Under The sea Party

It is rare that I see a children’s party that actually makes my jaw drop but this “Under The Sea” party with its pastel, seaside color palette and darling details had me speechless.  This party was designed and photographed as a launch for the event design company Vim + Dash based in Nashville, TN.  Boothe Blanton Farley designed and photographed the party herself in honor of her seven year-old daughter, Sellers.  She had asked for an “Under the Sea” theme and Boothe chose to take it in an elegant and somewhat whimsical direction in tribute to her daughter’s taste for all things delicate and feminine.

The children sat at two round tables covered in white tablecloths and burlap runners, edged in seed-pearl trim.  Each table’s centerpiece was a trio of apothecary jars; the largest held pink beach glass with live goldfish, while the other two were seashore “vignettes” with sand, pearls, glittered seashells and naturally pink sea urchins (Boothe hand-glittered every shell, starfish, sand dollar and sea urchin).  At each seat was an acrylic water goblet (little girls aren’t always careful with glassware!) on which perched a sea horse place card; the rims of the goblets were coated in sugar that resembled sand.  The place settings were comprised of woven chargers, white dinner plates and white “lace” dessert plates.  Each white scalloped napkin was tied with handmade napkin rings (which the girls removed and took home as bracelets) adorned with glittered sea shells, starfish or sand dollars.

For sweets, Boothe chose candies that represented varying “under the sea” themed items: raspberry marshmallows dusted in coconut served as “sea anemones”, aqua and white rock candy served as “beach glass lollies”, and pink cotton candy served as “sea foam”.  She also chose to use vanilla salt water taffy as its name and color were “on theme”.  Each was placed in an apothecary jar tied with an aqua wired ribbon; the candy itself sat on raw sugar meant to resemble sand.  On the sweets table, Boothe scattered more sand and glittered seashells, etc. Each apothecary jar was also given a tag indicating its contents; these tags were designed and printed by Boothe and her sister, Chelsea.

The basic format of the cake – two tiers, six and eight inch, covered in aqua buttercream frosting and white royal icing coral - was done by the Puffy Muffin in Brentwood, Tennessee. The cake was placed on a silver platter and then dressed in more glittered seashells at its base.  The cake and shells rested in raw sugar, again to resemble sand. Boothe used the naturally pink sea urchins to serve as candle holders for some of Sellers’s seven candles.

As for favors, the girls were given mini galvanized buckets with tags on them tied in pink tulle; the tags read, “Look at this stuff… isn’t it neat?” (a subversive nod to a particular little mermaid that Sellers claims she’s too old for).  The girls were given their choice of the shells at their table to fill their buckets with.  They also got to choose a glittered starfish wand (made entirely by hand by Boothe) from a larger galvanized bucket with a tag which read “You’re simply enchanting!” and a starfish or sea horse sugar cookie with a tag that read “It was lovely to sea you!”