Party Inspiration - "Toucan"

I am excited to finally share with you this beautiful party I styled for Life's Little Celebrations & Confetti Fair. The brief was to create a kid's party inspired by the Toucan but without actually featuring any toucans. I took my inspiration from the bright tropical colours of the toucans beak (yellows, oranges and reds) and a backdrop of black, white and tropical greens (representing the toucans body and the green jungle habitat it occupies).

You're invited to a....

Tropical Celebration! Invitation design by ELK Prints. I created two custom watercolour illustrations for this design and matching envelope, the background and envelope liner is inspired by pineapple scales and Art Deco wallpapers.

A palette of tropical fruits and leaves was the natural choice for representing the toucan and utilising the chosen colour palette. The tropical theme is perfect for a lush, fun and sophisticated summer party. As well as styling the party I also created custom invitations and paper table decorations using my signature watercolour style.

These gold foil stamped balloons from Love the Occasion provide a simple backdrop for the wall - perfect for situations where you can't attach decorations directly to the wall. 

This party was envisaged for Mia's 10th Birthday Party Celebrations.

The concept for the styling is based on having guests sit at the party table amidst the lush jungle decorations and tantalising sweets so they can experience maximum enjoyment from the setting. 

I was privileged to work with some of the talented vendors from Life's Little Celebrations to create this vision of tropical summer fun. All the beautiful details were photographed by Kirri Garvey from Captured by Kirri. 

The grass runner used for the table top was supplied by Dalia from Tiny Tots Hire and the elegant perspex dessert stands are from Prop My Party. The very pretty cookies were created by the lovely Jen from One Sweet Chick Couture Cookies and Cakes and are perfect and colourful for this girls summer party. 

These colourful plates and cups by Meri Meri were supplied by Love the Occasion as were the glittery pineapple cake toppers. Cupcakes by One Sweet Chick. 

The gold foil stamped napkins are from Love the Occasion and the pineapple cookie pops are from One Sweet Chick. Monstera leaf by ELK Prints.

These mango mousses are topped with fresh mango and pomegranates and a grate of lime zest and are made by the talented Lopa from The Pumpkin Carriage. The pineapple cake pops are by One Sweet Chick

Delicious grilled peach pannacottas with passion fruit created by Lopa of The Pumpkin Carriage - these were my favourites and were easily devoured by everyone afterwards. 

I created the monstera leaves and mangoes specifically for this party. Each one is hand-painted with watercolours and hand cut and make a colourful addition to the table setting.  

The mangoes and monstera leaves can be used to decorate party plates or a central dessert table.

This beautiful centrepiece cake was created by May from Sweet Love and it was finished off by a spray of spectacular paper flowers by the lovely and talented Shell of Hanging Pretty.

Honeycomb balls from Love the Occasion. The magnificent flower arrangement is by Fiddlesticks Floral Designs.  

As part of the party setup I used this beautiful lemonade stand from Dalia of Tiny Tots Hire. I think some bright tropical fruity drinks are perfect for the occasion and the lemonade stand adapts easily to the theme with some tropical colours and theming added. 

Orange punch with Blood Orange and lemon slices 

Pink lemonade with grapefruit and lime wedges

A fun kids party calls for a dash of confetti and Love the Occasion supplied this colourful concoction by The Flair Exchange.  

Ready for some party magic? 

All the pretty colours raining down. 

Let's throw the confetti! 

The scene is transformed. The floor rug is a beautiful round beach towel by St Hamilton & Co.  

I recommend making the most of the tropical summer flavours available throughout the party from the drinks you serve through to the desserts. You can even make beautiful salads featuring tropical fruits when serving savoury items. Mangoes, pineapples, peaches and citrus fruits (limes, lemons, oranges and grapefruits) all fit the colour theme and add plenty of tropical flavour to your event. 

Flowers are such an important part of styling and are the essential item I would usually always go for in order to make an event look beautiful. Flowers also really do lift the atmosphere of a celebration and visually are a  rich addition to the scene. Justine from Fiddlesticks Florals provided flowers for this event and I loved the way she used Australian Natives alongside the more typical South American and Island tropicals - it also shows that if you understand the rules of a style (bright bold colours, strong bold large striking shapes) you are not limited to the usual choices and can think laterally in how you approach a theme.

Photography by Kirri Garvey, Captured by Kirri   http://www.capturedbykirri.com.au

Styling by Elizabeth Kelly, ELK Prints

Vendors and Suppliers:

ELK Prints (paper mango and monstera leaf decorations, invitation design & overall styling)   http://elkprints.com

Tiny Tots Toy Hire (table, chairs, lemonade stand and grass runner)  http://www.tinytotstoyhire.com.au

Love the Occasion (honeycomb balls, plates, cups, spoons, confetti, cupcake toppers, balloons)  http://www.lovetheoccasion.com.au

The Pumpkin Carriage (Buttermilk pannacottas with peaches and passionfruit & Mango mousse topped with mango puree and pomegranates)  www.pumpkincarriage.com.au 

Sweets with Love (large centrepiece cake)  https://www.facebook.com/Sweets-With-Love-1550881478533583/timeline/

Hanging Pretty (paper flowers for centrepiece cake)  http://www.hangingpretty.com.au

One Sweet Chick Couture Cookies and Cakes (cake pops, cupcakes, decorated cookies)  https://www.facebook.com/OneSweetChickCoutureCookiesAndCakes

Prop My Party Events Hire (acrylic dessert stands)  http://propmypartyhire.com.au

Fiddlesticks Floral Design (flowers) https://www.facebook.com/Fiddlesticks-Floral-Design-283052948537555/timeline/    or contact Justine on 0418 658 705

All other props used were stylists own. 

Published in Confetti Fair Summer 2015/2016 Issue. Created in conjunction with Life's Little Celebrations http://lifeslittlecelebrations.org