I have a fabulous friend, Cade, we met at work recently and he is the birthday boy behind this fabulous fete. Cade is a new fave friend of mine, he's got a ton of positive energy and is a very happy guy. You know how nice it is to be around someone who is happy almost all the time? It's infectious. Basically, he's awesome. And so was this party.
Cade LOVES Wendy Williams and wanted to throw a big birthday bash inspired by her. No, it wasn't the big 30 or a significant year...he wanted to throw a party to celebrate life in general, and how great his has been in the past year. New job and a great boyfriend and tons of good friends. Why shouldn't birthdays be celebrated?
I helped Cade design the dessert table, that's him on the right. Cute, huh? Details on the table below.
The party had a red carpet at the entrance. This was my best celebrity-esque pose. Well, I tried anyway.
This is my friend Maija, who apparently has practiced the celebrity posed enough times to nail it here. To the right is Cade's awesome boyfriend, James.
The party took place in a beautiful loft-space in Minneapolis. The decor was fab and included blue spider mums and disco balls. 
Cade had posters made with Wendy and there were balloons everywhere. 
Cade's boyfriend is a restauranteur in Minneapolis and knows how to put together a gorgeous spread of food. He played a huge role in planning this party and helped out all day with the decor, food and alcohol. Like I said, pretty awesome boyfriend, huh?Oh and check out the signature drink, the "How you doing'" aka appletini. I had a couple of these. Yummy.
Cade and I designed a dessert table with a hot pink, blue and gray color scheme and a bit of sparkle. Cade owns a cupcake business, Cakes by Cade (check it out) and he made all these delicious cupcakes himself. His buttercream is to die for. And no he won't give me the recipe, I've asked.You can also "like" Cakes by Cade on Facebook.
No dessert table is complete without cakeball pops.
I'm so glad to post an adult party on the blog today...don't get me wrong, I adore the sweet children's parties I feature....but us adults need to have a little fun, too! And this type of party was exactly that. Lots of fun. I loved the focus on key details without going overboard, great food, flowing booze and even a bit of late night dancing.
Sorry for the delay in getting Amy and Jay's part two wedding post up. Truthfully, what happened was there were so many amazing photos to sift through I couldn't get this done in one evening.
The bridesmaids and Amy watched the barat from a window above the street where the procession took place.
Jay rode down the street on a horse while all the families sang and danced.
Amy and Jay's mandap was intricate and gorgeous.
The Hindu ceremony was like nothing I've ever experienced before. 
The bridesmaids carried these baskets while we walked down the aisle. 
The reception decor was like something you would see out of an episode of Platinum Weddings. Tall, flowery centerpieces, candles, chiavari chairs, custom menus...beautiful.
A lounge was set up around the dance floor.
I set up two simple candy tables on both sides of the ballroom. I struggled with this one a bit because I wanted to design something that was a departure from the hot pink and acqua color scheme so I went with a peacock-inspired table. I also had to keep it simple without too much candy because in addition to the candy bar there was an American dessert buffet and an Indian dessert buffet. The amount of food and booze at this wedding was astounding. I drank many martinis. Many.
The gorgeous calligraphy was by 
I had macarons custom made to match the blue and gold colors. 
The elephant ice luge was a big draw. Guests loved it....especially around 11pm when the martinis were (literally) flowing.
There's Winston and I being announced and entering the ballroom, all I can say is thank goodness for open bar and the fabric I was able to wrap around my midrift. 
Amy and Jay got a few minutes to sneak out onto the hotel balcony for some photos.
As you can see, the bride had a fabulous time and was dancing up a storm by the end of the night. After an entire weekend she was ready for her two week honeymoon in Italy.
As I mentioned in the sneak peek post last Friday, I am excited to feature my best friend Amy's wedding. Her wedding took place last October in Washington DC. It was a multicultural affair, a whirlwind of a weekend filled with tons of delicious Indian food, bright, gorgeous colors, cocktails and more cocktails and lots of dancing. Oh, and an elephant ice luge. But you'll have to come back tomorow to see that.
Amy and Jay's wedding began on a Friday at noon at beautiful All Souls Unitarian church. She was stunning in her 
Gorgeous Kristin walking down the aisle. 
How happy does she look?!
The bridemaids consisted of five of her closest friends and her younger sister. That's me to the left of the bride.
The reception was a luncheon in the church, which was actually a bright, open ballroom. Amy's vision for her luncheon was pink and green details with some touches from home (including the birch tree table numbers, made by her father) and homemade pies her grandmother and aunt baked.
Amy's wedding planner, Trish Cannor of 
The Sangeet had gorgeous fabrics and decor.
Professional Indian dancers performed throughout the evening. The bridesmaids and I made sure to perform before the professionals!
We pulled this dance off and Amy loved it. Melanie (left) learned the dance off of YouTube and taught it to the rest of us the weeks preceeding the wedding.
