Flamingo Birthday Party in Pink and Navy

I am excited to share Bailey's Flamingo Birthday Party in Pink and Navy.  This summer Bailey and I planned a Flamingo Party.  When had all the supplies from our favorite supplier, Oriental Trading Company arrived Bailey changed her birthday party theme to a Flamingo Birthday Party.  What is not to love about flamingos!!!

During the initial planning stage Bailey a gymnastics party, that theme changed to Peppa Pig.  Peppa is adorable and I love the colors so I starting planning with my mini-planner by my side.  All the food was planned and finalized my colors when Bailey decided she had changed her mind and wanted a flamingo birthday party instead.  We quickly changed gears and gave her 48 hours to finalize her decision.   Flamingo birthday party it was!!!

A few of my favorite details include:

• Flamingo backdrop and balloon arch
• Bailey's Outfit
• Centerpieces
• Linens

PARTY DETAILS - FLAMINGO BIRTHDAY PARTY 

We had 60 guests including friends and family.  Theme Flamingo Birthday Party in Pink and Navy.

PLACE SETTINGS - FLAMINGO BIRTHDAY PARTY 

I love a good linen and try to include them when I can in my designs.   With the size of the new location I new I wanted a linen that would pop! Bailey I went to my favorite vendor for rentals, Atlas Party Rental.  My first introduction to them when I was planning my wedding almost 10 years ago with Creative Touch Party Design.

A rental of 6 table linens and 70 napkins is a small order for their team, but they treated us like we were VIPs. Sharron showed us all the options that coordinated with our Flamingo centerpieces and let us setup tables until we were 100% happy. It was an amazing first experience for me and my mini-planner!  The navy napkins with a white tie were the perfect way to make it look like we wanted blue chairs.  Some friends even asked if I had rented chairs.

CENTERPIECES - FLAMINGO BIRTHDAY PARTY 

The Inflatable Flamingo Coasters from Oriental Trading Company are one of my favor items. Finding the right containers was a big challenge Bailey and I shopped online and went everywhere from Home Depot to the Container Store.  The team at the container store were so helpful.  5 employees helped us and brought us lots of options.  I fell in love with a clear hat box that fit two of the flamingos.   $30 per hat box with 6 tables added up quickly.  I had already doubled our budget with the location change so I knew I had to keep looking for the sake of my wallet and my marriage.  We finally found the perfect buckets at the dollar store!

We included a navy bow on each handle to tie in our navy chairs.  Fresh flowers make me happy so I like to include them in all my parties.   A single white rose in each of the Flamingos filled in the coaster perfectly.  I was so in love with the table I set up our dining table when we got home so I could continue to enjoy them.    We will be enjoying the Flamingo Coasters for years to come, not just for another Flamingo Birthday Party, but in our pool.

PHOTO BACKDROP - FLAMINGO BIRTHDAY PARTY 

I have been swooning over balloon arches on Instagram for months.  This party was the perfect excuse to do one.   My original plan was to have the balloon arch be my backdrop. Since we were in a beautiful setting I did not need to add anything to it.  With our change of venues I knew I needed to add something else so we did not have the bright blue padded wall as our background.  So I went to Pinterest and found a great tutorial from Maureen and Adria from Andres Ruff on how to build a PVC backdrop.  The flamingo shower curtain from Target was perfect for our photo backdrop and fit our Flamingo Birthday Party theme.

4 days before the party I started blowing up the balloons.  This was my first time using an electric balloon machine.  If you have never used one you need one!!! I read lots of tutorials about how to make the balloon arch.  I normally using fishing wire, but was concerned that in transport the balloons would be a hot mess.  I used a balloon decor strip to keep the balloons in place.  The reviews were good and bad, but I was so happy I bought it.  It saved the day.  I added flowers to the balloons to finish it off.

PRINTABLES - FLAMINGO BIRTHDAY PARTY 

Bailey and I am so lucky to have a creative dad/husband who not only acts as our photographer, but also my creative director.  This year was the first year that Bailey was really into the details.  She wanted to have a say in every design element.  It was truly a family affair designing the printables.  With our venue change and our infamous blue chairs we had to change the color of the printables from aqua to pink.  In the end I loved the change.  Thank goodness it is just paper and cutting.

BIRTHDAY GIRL OUTFIT 

I love to have the birthday boy or girl coordinate with the theme.  Bailey loves her baby dolls and we knew the outfit would be even more special if we could find a matching outfit for her doll.  This was a harder challenge than I expected.  I found outfits I loved, but then I could not find the matching doll outfit.  When in doubt go to American Girl.  They had the perfect outfit for our Flamingo Birthday Party.  We gave it to Bailey as a gift the night before her party.  Her reaction was priceless. "I am so surprised, I love this!"

