Katie's 30th Birthday

This weekend was full of celebration with a 30th birthday party on Saturday and Independence Day on Sunday. Katie turns 30 today and we helped her husband create a fun, relaxing birthday party for her.

The request was for a simple party that was "not over the top" with a theme but still created a fun atmosphere. Since Katie was born in 1980 we went with an 80's style party and added just a few touches from the decade.

Photos of Katie in the 80's greeted guests at the door and continued throughout the house. The only other themed decorations we chose were a string of neon cassette tapes adorning the kitchen area and small puzzle games for guests to work on and take home as favors.

Katie's husband barbecued hot dogs and hamburgers for guests and we set up a nacho bar in the dining room. The cake was made in the shape of a boom box by the incredibly talented Frosted Cake Shop. It was almost too cute to cut!

80's music played both inside and out, and while they mingled, we asked party goers to write down birthday wishes for Katie that we'll use to create a memory book for Katie.

Each guest's "wishes" to the birthday girl will be matched to a picture of Katie with that friend or family member. Guests were not required to dress up, but the ones who did had a great time with it.

Katie, thank you for letting us be part of your birthday. We hope the next 30 years are even greater than the last!

Mason's Birthday "On the Green": Vendors

For Mason's birthday we worked with some fabulous vendors and we couldn't wait to share them with you! We mentioned before that keeping the elements of this party environmentally responsible was particularly important-- even in the smallest details. Enter Green Party Goods.

 Green Party Goods carries just about everything you could want to complete your event. We could spend hours on their site (and several more hours telling you about everything they offer) but we'll limit ourselves to sharing just the items we used for this party and save the rest for a Feature Friday.

Table settings for Mason's birthday included Biodegradable Sugarcane Plates, Recycled Paper Napkins, Recylced Paper Cups and Potatoware Utensils. We also used their Natural Fiberware Lunch Boxes for to-go lunches for the golfers.

Speaking of the golfers' to-go lunches, we used brown and white striped twine purchased on Etsy from Swann and Smerlin. Despite this seller residing in Ireland, the items arrived quickly and were packaged beautifully. Exactly the attention to detail we appreciate!

Also found on Etsy were the cupcake liners we used for the mini cupcakes, cake bites and cake pops. The sheer selection in Cupcake Social's shop is awe-inspiring. We were specifically looking for cupcake liners that resembled blades of grass to mimic the look of golf balls "in the rough" and found them at Cupcake Social. It was hard to resist buying more than we needed since there were so many fun cupcake wrappers to choose from!

The cupcakes, cake bites and cake pops were nice, but the most important dessert was the birthday boys cake. The Frosted Cake Shop custom made Mason's smash cake for the occasion. We requested a "golf inspired" cake in orange, apple green and brown. The result was nothing short of perfection! Owner, Tessa Lindlow, even managed to accommodate our order with a low-sugar and organic-ingredient recipe. If you ever need a specialty cake or cupcakes, The Frosted Cake Shop is the only way to go!

There you have it, a few of the fabulous companies we work with and order from. We hope you will consider them for your next event and please feel free to share other vendors you have had success with.

Next up is the budget. The single most frequent question we get from brides, mothers, friends and party-hosts (or hostesses) everywhere: How much will it cost? We'll share this party's budget with you tomorrow!

Feature Friday: The Frosted Cake Shop

As you may already know, Pear Tree Events has a passion for local small businesses. We love to support those in our community and we know how challenging it can be to compete with the "big box" companies. We are thrilled to introduce you to The Frosted Cake Shop today.

Tessa Lindlow is the owner of this fabulous little convection company. One look at The Frosted Cake Shop blog and you will be hooked. Tessa works her cake magic out of The Old Soul Co. on L St. in downtown Sacramento. She specializes in custom works of art and desserts with edible design elements. These are just a few of her many gorgeous creations...

On TFCS's blog, Tessa comments that the guitar is "not to scale" but we think it looks amazing. And the detail on that soccer ball cake-- too cute to even cut into!

Planning a baby shower? The booties on the top of that baby girl cake will be the highlight of your party.

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't mind that ladybug cake staring back at me if it was my ladybug birthday party.

When my baby was born, Tessa was gracious enough to surprise us with one of her adorable polka dot "smash" cakes with my son's name on it. I can't wait until his first birthday so she can design another stunning cake for us. What is a "smash" cake, you ask? Just what it sounds like of course. Tessa will make one cake for your guests to enjoy, and another for your little one to enjoy! I can just see the pictures of my kiddo smashing his in a few months.

This cake happens to be my personal favorite. Tessa would gladly change those colors and logo to represent the team of your choice, but why mess with perfection?

Now that you've met Tessa Lindlow and the fantastic Frosted Cake Shop, click on over to their blog and drool over more of her incredible cakes and cupcakes.