Sunday, August 21st. I surprised Patrick with a party to celebrate his 30th birthday. Sunday was his "pure day" and his off day so that's why I chose to do it then. It was alittle inconvenient for everyone with children and work on Monday morning but I don't think it was to bad!
This is the invitation I designed and had printed at VistaPrint. They were very affordable and I used the same colors through out the party.
I knew I wanted to use orange and blue because it would go with the gift I was getting him but being the die hard Bama fan all the serving pieces I wanted to use were red, so I just threw it in and I think it all worked our pretty well!
I knew I was going to make the cake because I just couldn't fathom spending $50+ on a cake that was going to be fairly simple to decorate. I used a recipe for wedding cake that was delicious that I got
here. The 30 is wooden pieces from Hobby Lobby covered in scrapbook paper. I used the same paper to make the Happy Birthday banner. I put rock candy around the bottom of the cake so help cover the many imperfections. I also wanted 30 candles. I think it made people nervous to have that many candles but I loved it.
The candles could have gone in alittle straighter but oh well.
I made these using small paint cans, spray paint and ribbon. They turned out so cute. I will be making more of these I think.
This was the birthday boy when he arrived. I'd arranged for two of his good friends to take him shooting for the afternoon. I didn't plan it out very well though. Guests were still arriving when he got home but I knew he would know something was up when he saw the cars there was just no other way to pull it off.
I seriously pained me to buy this for him. His 30th birthday also marked his 30th day to be smoke free. He decided to quit smoking when we came home from the beach and has been gradually cutting back and has now been 34 days without a cigarette. I'm so proud of him. I wanted to get him something special to mark both occasions.
I did this table downstairs in the den with some of Patrick's favorite things. It was sort of a bust cause no one really hung out down there. But I'm still glad I did it!
This was the wreath on the front door. I loved the feathers. They were actually found in the gift wrap section at Hobby Lobby and had clips on them so I just clipped them to the ribbon.
This was one of my favorite things. I found that frame for $18 at HL and loved going thorough old pictures. There are pictures from Patrick's childhood and it doesn't even look like the same kid!
I didn't get a shot of the table actually decorated. but I used the cake as the centerpiece on this table. I loved the tissue poms from the ceiling fan. I think they really added to the festiveness of the party. I used the blue jars with flowers on the table downstairs, outside and on the mantle in the living room.
I borrowed the old Pepsi cooler from my parents for the soft drinks. I loved that it matched the colors and it just looks so neat.
This party was a lot of work. I couldn't have done it without all the help I had. My mom was a huge blessing through all of this. She helped me at Sam's while I was trying to figure out how many buns I needed. (Math has never been my strong suit!) She helped me Saturday gathering all the final things and again on Sunday before the party. My dad saved the day my manning the grill. Which was not an easy task considering it was easily 157 degrees outside. Carla and Kimmi were life savers Sunday helping me set everything up as were their husbands who took the birthday boy away for the day.
I think Patrick was really surprised and had a really good time. I wish I'd taken more pictures of people. I was so busy I didn't even think about it!