ENTERTAINMENT - FLAMINGO BIRTHDAY PARTY 

We rented a bounce house from South Florida Bounce.  They came highly recommended and they did not disappoint.  Bailey enjoyed picking out the bounce house on their website.  I love her final pick which was the Tropical bounce house with a slide.  South Florida Bounce is extremely professional from my first call with the owner, their confirmation email, their confirmation call a day before to the men setting up and tearing down.  They called an hour before they were scheduled to arrive and patiently waited for us to get access into the gym. In addition to their professionalism they have a great selection. I would highly recommend them.

FOOD - FLAMINGO BIRTHDAY PARTY 

I love for the food to reflect the guest of honor so we had Bailey plan the menu.  Grapes were perfect for our Flamingo Treat Stand.  "We" being my dad cut the watermelon into Flamingo shapes using a cookie cutter.  The Flamingo Popcorn Boxes were the perfect containers for the Pirates Booty and Cheez-its.  Pizza was always a hit with the kids.

For drinks we served juice, water and soda.  We had to eliminate the beer and signature cocktail since we were in a church.  The pinata decorated our drink table.

CAKE - FLAMINGO BIRTHDAY PARTY 

When you have a large crowd there is no better place to go than Costco for a cake.  We did not find a design that would work so we took a copy of the invitation and met with one of the bakers.  They did a great job of keeping the cake simple so the focus could be on these adorable flamingo candles from Allison at Party Dialect.  She even included a sweet note in her package wishing us a great Flamingo Birthday Party.  I will be buying from her again!

FAVORS - FLAMINGO BIRTHDAY PARTY 

We found these adorable pinata's at Hobby Lobby.  Originally we were going to have the pinata and candy be the favor.  With the change of locations we were not able to find a place to hang the pinata so we took the candy and filled the bags and closed them with flamingo stickers.

LOCATION - FLAMINGO BIRTHDAY PARTY 

We have hosted the last three birthdays at home with a huge guest list for Bailey's 1st and only three kids for her 2nd and 3rd.  This year Bailey's list of friends she wanted to invited was growing daily.  All of her friends have siblings and we are close with most of the families so we wanted the entire family to be there to celebrate.  It was time to expand outside of our home.

With the original gymnastic theme we were going to do it at her gymnastics gym, while I love her gym and her coach/owner it is not the ideal setting for a party as the table is literally in a hallway.  I looked into a different gym that is very popular in town, but I felt like I was cheating on Bailey's coach.   We explored other options including a princess spa, but we thought that Jackson, one of Bailey's best friends might feel a little left out with the spa activities.  So we started the list of outdoor venues.

We wanted a location close to our home and friends, east by the water would be ideal because there is generally a good breeze, semi private park, bathrooms and a pavilion also made our list.  I booked one of our favorite parks which we call the hidden park it has beautiful trees, a board walk overlooking the inter-coastal and a pavilion with extra picnic tables.  It is as perfect of a setting as I could image.  The heat concerned me  so we tested out the park at different times and looked up the historical temperatures for September.  After our research we changed the park from 11am to 3pm.

LOCATION CHANGE - FLAMINGO BIRTHDAY PARTY 

Fast forward to three days before the party and the weather forecast was 90+ degrees and 90% change of rain.At first I thought if it rains it rains, then I thought about how much time, energy and effort went into the planning and details.  I called our church to see if the gym was available and open for rent.  We had attended an Easter party there and they had a bounce house inside.  It was perfect.  Luckily they were available.  Only issue was there was someone else in the gym until 2.

Most of my plans had to change since we added additional tables, different centerpieces, change from from picnic tables to large round tables, had a huge space to decorate, had to incorporate navy blue chairs, figure out entertainment since we would not have the park to play on and make  a huge space feel more inviting than a cold gym. Given our hour setup time there are some things I had envisioned that did not happen, but in the end no one else knew.

What is your favorite element of a birthday party?

RESOURCES & CREDITS

• Birthday Girl’s American Girl Dress and matching outfit with American girl doll: Amazon
• White Linens: Pottery Barn
• Flowers: The Fresh Market
• Balloons, plates, cups and utensils: Party City
• Electric Balloon Pump: Amazon
• Balloon Decor Strip: Amazon
• Shower Curtain for Photo backdrop: Target
• Cake: Costco
• #4 Candle: Amazon
• Flamingo candles from Allison at Party Dialect.
• Buckets for Centerpieces: Dollar Store
• Photography: Kurt Harfmann