I was born on a Mother’s Day. My husband organized last Friday a fabulous dinner party with 10 of our friends to celebrate my birthday. Jerome usually does not cook but he came up with a delicious and easy to do menu that he mostly prepared on his own. My girlfriends were impressed.
On Wednesday, he told me about his plan for my birthday. He usually put balloons as decorations which are not really my style for grown up birthdays. You probably grasp by now that I am picky about the party décor.
I own two tea light lanterns from the Cirque du Soleil’s Dralion show. I decided to put them under the dining table. So I went in Chinatown to get a few large and round lanterns for the living room. Fishing lines work the best for hanging lanterns.
I was looking for orange lanterns since it matches the colors of my living room. I found two gorgeous lanterns with a blooming tree pattern with the same orange color than the solid ones. I learned that this blossom tree pattern is usually associated with the Chinese New Year celebrations. I felt these lanterns were appropriate since I begin a new year.
The difficulty in party decorations rests in how to hang stuff without leaving marks to your surface. The blades of a ceiling fan are perfect to hang the lanterns. I am lucky to live in an 11-feet ceiling apartment, so I can hang 18 and even 24-inch diameter lanterns. I suggest leaving a 7-foot clearance unless you put a table under the lanterns. Using this method, you can figure it out the diameter of the lanterns better suited for your space. Naturally, you cannot go larger than the distance between the ceiling fan blades.
Hanging some ribbons at the bottom of the lanterns makes them more festive. To add some dramatic effect, I put a 6 mm moss green ribbon on top of a sunny yellow 25 mm ribbon. I select the ribbon colors to match the colors of my table linens. When you set a table, it is often a good idea to lay down multiple layers of tablecloths. It creates a special look.
Each guest went home with a bag of delicious petits fours that were an assortment of moist shortbread cookies for the most part. My husband spotted our party favors at the French pastry while getting my birthday cake. Since I was not supposed to help, we went with high quality store bought products.
I spent about 40 dollars on new decorations: $30 for the lanterns and $10 for the ribbons. I completed the look with a nice Zen style floral arrangement with white and orange flowers. This theme is festive, sophisticated and easy to do. Everything you ask for in easy entertaining.
The next day I woke up very pleased with my birthday party. I am a lucky girl!
