hand-made wooden sailboat for the birthday boy and a very large, wooden anchor to match. He also spent many long nights hand-making sailboats as party-favors for the guests that matched the birthday boat, along with little wooden fish that hung over an old fence as decoration. Wow! Talk about a handyman who was able to help in the blink of an eye!
Grandma stepped in, as well, and made a lot of the food and chocolates, while GREAT-Grandma made pies and other desserts that matched the theme. What a family effort!
A ton of old antiques were used, including an old painting of a sailboat that was the focal point over the buffet table, along with a wall of vintage National Geographic maps that filled a whole wall with a sea of water.
The seats for the tables were old stumps from trees from the tree nursery and ornamental grasses were brought, as well.
The cakes were custom-made by award-winning cake designer, XYZ. Mom gave her a few inspirational images of what she was hoping for and Voila – A three-tiered cake of fondant waves, topped with an anchor that looked identical to the others, which was found on top. The birthday boy’s smash cake was a smaller version of sugar waves and topped with a hand-cut sailboat to match the mini sailboats given out for party favors. How adorable!
What a great party! The unique items used and how everything came together so quickly and beautifully definitely puts this party up a notch! Seeing the birthday boy’s face when he saw his special birthday boat, along with all of the people he loved in the same room was by far the best part for this mom. “It was almost as good as the icing on his cake … Almost!”. Awe J
Credits & Resources
Photographer: Shalynne Imaging // Event Design: Shannon Von Eschen // Cake: Intricate Icings // Invitations: Shannon Von Eschen // Culinary Styling: Kendall Lind // Handmade Wooden Decor: Twigs & Treen // Paper Goods & Lables: Natosha Cooke // Stamps: Verde Studios // Tree Nursery: CreekSide Tree Nursery // Vintage Props: Newel Post Antiques
Looking to plan your own Nautical Themed Birthday Party?! Check out these fun products:
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- Sheet Moss
- Spanish Moss
- Nautical Wood Anchor Decor
- Wood Anchor Decor
- Mason Jars
- Grey Chevron Straws
- Wood Ship Wheel Decor
- Wooden Seagull
- Nautical Ocean Dessert Table Party Kit
- Nautical Manila Rope
- Antique Style World Map
- White Serving Tray – Medium
- White Serving Tray – Large
- Nautical Decorative Fish Net
Follow Cristy Mishkula @ Pretty My Party’s board Nautical Birthday Party Ideas on Pinterest.