Life's a Beach

I just wanted to share a few candid shots of my 4 year old Olivia, with her sweet little friend Maddie.  A picture says 1000 words, and I think this is the case with these pictures below.  They were so sweet together...

There's just something about this last picture ~ Olivia's smile, Maddie still holding her hand, almost oblivious to the wave that just smacked her in the face.  So Sweet....

Fun in the Sun ~ A Beach Baby Birthday Party

I recently had the honor of collaborating with the incredibly talented Paula of Frog Prince Paperie on one of the most adorable Beach Baby Birthday designs!  While many were still feeling the effects of an incredibly cool spring in many areas, it was nothing less than the perfect beach day here in Florida on this April day.  The only obstacle we faced was the wind, but lucky for us, when the breeze kicked up, it only added a magical touch to our party as the yellow and pink ribbon backdrop blew in the backround.

Paula wrote about she constructed this amazing backdrop herself:  "One of my favorite details of this shoot was the ribbon garland. It helped to create a sense of intimacy on a very public beach, and looked magical with the breeze caught the streamers. The construction was simple; pvc pipe, some cut up strips of fabric, and a few lengths of ribbon added a lot of atmosphere to our day!"

 The food table was filled with the perfect beach snacks for the children to nibble on...from the starfish cheese sandwiches to the bucket of goldfish.  The gorgeous sea themed cookies were provided by Bees Knees Creative and were as tasty as they were beautiful!  Our little guests couldn't wait to dig into the Sandcastle Cake by Susan of Sweet Designs Kitchen in Orlando.  Everything was almost to pretty to eat...almost!

Another one of Paula's own personal touches can be seen in this unique kids table design.  With the wind in mind, we had to come up with a way to keep the tablecloth from blowing down the beach.  How do you acheive that AND keep the elegance of the theme at the same time?  Paula talked about this creative way of weighting down the table:  "A big part about having a party at the beach is making sure everything you bring doesn’t fly away in the ocean breeze. Our table cloth was weighted down with these ties at each corner. I simply gathered the material, wrapped the corner in jute and glued two shells to another string of jute and tied it on. Pretty AND functional!"

  Pinwheels were prominent throughout the theme, and probably one of my favorite touches to the party.

When the children finally stopped splashing in the chilly water and digging in the sand, they sat down at the adorable kids table adorned with glittery birthday hats and napkins.  Each guest also had their own personalized shell shaped place card at their setting.   The adorable hair bows were provided by Titi's Tutu's, and the birthday girl modeled one of their pink tutu's.

The day was fabulous. I probably had as much fun as the children, and I was honored to be a part of this amazing party.  If you would like to create your own Beach Baby Birthday party, the entire printable collection is available for purchase at the Frog Prince Paperie Etsy Shop.   And a huge thank you to everyone who helped out with this sweet party!

Jennifer Staples of Party Dreamz | Party Styling

Frog Prince Paperie | Paperie, Party Styling & Photography

Jill Luecht of Luecht Photography | Photo Editing

Sweet Designs Kitchen | Sandcastle Cake

Bees Knees Creative | Sea-themed Sugar Cookies

Titi’s Tutus | Tutu and Hair Accessories