100 Layer Cake

There are but a handful of birthdays that should most definitely be accompanied by epic parties. One of them being your 30th! Lucky for us, Sarah Sherman Samuel of Smitten Studio did exactly that – threw an epic party of Palm Springs and Alice in Wonderland proportions at one of our fav estates, Casa Verona. While the invitation set the stage for a monochromatic color scheme for guests to arrive in black & white, the birthday girl stood out, donning an adorable gold sequins little number.

Pink flamingos are fun. Gold painted flamingos… amazing!

For my 30th birthday I knew I wanted to have a destination party to share with my closest friends, so we picked Palm Springs, rented this amazing house and went from there. I’ve always loved the whimsical sense of “Alice in Wonderland” but wanted to do a modern twist on it to fit my own personal aesthetic. My version is more “Alice in Palms Springs”… what happens when Alice meets the Rat Pack.

This theme was shown through over-sized bow headpieces, Alice and the White Rabbit Place cards, “drink me” labels on the glasses, top hats, cat mask, rabbit ears, gold painted flamingos, giant paper flowers, and the mix of fanciful patterns. Black bow ties served as napkin ties and double as party favors. As the party went on some of the guests wore them on their heads, around their neck and on their wrists as boutonnieres.

I designed and had printed all of the textiles which I then made the napkins, table cloths, and table runners from. I also made circle confetti to dot the table tops and gold geometric bunting to frame out the bar area. The centerpieces where made of candles and drinking glasses that I bought at the 99 cent store. I sprayed them all white, and then I painted the glass candles to look as though they were dipped in gold, and for the glasses that served as candle holders, I used a gold foil pen to pretty them up with a dot pattern.

Accessorizing in a photobooth is a must! For cute bow headbands and balloons like you see in these pics check out the Pop-Up Shop now! We’ve got fun and sparkly statement accessories from ban.do (like this super cute bow headband) and Geronimo Balloon Troopers (one of our fav ways to add color and fringe to your decor is with their balloon arrangements). *Sarah, you may have to throw another party just to include today’s Pop-Up Shop goodies! *

The happiest of birthdays to Sarah and a huge thank you for allowing us all to recognize that each birthday is yet another reason to get creative and throw one heck of a party!

Event Design and decor: Sarah Sherman Samuel / Invitation and Stationery Design: Sarah Sherman Samuel / Photography: Mike Carreiro of Studio Eleven / Fabrics: Sarah Sherman Samuel / Smilebooth: From the 100 Layer Cake Pop-Up Shop / Location: Casa Verona, Palm Springs, CA / Catering: Food Mechanic /  Make-up: Ximena Rolfe / DJ: Sven Barth