Happy Birthday, America!

The assignment:

create a celebration of America

The goal:

incorporate nostalgic, essential details

Tricks to pulling off the look:

1. Provide fun, coordinated wearables for each guest

2. Curate nostalgic items in red, white, and blue packaging

3. Keep the look casual, yet refined

Providing wearables for each guest

Gatherings just seem more fun when guests are united by a common theme.  While one wearable item is definitely enough to achieve this goal, the Fourth of July seems like the perfect opportunity to go overboard. Coordinating (or matching) shirts make a gathering feel cohesive.  Each guest was provided an Americana-themed shirt, glasses (either Lady Liberty or red), glow necklaces and bracelets,  and a large American flag.  This made for an all-around fun time, especially once the karaoke started.

Curating nostalgic items 

It wasn’t difficult to find items packaged primarily in red, white, and blue, but curating a fun mix required stops at several stores.  I love the idea of guests being able to help themselves to treats they haven’t had or seen in a while.  The favorites were the vanilla tootsie rolls, mini Slim Jims, and Pop Rocks.  I even included a few small fireworks (sparklers and tanks) to pop later in the day.  The best part was sending guests home with goodie bags to enjoy later.  The complete item list includes Little Debbie cakes and brownies, cotton candy, M&M’s, easy cheese, Bazooka gum, Sour Patch Kids, sunflower seeds, and Airheads.

Keeping the look casual, yet refined

Setting a table is a great way to bring everyone together, and while the Fourth of July is probably the last holiday to evoke images of a set table, I was intrigued by the idea of setting a casual table that still appeared intentional for the celebration.  Mixing paper American flag plates with metal chargers and featuring homemade desserts on pedestals was key to achieving this.   It was also an opportunity to incorporate plastic cups into the decor (which I don’t often do), but cups from the dollar store boldly stating “God Bless the U.S.A.” and “Party in the U.S.A.” seemed like the only viable option for the celebration. Floral arrangements are essential to keeping the look refined, but I was careful to stay away from dyed blue flowers (so the look didn’t become artificial) and instead incorporated several shades of red (including pinks) for visual interest.