As it turns out, I like to throw a nice party so for my 36th birthday, we decided to host an outdoor DIY dinner. On a tiny budget. For 23 people. NBD. All I needed to do was start planning two months early and make Jess build me furniture from scratch using nothing but a skill saw...NBD. In order to stay in line with the budget, I basically repurposed things I already owned, made many visits to the Dollar Tree and crafted everything else: invitations, envelopes, napkins, party favors, plates, and dining tables.
I am lucky enough to have enlisted the help of half the guests....who also happen to be UBER talented friends...
- - Rachael at Lace and Likes and Siren Floral Co did the florals (AND PAID FOR THEM!!)
- - Soil & Stem foraged the beautiful greenery
- - Evan (who is an amazing professional chef) cooked almost the entire thing
- - Chantelle procured one of the best bartenders in the city to host our cocktail hour with a signature cocktail (AND PAID FOR IT!!!)
- - Alden Steimle and Nathan Warner helped me set up the event
- - Will and Brenna helped with their sous chef skills
Just for shits and giggles, I actually calculated the retail value of the dinner which came out to be about $7000. I can tell you we spent well under $1000.
I also made Jess bust out the photo booth we made a few years ago at the last minute...it was a pain but fully worth the effort.
**Jess, THANK YOU for doing all of the stressful things at the party so I didn't have to. I love you, beeb.**
I have no words to tell you how amazing it feels to have so many people in my life that care about me. I love them more than they'll ever know. Happy birthday to me.
P.S. My apologies about the sloppy edits and lack of photo variety in this post. We didn't take that many pics because sometimes you need to live your life instead of trying to show others how awesome a moment was...but not being present enough to actually enjoy it yourself. Sorry not sorry :)
