NYE inspo

 

Jasper turns 14!

 Jasper turned 14 on the weekend and we had a great time celebrating our gorgeous boy!

Balloons, presents in bed, bowling, 2 x birthday cakes, catch ups with family and a celebration with friends to come.  He had the best time x

Noah turns 7!

Our gorgeous Noah turned 7 on the weekend.

He had been counting down the days until his birthday and he was so excited to celebrate!

We had cake and presents with the family on Saturday and a party with his school friends on the Sunday. His birthday was well and truly celebrated!

Party bag preparation....

We outsourced his party again this year. It's been a long time since we have had a party at home and honestly I don't think we ever will again. It's so nice to have the kids entertained and leave the mess behind! As well as sitting back and watching the kids enjoy themselves instead of rushing about.

There were trampolines, party games, tug of war, races etc

They had the best time :)

For the cake for his friends I grabbed a chocolate Sara Lee slab cake and decorated it with smarties.

Too easy!

Happy birthday to our sweet Noah. We love you soooo much!

The photo below came up on my Facebook memories, it was from Noah's 2nd birthday.

I can't believe how much they have all grown up over the past 5 years. It really goes so fast.

How was your weekend?

Jasper turns 11

We had a birthday in the house yesterday. Our sweet Jasper turned 11! 

He woke up to birthday balloons and presents, we went to see Avengers Infinity at the movies and blew out some candles on cake for afternoon tea. 

We're going to do a joint birthday lunch with family on the weekend and a party with friends in the 

next couple of weeks as we celebrate our gorgeous boy.

Happy birthday Jasper, we love you xx

Simon's 40th Birthday Celebration!

We threw a party for Simon's 40th birthday on the weekend.

65 family and friends were invited to come and celebrate with us. We had an amazing time and there were a few sore heads the next morning. Always a sign of an epic night! ;)

I started looking for a venue a couple of months ago. I knew we didn't have the space at home (plus I wanted to keep the mess off site!) so I started looking for the perfect place.  

I wanted somewhere that would allow us to do our own food, drink and music and stay on past 11pm if we liked. (We ended up booking it til 1am) We decided on the Collaroy Swim Club right on the beach, heaps of parking space and central to our family and friends.

STYLING

The room was a blank space which was great but I wanted to add a few touches to personalise it and give it a festive birthday feel.  The main issue for me were the lights. They were a harsh flourescent light, not really conducive to that party feel! We decided to bring in our own rope lights to add a warm glow to the room. Luckily they were easy to hang off the existing roof beams.

We were going for a cocktail party style so we just had a few tables set up for people to rest their drinks on. I dressed these up simply with a little jade plant in a brass planter and a tea light candle. We also had a few long bench seats for those who wanted to sit but we wanted the majority of people up and mingling. We brought out extra chairs once dinner was served and as the night went on. 

Most of the walls were bare but I wanted to cover up 2 honour roll boards so I brought some black plastic from Bunnings and taped it to the wall. I then dressed up the backdrop with silver foil 40 balloons (Target) and some paper lanterns (Kmart). There was also another couple of big pinboards that I also decorated. One with a HIP HIP HOORAY sign and the other with a giant photo of Simon as a toddler. A gold foil "Happy Birthday" banner (Kmart) was the finishing touch.

FOOD

I knew I wanted to do a massive platter for nibbles for when the guests arrived and to graze on through the night. I set up 2 trestle tables in the middle of the room and popped on a tablecloth.

I then placed a 3 metre long piece of wood down the centre of the table to put all the food on.

(I picked up a piece of wood from the timber yard and Simon smoothed it out and oiled it.)

I served the usual antipasto food. Olives, sundried tomatoes, various dips, several types of cheese, crackers, lavosh, raw vegetables to dip, dried fruit, salami, proscuitto, cabanossi, quince paste, feta filled bell peppers, grissini, pretzels, falafel and nuts.

