Beth's Birthday Bash

My mom's fiftieth birthday was this past weekend.  I helped her plan a lot of it, and although there were fights and frustration, there was also a lot of collaboration.

The invitations:

Designed by myself, using a combination of Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and Picnik

The Venue via Vignette {for droid}

My Aunts, Sisters, Dad and extended family all pitched in the day of to set up chairs, table and food.  We started setting up around noon and continued on until the start of the party...

I was in charge of center pieces, decorations, the cake design {Made by Candi} and a few extra surprises.

Here are some of the details...

Wine Station.

Paper straws are a must for any special occasion, they're too classy to pass up!

 Margarita Machine!

My family likes options.

Fruits and Veggies cut up and assembled by my dad.

I made that "table cloth" as a curtain and brought it for a backdrop, glad it worked so well on the table!

The cupcake tower and custom handmade cake on top.

Along, with my mom's baby photo.

M&M take home station and some Left, Right, Center Dice.

With the addition of a two live orchids because, who doesn't love orchids?!

My Salsa Bar!  

Thanks to Gretchen for bringing up such a great idea, perfect for a Mexican Cuisine Event!

Those large bowls are my favorite, I thought about putting Sonja in one so you could really appreciate how big they are! from Business Costco.

My favorite Centerpieces

Assembled by yours truly,

 Live calla lilies and flowers, with purple and clear marble stones and a splash of water.  

So EASY!

Flowers are all live, from Trader Joes, Candles and Centerpieces from Partylite, 

my mom's personal collection.

The party live and in action...

...before the rain {and hail}

after.

Sonja trying to sneak into Grandma's birthday presents.

Some Guests playing Casino Games.

Some of the guests:

The birthday girl.

Once the casino games were over, the dancing started, but by that point I was done for the night, so I headed home with a sleeping baby after taking some fun photos with my sisters...

{p.s. I did have pretty shoes on, but flip flops are my usual, 

I even had a pair custom made for my wedding, but that's another post}

Budget was loosely as follows, for about 125 guests:
Invitations including postage: $100
Food: $700
Tables and Chairs: $250
Site: Not included.  Our family rented a private community center location as a gift.
Casino Games with Dealers: $1000
Center Pieces: $100 (most of the pieces my mom already owned)
Alcohol: $500
DJ: $500
Flowers: $100
Lots of the decor and serving items were loaned from family members so that also saved a lot of money.

Happy Party Planning and Event Decorating!