Written By Primrose Lifestyle
“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
Birthdays and Holidays are a big deal in our family. I especially love my kids birthday’s as they are an opportunity for me to truly celebrate their uniqueness making them feel treasured. I love to be creative, it brings me joy to plan events that are beautiful yet personal.
Sienna, my second eldest, recently turned 10 and I knew I had to do something special to celebrate my, spunky, bighearted girl. A whimsical gate that has been on our property since before we moved in, is where my vision began. Ever since I first saw the gate, I planned to move it to a more treed area, envisioning it being the perfect entrance to our own secret garden. My brain was spinning with ideas as I imagined a magical garden party through the gate. I knew that a secret garden party would be the perfect theme for my sweet Sienna.
As my mind was dreaming up ideas, I felt a bit overwhelmed at the thought of planning this myself. I am so grateful for all the growth that Primrose has experienced in the last few months, but I knew I wouldn’t have the time this year to bring my vision to life. Thankfully I knew the talented Cream Co team could help me find the right vendors to collaborate with. Alex from Cream Co, reached out to some vendors she trusted, and it ended up being a true dream team. I shared a few inspiration images and photos of the area, and from there I was able to sit back and trust them to make it happen.
I need to specifically thank Melissa from Melissa Dawn Designs, she really went above and beyond to pull it together, making it more beautiful than I could have even imagined. She sent sketches of her ideas to the team, inspiring them yet also giving space for them all to bring their own talents to the board. Every piece came together so perfectly, magical is the only way to describe it. Also I wanted to thank my friend Kristy-Anne from Up And Away Studios, for photographing the event, she has a special way of seeing and capturing magic, so I knew I wanted her to be involved. She captured every detail so beautifully.
We used the Primrose Charlotte coffee table (stained in beachwood), as the main seating area, including some of our other pieces throughout to add interest. I was excited to be able to use our new heritage cake stand, which is part of our North America collection as well as our candle sticks that will be launching this fall.
Sienna requested a fun beverage so I looked at some recipes online as inspiration and tweaked them to make a delicious
Strawberry Basil Lemonade.
Ingredients
10 strawberries
1 handful of basil
2 cans of Pink Lemonade Frozen Concentrate
64 oz Water
1 Tray of Ice
Instructions
Chop the Strawberries into slices. Empty the pink lemonade cans into a pitcher. Add the water, strawberries and basil and muddle it all together. Mix in the ice, and feel free to add more water or ice to modify the sweetness.
I was delighted by how it all came together, and was thrilled to have not had to do it myself. But most importantly, Sienna and her friends loved it. When I asked Sienna what she thought of her party, she said “I was surprised by it, and it felt like I was in a magical forest. It was so pretty, fancy and beautiful. Sitting on the pillows was so fun. I loved having everyone dress up, making my day really special. “
Seeing how easy it was for the team to capture my vision, and that I could trust them to do it justice, I know I will want to outsource future parties. I would encourage others to do the same! I am just starting to brainstorm the next one, anyone have any guesses on the theme?
Huge thank you’s to the team!
Photography by Up And Away Studios
Creative Lead: Cream Co
Styling & Design: Melissa Dawn Designs
Location & Custom Wood Furnishing: Primrose
Florals: Black Earth Floral
Party Ware: A Little Confetti
