Vintage Chic 21st Birthday Party Celebration

From stylist Katie Ayling:

In December, my sister-in-law, Paige celebrated her 21st birthday and we planned a dreamy backyard celebration with a vintage flair for her with her closest friends and family. One long table was filled with flowers, flowing tablecloths, and lovely chairs beneath a fairy light canopy.

Paige adores vintage books and reading and has an impressive collection, so we were sure to incorporate these into the theme, including vintage French book pages wrapped around the invitations and lining the envelopes, books as table decor, vintage paper flower garlands, paper flower place cards and cake decor. The rest was built around her favorite colors.

We had a clear vision from the beginning and were able to collect things over a series of months from op shops, ebay or borrowed. Paige, her mother, and I made the place cards, tea labels, and paper flowers. My husband made the wooden signs and my dad made the beautiful tea station table. I painted flowers on the chalkboards and signs to match the invitations. We did all the flowers ourselves after a trip to the flower markets earlier that day. We rented chairs, tablecloths and napkins.

We hired Eden Catering and I can’t say enough about their service, presentation, and friendliness. It was such a blessing as it took the stress away and it made the party feel much more special. Onto the dessert buffet. We bought profiteroles from a local bakery, while the berry pies and strawberry fluff were made by Paige’s mother. The birthday cake was made by a friend and decorated with paper flowers.

I loved the drink station! The drink dispensers were borrowed from a friend, the dresser is from Paige’s bathroom, and I found the chalkboard on the side of the road! It was fun to put together the magical tea buffet. The majority of items we had on hand or were borrowed.

We also hired Kellee Walsh, an amazing Sydney based photographer who came up and took some dreamy shots of the party.

 

Credits & Resources

Photographer: Kellee Walsh

Caterer: Eden Catering

Event Designer: Katie Ayling

Equipment Rentals: Decorative Events