{We Like to Party}

Over the years I have learned a lot from bohoJC when it comes to decorating for a party. I've taken plenty of notes, and though I'm still nowhere near her level of expertise I continue to try and outdo myself when given the opportunity. Last Friday we threw a surprise birthday dinner for my amazing mother-in-law, Gerry, at the Lounge Next Door at Ibiza. I'm not trying toot my own horn, but toot toot because it turned out pretty darn good! Fortunately I was the only one planning the decorations so I really got to do whatever I wanted....Creative Freedom!? High Five!!!
I want to share what I did for the table because a) I LOVE this sort of thing, and b) If you have the 5 items I used, you can transform any table/room all by yourself and really just shock the shit out of your guests!

5 THINGS:

{Candelabra}

{Votive Candles}

{Balloons}

{Flowers}

{Place Cards}

{Candelabra's}  These beauties can transform any table with a perfect touch of elegance. I used 2 from bohoJC for the rectangular 24 top we would be using. The good thing about candelabra's is the one time cost. Obviously you will have to purchase candlesticks each time you use one, which run about $1.20 a pop, but using a candelabra as a substitute for larger floral arrangements will save you money and time.

I'm in LOVE with this table.....

{Votive Candles} I've collected TONS of votive candles over the last few years, because tons is how many you need to transform a room, sorta. I have a suit case filled that I took over to bohoG$'s for the party we threw for bohoJC (pic below), then we gathered those up and took them to the restaurant for my mother in laws party. My candles have gotten plenty of use! If you are having people over for dinner then cover your table in votive candles, and dim the lights. Everything looks so much sexier and cooler in candlelight, including your guests, no one wants a bright light on their purple wine teeth.

{Note: bohoS's candelabra she found at the Guild Shop, diamond in the rough!}

Cost Plus World Market, Target, Wal-Mart, Michaels, and Hobby Lobby all sell boxes of 12 glass candle votives. Try them in different colors to work with your theme.

Line the bookshelves and windowsills

How elegant does this table look?? ALL CANDLES! I love it! This is what I mean by TONS.

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{Balloons} It seemed so juvenile at first, but I learned very quickly that it makes a world of a difference! I ordered 45 white balloons from Party City that morning and picked them up on our way there. We tied randomly to the back of the chairs to add height to the table. The end result looks so good and definitely adds the 'party' feel to your night. If your room is small cut the strings off and let them float to the top and cover the whole ceiling. We did this in our dining room for my brother-in-law's 40th birthday, it looked so cool! (see pic below)

{Flowers} Flowers can be tricky and expensive, but you don't need a ton to make a statement. Buying a bunch of different flowers and filler to try and create an arrangement is not easy and can turn into a disaster or a waste of money. A bunch of the same flower in a vase is always a clean, simple, and elegant solution. Make your life easier and buy a pair of floral shears, some floral wire, and a roll of twine and/or ribbon. These are game changers when it comes to making an arrangement.  I decided to use hydrangea because I didn't need that many arrangements and they would be perfect for the elegant, & airy look I was going for, plus they are super easy to work with. Aren't they so pretty all wrapped up?
{The succulents were a little gift for bohoS, she is obsessed with them and Central Market has a ton right now!}

I  bought some eucalyptus to add to the smaller hydrangea arrangements. They were selling 3 bunches for $10 at Central Market, holla!  I also bought two bunches of white Stock for a dessert table arrangement. My plan was to put the larger white hydrangea in a tall vase for the center of the table, and then have 4 smaller arrangements to spread through out the rest of the table:

Easy enough right? Hydrangea are easy because the bloom is so large. For instance, at bohoJC's party (pic above), I just bought 3 large stems of hydrangea and placed each one in a different vase, and voila! Done. Here's how they turned out for Gerry's party: 

    I always send my pics to bohoJC for a seal of approval, these passed! I love the shades of pink.

Transporting these suckers to the restaurant was a whole other story! My pants were drenched in water from the tall hydrangea by the time we got there, it looked super sexy. I wasn't running around barefooted like a mad woman in soaked pants at all. Nope, totally calm and in control. 

{Place Cards} Finally the finishing touches! This was a suggestion from bohoJC. I was so excited to do this because my mother in law always prefers a seating arrangement, especially at a table this large. She suggested BHLDN in Highland Village. Holy crap what a fun store! I was tempted to try on their wedding dresses, but figured I might look pathetic. Anyways, I found this super fun place card stamp set. Of course it wasn't super fun when Thursday night rolled around and we were drinking champagne at La Mode Lingerie and my place cards were still blank! (First World Problems) Fortunately bohoS volunteered her services and stamped them for me and wrote in the guest names. My handwriting is awful anyways so it worked out perfectly! I wanted to add a bundle of lavender underneath each place card, but Central Market wasn't selling any, so I bought some cheap filler that looked as close to lavender as I could get and used it instead. Daron had to help me with this step because I had to make 24 and we were REALLY running out of time. We just used thin pieces of twine to tie up several stems and then placed a card on top of each one. I loved how these turned out!

OK! here are some pics of the final product! Excuse the iPhone pics, in the middle of all the hustle and bustle I somehow forgot my DSLR. Ugh. Epic fail on my part.  

I just love all the candlelight! Candles are by far the EASIEST way to decorate a table!

 I think I used around 40 votive candles.

 So here's the deal, anyone can do this, just get your hands on those 5 items and practice, practice, practice! Oh, and the party was a great success!! I was hungover for 2 days which was not so great, but we had a blast celebrating the kindest, sweetest, mother-in-law ever!!
(p.s. thank you Daron, Joe and Meredith for you last minute help! xoxo)

love, bohoJB

STAY TUNED!!

 bohoJC will be spilling her dinner party secrets very soon, you don't want to miss this!!