streamers | Events by Elisa

First of all, let me say how much of a thrill it is to be featured on Hostess With the Mostess… And to see the great responses! There are certain blogs I’ve been reading since I started my business… Style Me Pretty, Every Last Detail, Hostess With the Mostess, Kara’s Party Ideas… And I’ve been featured in them all over the last year. Oh my, yes, do I feel blessed! In this new year I look at what I accomplished over the last year and think, “I can hardly believe I did all that!”

This party is very near and dear to my heart. It’s because it’s mine. I decided last year that I hadn’t had a proper birthday party in a long time (although I had invited friends over when I first started my business to sort of play at setting up a party) and that it might be my last birthday before having a little one (and I found out a week later that I was, in fact, pregnant with the little one who has been repeatedly kicking my bladder this morning!). So why not celebrate it with pretty things? 🙂

I also decided that I wanted to celebrate with rainbows and unicorns party because of this post. An inspiration board I created way back when I officially started Events by Elisa (almost two years ago now!) that, for whatever reason, has been bringing people to my blog consistently every month. It’s been one of my most popular posts and one of the most pinned photos from my blog on Pinterest (along with some pictures from Natalie’s Under the Sea Baby Shower… By the way, Natalie is getting married today and I’m a bridesmaid!!!)! I decided I had to do something with it. My inner eight-year-old demanded it.

I gathered together a bunch of my favorite people and rolled up my sleeves and went to work. Like anything else I do, I trusted my vendor friends to come up with the most amazing interpretations of what I wanted – and boy did they!!! Desiree of Penny Blooms Floral Design went especially above and beyond, crafting the huge paper flowers, putting together those phenomenal rainbow arrangements, and painting the Pin the Horn on the Unicorn (by hand, in front of me!). Mark of San Diego Desserts couldn’t possibly give me a plain white frosted cake (especially after I gave him such trouble to tint each layer separately!), so he airbrushed away… Jenny of JennyWennyCakes did such a beautiful job of making the colors on those macarons pop (even though I know that they spread more than she wanted because of all the color!), and the cake pops by Nicole of Calculated Whisk were gorgeous!!! Alyssa of Hybrid Photography captured all the elements beautifully!!! But I think you really just need to see them to get the full effect! 🙂

A HUGE thank you to everyone who was involved with helping me to make this a fantastic birthday party!!! I know this is going to be another extraordinary year!!! 🙂

My Enchanted Unicorn and Rainbow Birthday Party Vendor Credits:

Planning, Stationery, Happy Canvas, Food, Design & Styling: Events by Elisa
Florals, Paper Flowers, Pin the Horn on the Unicorn, Design & Styling: Penny Blooms Floral Design
Photography: Hybrid Photography
Custom Pinwheels: Pinwhirls
Rentals: Classic Party Rentals San Diego
Rainbow Cake: San Diego Desserts
Cake Pops: Calculated Whisk
Macarons & Sugar Cookies: JennyWenny Cakes
Straws: The Baker’s Confections and SerendipityPartyShop
Bamboo Dinnerware: Sucre Shop
Twine: Sweet Estelle’s Baking Supply
Cups: Smarty Had a Party
Plates: Party City

Sometimes you meet people and you just know you’re going to be excellent friends with them. It was that way the first time I met Desiree of Penny Blooms Floral Design. I can hardly believe it was just two months before this incredible party! This is a very photo-heavy post… But it’s worth it because these photos by Lindsey Gage of Eyelet Images are totally worth drooling over!!!!

Desiree’s son Desmond celebrated his first birthday at the end of August. When you’re the son of an event professional, your birthday party is sure to be a blast! Sure enough, Desiree’s amazing creativity shone through each and every bit of this gorgeously styled outdoor event, from the handpainted circus elephant cupcake tower topper to the multicolored fabric streamers decorating the tents to the popcorn box “vases.” I was honored to be print materials designer and to assist Desiree with setup, coordination, and styling!

It all started with the circus idea. When Desiree approached me about doing invitations for the party, I asked her if she’d rather have a cutesy or modern/edgy vibe. She chose modern/edgy, so I worked on a text-heavy invitation that captured perfectly the whimsy and creativity we were going for (if I do say so myself!). Designers are always cautioned to stick to no more than 2 to 3 fonts in a single page, but I had far too much fun mixing and matching, and threw caution to the wind. I love it!

Of course the party wouldn’t have been as stunning without thoughtful details provided by Penny Blooms Floral Design! She even had a ball pit and a mini big top, along with a photo booth area for the grownups!

I couldn’t resist bringing along a few of my favorite items too:

The food was provided by the incredible Jason. He’s currently working on his catering business name (I’ll post it when it’s official!) but I’ve got to tell you that this guy is worth checking out. I can’t wait to share when he’s ready to take on clients, because in addition to being a really nice guy, his food was fabulous!

Cupcakes and cake pops were provided by Nikki at Calculated Whisk. She even made gluten-free flourless cupcakes (which totally made my day)! And they were soooo good.