Whew, the past two months have been a whirlwind! Where do I even begin!? It felt so good to take a break from social media and creating content to get grounded in what truly matters to me. I took a much needed trip to Orlando at the end of July to visit family and to celebrate my 26th birthday. I’ve been able to spend more time with friends and loved ones and it feels SO good to have a bit of normalcy back! I couldn’t think of a better way to end off what has been an amazing birthday month & Leo season than with a blog post sharing all the deets of my special day. I never thought turning 26 would feel special at allll but with everything going on this year I’ve realized every single year, heck every single DAY, is precious. So I made sure to do it big!
The Theme
When I was brainstorming for my birthday I knew I wanted to have a private brunch and that I’d want to swim so I decided to book a beautiful home in Kissimmee using Airbnb! It has a pool and is in a gated community so I was able to bring loved ones together while still social distancing & that was perfect. It also has a game room in the garage which my younger cousins loved! Once I had the location secured, I began planning the day. I searched 26th birthday theme ideas on Pinterest and saw that someone had a “27 and the City” party theme based on Sex and the City. I tweaked the play on words to “Twenty-Six and the City” and the creative juices immediately started flowing!
Brunch
For brunch I found the most amazing private chef in Kissimmee, Chef Bri. Not only was her food delicious but her customer service was excellent! I would recommend her a million times and definitely plan to book with her again. I chose my favorite brunch items and Chef Bri put a special twist on everything. The waffles were salted caramel flavored and she created a Hennessy butter for the shrimp and grits that was to die for! Small details like that are super important to me which is why I ordered custom brunch menu’s using Zazzle. I simply customized a pre-made design by Chic Paperie within minutes, it was a no brainer.
No brunch is complete without a mimosa bar of course! I decided on the Veuve Clicquot Rosè bubbly & tropical fruit juices instead of just Oj for a fun twist. The adorable “cheers” glasses are from Target, the carafe’s are from Party City and surprisingly I found the ice bucket right at Dollar Tree. I will be completely honest, with everything going on I completely forgot about plates! Luckily, the Airbnb host provided so many extra amenities in the kitchen so it worked out. I got the Hydrangea flower napkin rings at Pier 1 Imports to tie in with the gorgeous floral arrangements on the table. The chalk board place mats from Party City added a personalized touch as I was able to
Treats & Decor
My treat table was definitely my favorite part of my birthday! It was also the most difficult to coordinate since there were so many aspects I wanted. Let’s start with the eye catcher, the balloon banner. Cheers Balloons on Etsy sells the mini balloons in rose gold & other colors. They have every letter & number for purchase individually as well as a few symbols so you can create any phrase for your banner!
I didn’t have an exact vision for my cake but it had to be minimal, clean and bright! I felt that’s what would best represent 26, an age that feels mature yet still very youthful. When I saw V Catering by Vanessa’s cake on my search page, I knew it was the one! She used fresh flowers on a “raw” cake, and gold edible foil with pink and cream macarons that added a decadent touch. It was perfect! I simply had her tweak the colors slightly for my birthday theme and I loved it. I chose the très leches flavor with a traditional butter cream frosting which was delicious.
My custom rose gold cake topper from Topped with Bliss was actually the first purchase I made which kind of solidified the rose gold theme. There are multiple size options to fit any cake, I went with the 6″ option which fit the 7″ round cake perfectly. If you’re struggling to find the perfect cake I would suggest searching #(your city)cakes on Instagram. Even if you don’t find a baker, you will definitely find some inspiration!
In keeping with the Sex and the City theme I knew cocktails would play a major role so I curated a cocktail menu inspired by the main characters. I then had the bar menu customized by Chicfetti on Etsy. She also customized the most adorable labels for mini Rosè bottles that I gave to my guests as souvenirs. I finished them off with rose gold and white foil straws also from Etsy that I tied on with rose gold ribbon. It was so important to me that my guests felt special on my day too! I highly recommend Etsy, it’s a great resource for custom party favors and decor for any occasion, including weddings. Next to the souvenirs I had martini glasses that I got wholesale for super cheap & garnished them with pink cotton candy. Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend the cotton candy since it oxidizes and basically disappears within an hour lol. But it was super cute for photos!
My sweet Aunt found an amazing baker who specializes in treats and she absolutely nailed them but unfortunately she doesn’t have any social media! Below is the picture I used for reference if you need some inspo. There were chocolate covered strawberries, pretzel sticks and rice crispy treats. She also made an assortment of custom cookies that went with my theme, the martini glass was hands down my fave! I got rose gold cutlery and dessert plates from Target and they were plastic but surprisingly good quality, you couldn’t even tell. I finished off the table with mints inside of a glass candy bowl and brought the gorgeous floral arrangements over from the dining table. Voila, the perfect treat table!