Well, friends, today’s post is definitely different than what you’re used to seeing around here!  If we’re friends on facebook or insta, you may already know that I had a birthday recently – and a milestone birthday, at that!  I left my twenties behind and joined the #30club earlier this month, and I was fortunate enough to get exactly what I wanted for my birthday – an afternoon with my some of my favorite people, yummy sweets + good coffee, a photo booth, and a group game of guesstures (aka speed-charades)!  The afternoon was every bit as much fun as I’d hoped, and I’m not going to lie – the creative part of me loved planning for the event!

So, today I’m going to share a bit of my planning process, some of the decorative elements from the party, my favorite photos from the photo booth, and a few candids from our guesstures game!  If you like white + sparkly gold party decor, and/or you can appreciate hilarious candid moments from a game of charades (aaaand of course that photo booth!), I think you’ll enjoy what I’m sharing today!

The first thing I wanted to do when I started planning was find a space to have the party.  Jason and I have a cozy little home (emphasis on little), and we weren’t sure if it would fit everyone that we wanted to have join us for the afternoon – so I hunted around for a cute space and stumbled on Mockingbird Cafe‘s “Blue Room”!  It was perfect for what we needed – it’s a super cute, affordable space with lots of character (it’s located in a historic building in downtown Christiansburg), and it was only a few minutes from our house!

If you know me, you know that prepping and cooking food is not my strong suit (aaand honestly, that’s probably an understatement – haha!).  BUT I don’t mind doing a little baking; I also have a close friend who makes amazing (and also adorable) cupcakes; and I love savoring homemade sweets alongside a good cup of coffee!  (I mean, really though, who doesn’t?)  So we decided to keep things simple and just have sweets + coffee at the party.  Which also conveniently meant I could put in the time and effort to make the sweets table extra photogenic!  😉

I hunted around and found a discounted set of display stands + trays on wish.com, and I loved how fancy they made the sweets table feel!

Y’all, these CUPCAKES!  Laura did an amazing job, as per usual.

One of the perks of having the event in a space managed by Mockingbird Cafe was also having the cafe provide french macarons for us!  (Because let’s be honest, those are way beyond my skill set.)

The pecan cheesecake squares were my contribution – they are a combination of two of my fave desserts (pecan pie + cheesecake) and they’re one of my favorite treats to make!  (and by “make” I mean “eat.”)

This glittery gold “hello thirty” banner was a last-minute purchase from Sugar Plum Creations on etsy, and it was the perfect addition over the sweets table!!

Side note:  when I found gold disposable forks (above), knives, and spoons on amazon, I legitimately could. not. stop myself.

I was also just a liiiittle bit obsessed with the gold sequin table runners we used on the tables!

because y’all, for real, and in the most grown-up sense possible, #glitterismyfavoritecolor

I found the fishbowl vases at the dollar store (#winning) and the bottles are actually from our dining table centerpiece at home!

Jason used PVC pipes and built me a two-layered photo booth frame, which we hung white curtains from.  Then we filled the space between the two layers with a combination of gold balloons and clear balloons filled with gold confetti!  It was the marriage of several different photo booth ideas I had found on Pinterest, so I wasn’t exactly sure how it was going to turn out until we actually put all the pieces together, but I was super happy with the finished product!

If you don’t know her already … meet the precious woman I’m blessed to call my mom!

I love this photo of me with my grandfather – when I suggested that he could hold the “29-ish” speech bubble prop, he cracked up and I knew that was the one we had to go with!  Haha!

I have to insert a special thank you to one of my besties, Megan Myers, for taking a few photos of me with these gold “30” balloons before the party started!

(p.s. it’s actually surprisingly difficult to get those balloons to behave for photos – they kept wanting to turn sideways on us!)

My dad and my brother live in Myrtle Beach and they had just been up to stay with us two weeks before the party, while Hurricane Florence came through, and although I’m sad my little bro couldn’t make it back up for the party, I was so happy I got to see Dad twice in one month (and I love the photo of us below, on the left)!!

If you’ve been a regular around here for any length of time, you might recognize these two beautiful ladies in this next photo.  We were college roomies, were all in each other’s weddings, and have now been friends for over a decade.  We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs together, and I’m so, so grateful for their friendship. (and also that Jess was able to make it down from NOVA for the party … and for this photo. <3)

and also for this one … which basically sums up our relationship in a moment. <3

Everyone, meet Laura – the talented baker behind those cupcakes (and also one of my most treasured friends)!

Also so, so grateful this girl (below!) could be in town to celebrate with us!  She’s so many things to me – cousin, friend, mine + Jason’s wedding photographer (before photography was even a dream of mine!) – and she lives all the way in San Diego!  So the fact that she was going to be in Virginia the week before my birthday was amazing and I took full advantage by planning my party for a day during her visit!

(p.s. all the hilarious moments you’re about to see from our guesstures game?  we have her to thank for taking those!)

Love this next photo of us with Robbie + Toni.  They may not have changed our diapers (too far? haha!), but they are most definitely like another set of parents to me + Jason and we are so, so grateful for them.  (p.s. fun fact: they also married us!)

Y’all know my handsome hubby (below).  I’ve spent almost all of my twenties with this wonderful man, and I’m so looking forward to the next decade (and the next, and the next…) with him.  He makes my life infinitely sweeter (and infinitely more adventurous) than it ever would be without him.

Aaaaand I couldn’t resist including this next photo because this is what so much of my life looks like.  He’s doing something ridiculous and I’m laughing right along with him, because… what else am I going to do?  I might as well just go with it.

Loved this close-up shot Megs got!

One thing I apparently neglected to add to the decor was a witty sign about turning 30 … so Jason (with, I think, a little help from Mom and Jess and Megs) used our pictionary marker board to create one on the spot…

Then we got serious about a game of Guesstures… and many of these are just cute photos of our sweet friends + family who came out to celebrate with us … but some of them had me rolling!!!

Anyone want to take a stab at what Shana was charading here?!

Robbie and Toni were the first to take on the challenge of four “hard” category cards!

And much to the dismay of the other two teams … their team guessed all four!

Laura isn’t sure about Jame’s card selection …

I love these two … they are always, always, always up for a game night with us!

I feel like James is doing the macarena … ?

Pete and Ally brought home the win for “Da Crushas” – and Robbie and Hannah were very enthusiastic about their victory.

The Guesstures Champs:

 

Thank you (again) to all of our sweet friends + family who came out to celebrate (and participate in the photo booth and a friendly game of guesstures) with us!  We love y’all so much and we’re so grateful we get to do life with you!!!

 

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p.s. if you’re curious about the party-planning and decor sources, here’s a list of vendors and sources I used!

venue + french macarons | The Blue Room at Mockingbird Cafe

dessert trays + stands | Wish

“hello thirty” sparkly gold banner | Sugar Plum Creations

photo booth | DIY with PVC from either Lowes or Home Depot, curtains from Target, and the gold + gold confetti balloons were from Amazon

photo booth sign | printable download from Marie’s Digital Designs

centerpieces | fishbowl vases from Dollar Tree, hydrangeas from Kroger, carnations from Angle Florist, bottles from our own home decor

“30” balloons | Target

sequin table runners + other miscellaneous decor/supplies (utensils, plates, napkins) | Amazon