Last week I hinted at the fact that on Sunday the 1st I was throwing my daughter a first birthday party for her toy cow! Well, here is some behind the scene action.
The 1st of August is National Swiss day (a bit how the US has the 4th of July) so one can expect a lot of swiss flags, red and white themed parties and fireworks too! To coincide with the Swiss theme it was only natural that cows would be a part of it and at the sheer mention of "cow" Zara assumes it is in reference to her favourite (read: I will not go to bed unless I have cow) toy. So "Cow's First Birthday" was born.
On the morning of the party, I kept struggling with the idea of a nice backdrop for our Milk & Cookies Dessert table when it hit me - why not use of view of a typical Swiss farm from our apartment balcony. In theory it sounded brilliant! In the end the problem was two-fold and I abandoned the idea: after the wind took it down the third time I quit and Zara's very loud protests of "What about Lion!" brought the party inside...
GOOD TIP OF THE DAY:
The hardest part of any dessert table I think has to be the backdrop. I am sure Amy Atlas would be the best person to chip in here with words of wisdom. But I figure that this can honestly make or break the overall look of your table and more importantly this guarantees stunning photographs. So I had a look through all the blogs and here are some good suggestions:
THE FABRIC BACKDROP
Scour the shops for the print you are after; material from the roll is great but curtains and especially shower curtains work well too. Just remember you have to be able to string it up and attach it to something and do press beforehand. You could also use ALOT of ribbon or paper chains to create a backdrop.
IN GOOD COMPANY HIRE
Fabric Backdrops
Styles include: plain colours, stripes, polka dots, under the sea etc.
Measures 1.5m x any length
R30 each to hire
THE WALLPAPER BACKDROP
Wallpaper is expensive, and putting up even harder. A good choice is have a giant poster made up, this is however limited to 900mm wide, but can be any length up to 2.2m. And if you already have a printable party you can match it perfectly. See the amazing wallpapers over at Imprintables. The advantage of these is that all you need to do is stick it to a wall and the poster can be used afterwards to decorate a wall.
Also consider taking store bought frames and replacing the pictures with ones that co ordinate with the overall theme. The only disadvantage is that this requires nails in the wall.
IN GOOD COMPANY SHOP
Wall posters
Design sold separately from R100 (current printable party designs) - R300 (custom new design)
Poster 900 x 2200mm Full colour (other smaller sizes available)
Printing cost R850
THE NATURAL BACKDROP
Take a good look around the venue. Is there a gorgeous view? Maybe they already have stunning wallpaper or a good looking wall - I have seen brick face look really good? If it is outside place near the edge of the garden beds with the trees and flowers behind the table.
THE DRESSED BACKDROP
Another idea is too look for a blank wall/canvas and then dress it up with bunting or cover pin boards in fabric and incorporate these into the dessert table by pinning sweet packets on them.
THE CEILING BACKDROP
Hang from the ceiling a multitude of goodies to block out the background. This has been beautifully done with paper daisies or paper lanterns or giant balloons. Just remember that you have to be able to fasten whatever it is from the ceiling and in the case of balloons you need to plan for helium and transporting the oversized globes!
IN GOOD COMPANY SHOP
Paper Daisies R15 - R20 each
Paper Lanterns R30 - R50 each
Giant Balloons R35 each
NO BACKDROP
Set the table in a way that you create height from the table upwards. Oversized flower arrangements or stacking boxes can go along way to shadowing what is behind. But remember this does take up space on the table and you don't want it to "sit on top" of the desserts and make it look too busy!
What backdrops do you use?
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