This was great as people could help themselves. I just had to top up the crackers a couple of times through the night. I had plates and serviettes set up on the edges of the table.

We also hired a 115cm paella dish (Oliver's Hire) and chef who cooked in front of everyone in the corner.  The smell wafting through the room was amazing and got everyones appetites going!

We used 4kg of Bomba paella rice, 3.6kg of chicken thighs, 3.3kg chorizo, 3.3kg fresh green prawns (head + tail removed) paprika, cumin, fennel seeds, saffron, salt, chicken stock, peas, parsley and lemon wedges. The cooking time was about an hour. This size pan usually serves 110 people (small bowls) but our group polished off the lot! People were going back for seconds and thirds. 

It was delish!

Instead of a birthday cake I brought 60 donuts and arranged them on a platter. 

This made it easy for everyone to help themselves. No cutlery or plates needed!

DRINK

We had a welcome cocktail for our guests on arrival. 

We set up 3 of our 7 litre mason jars with white wine sangria. 

Each mason jar had 14 shots of Cinzano Bianco, 7 shots of Triple Sec and 1.75 litres of Chardonnay. Topped up with approximately 3 litres of lemonade.  We then added ice, lemon, mint and lychees (canned) Drain most of the juice but add 120ml to the mason jar for extra sweetness.

We served them in a plastic tumbler over ice with a slice of lemon, a lychee and a mint leaf.

I also made up some straws with Simon's face on them for a laugh. They were definitely a conversation starter ;) 

We had 2 bars set up, 1 for soft drink and water. The other served beer, wine and champagne. 

I finally got to use my methuselah that I received for Mother's Day! 

We hired a couple of backpackers with hospitality experience to help set up, serve and clear away through the night. They were awesome and helped everything run so smoothly.

Later in the night we bought out trays of jelly shots.

This was a throw back to our 21st's and when Simon played rugby they would always go back to the clubhouse and jelly shots were always featured!

We made them by mixing up one packet of Aeroplane Jelly dissolved in 375mls of boiling water, add 150mls of cold water and 180mls of vodka. This makes up 12 x 60ml shots.

 (we preferred using the 60ml shot glasses rather than the tradtional 30mls - cups from Big W)

 The above ratio ensured that each jelly shot contained 15mls of vodka. They had a kick ;)

MUSIC

Our friend is a DJ and organised speakers for the night as his gift to Simon and put together some playlists for us to use through out the party. The right music makes all the difference!

We had such an amazing night and it was wonderful to catch up with everyone.

Simon was thrilled to see all his friends and family in the one room.

How was your weekend?

Anyone having a birthday in your family?

How to host a bohemian dinner party

The gorgeous girls at Spell have put together another beautiful, bohemian get together.

Dinner under the stars with a bunch of girlfriends. It all looks perfect!

Here is how it all came together........

We have been loving the concept of the backyard dinner party – not the kind that could only be possible if your best friend runs a catering business, or a wedding venue… something anyone could recreate in their own back yard (hills hoist and all!)

Life is busy. So busy. Sometimes it’s hard to stop, but when you make the effort to create a truly beautiful space it gives you a wonderful excuse to STOP – and enjoy it! And when you create somewhere special like this, and see all your loved ones stopping to enjoy the moment too, well, then it’s all worth it!

We had an amazing night under the stars (and festoon lights!) with a beautiful bunch of ladies who work with me at Spell, girls from the design room, the warehouse and in sales, graphics and marketing. And guess what, we achieved it on a tight budget! We were lucky to loan some beautiful pieces that made it a bit more luxe, but mostly everything was created on a shoestring – so no need to wait for super special occasions, just get out there and do it on any old Friday or Saturday night! And in the meantime… happy pinning!

xx Lucy {+ team Spell}

Isn't it stunning?!

You can read more details here

And see more beautiful Spell events here and here

I am obsessed with that bohemian style at the moment. 

I'm on the endless search for the perfect rug to bring it all together!

All party details and photos via Spell & the Gypsy Collective