Blakely’s 4th Birthday: Pink “Golf Partee”

Hooray! While I’m still coming to the realization that I don’t have a “toddler” anymore, I’m so thrilled that Blakely had such a wonderful time celebrating her birthday! I’ve been so excited to throw her a golf-themed par-tee since she was born (and turning “FORE” was the perfect age for it). You see, we’re a bit of a golf family, and she chose a very special day to join the world…

When I found out Blakely was due (in May 2014 at the time), I joked about how funny it would be if she arrived very early on Masters Sunday seeing as my husband is a golf pro. I knew that was likely too early of an arrival since I was due mid-May. However, April 13th – Masters Sunday – at 5:30am, my water broke. She’s a sneaky little one.

Don’t worry, we had the Masters on in the labor room, mainly for my hubs and all the doctors and nurses who kept peeking at to check the leaderboard (golf puts me to sleep). The nurses kept joking that I should name the baby after the winner of the Masters. Bubba Watson won. They share initials, but thankfully that is all they share. Blakely McPherson Whitmore was born very late that evening, and she’s changed our world since day one.

For the party tablescape, I knew I wanted a preppy pink and white stripe as the tablecloth. I love the cabana stripe! I’ve listed all the resources at the bottom of the post, but I had a lot of questions about the tablecloths.

I ordered two and overlayed them so they’d run the length of the three little tables underneath. The tablecloths (from Amazon) are a dream, especially for kid’s parties, because they’re super affordable and wash very well.

Down the center of the table, we set golf-ball inspired planters filled with real rye grass that my Mom planted. She planted them all about two weeks before the party, set them by a window inside her house, and ta-da!

It actually grew so fast that we had to trim it down a bit. The larger white planters were a find from At Home while the smaller ones were another Amazon score!

I couldn’t find the white planters on the At Home website, but it was only a month or so ago that we found them, so they could likely still be in stock. We used the largest one as a beverage holder for water bottles.

Now we’re repurposing these with some green plants and flowers as decor on my back patio!

Stuck down in each planter of grass were three pink golf flags. I just made these by spray painting wooden dowels from the craft store with white spray paint. Then I cut out triangles from pink fabric and hot glued them on. Easy as that!

I also created three giant flags and used my Silhouette machine to cut out white vinyl 4’s to add on. We had one at the front door to greet guests and the other two in the back with the little putting greens.

I fell in love with these cute golf cups, and they were perfect because they have a top so no spilling! I swapped out the neon green straws that came with them and used my own pink and white striped straws. Easy and cute!

I also had a golf-themed cookie at each place setting. I had Guilty Confections (on Etsy) customizer her golf cookie with a pink flag. These tasted amazing, and I’ll definitely be ordering from her again. Not a single cookie was broken in transit!

Fork and spoons were tied with a simple green ribbon. We also did this last year for her Sprinkle-themed party and it’s such an easy way to make a place setting look pulled together. It’s these little details that I love. 

I also added simple pink and green party hats which the kids actually love wearing! Little green and white baking cups were perfect for fruit “par-faits”. They’re most often used for cupcakes, but I love to use them for fruit, veggies, pasta salad, etc at parties. Here is the brand I really like!

I added my own text to these food tent cards (I had her customize them to my color scheme). I used them for the food but also printed more for place cards and little “partee time” signs.

Golf Themed Foods

Considering the party was on Masters Sunday, we served up several Masters favorites including the famous pimento cheese sandwiches. I had lots of questions about my pimento cheese, so I’ll let you in on a little secret.

If you can find it in the stores and it tastes just as amazing as homemade, you buy it. The brand I like is made on Pawley’s Island and it’s called “Palmetto Cheese” but it’s pimento cheese (I can find it at our local Kroger).

I did add some extra freshly grated cheddar. If you prefer to make your own pimento cheese with the Masters’ famous recipe, I am also ALL about that. I just wanted to give people the “okay” to use some store-bought items. It’s easy to “fancy them up” by serving them on silver trays.

Famous Masters Pimento Cheese Sandwiches – this is the original copycat recipe and it’s SO good!

We also served up the following:

• “Club” Sandwiches (as I knew that the little ones may not be as enthusiastic about pimento cheese sandwiches as the adults were). We skewered them with these golf tee picks that are so adorable!
• Fruit “Par-faits”
• Sand Traps (rice krispy treats)
• Orange “Wedges”
• Arnold Palmers (equal parts lemonade and sweet tea)

I had plans to make the Masters Georgia Peach Ice Cream Sandwiches (peach ice cream between sugar cookies), but our temperatures were unseasonably freezing and we naturally had birthday cake so I opted not to make the ice cream sandwiches. Next year, however, you better believe we’ll be celebrating the Masters with Arnold Palmers and Georgia Peach Ice Cream Sandwiches.

We used a little silver ice bucket from Draper James as a holder for fresh lemon slices and mint to garnish the Arnold Palmers. For the adults, we had the most adorable “Cheers” and “Happy Birthday” cups from Natalie Chang Studio. I adore her cups!

We were oh so tickled pink when OnCore Golf sent over personalized “Blakely’s 4th” golf balls, and my husband has never been more excited about one of my parties. Haha, he is thrilled, and Blakely is so excited to see her name on each golf ball. For the kids, we opted for a lighter plastic ball (since most of the children were 3 and 4). But we used the personalized balls in tall glass vessels on the party table.

We used extra plastic golf balls to glue onto these golf tee picks and place down in each centerpiece. This was such an easy DIY, and turned out to be one of my favorite party details!

My sweet friend Lizzie at Copper Whisk Cakes made the cake! She also made her Sprinkles cake last year (adorable)! I love the green grass going around the bottom tier. So adorable! The top tier was strawberry cake and the bottom tier was almond/vanilla. So delish! I made a little pink flag with a tiny white 4 to go down into the top of the cake. I love how it turned out!

I also received lots of questions about the little white chairs. If you’re a long-time follower, you’ve likely seen them in several of Blakely’s birthday parties and Gingerbread House Tea Parties. Lots of you wondered if I rented them. I actually own these, but if you have somewhere local to rent them from, that’s a great option. If I plan to use something more than a handful of times, I’ve found it more economical to actually own them. Half of mine are from Chiavari Chair Co. but I recently discovered these on Amazon (exact duplicate but made of a resin plastic). I used both at this party, and you can’t tell them apart. I adore these chairs, and she uses several of them at a little play table when not being used for a party. They also stack very easily.

For the tables, I have several of these play tables from Pottery Barn Kids. I actually use one in my office as a shoot table but combine several for long party tables.

Blakely was such a little helper while we set up the party! She is definitely an apple that’s not falling far from the tree. She checked each place setting to be sure each of her guests had a golf cup, cookie, and party hat! The necessities, of course.

Seeing as the little ones were mostly 3 and 4, an activity is definitely needed! Obviously, golf was on the agenda. We put two putting green courses out in the backyard. I had my husband graciously give all the little ones an adorable “golf lesson”. It was so cute! At the end of the yard, we had super fun lawn signs from Lawn Fairies delivered. I loved the cupcake and the 4. If you’re local to Nashville, you definitely have to check out Lawn Fairies!

One other thing I did was throw out some super cheap bouncy balls ($2 from Wal-Mart). They loved jumping around on them. Last year, I had jumbo balloons around the yard but they either popped or blew over the fence with the wind. This was a much cheaper and more durable alternative!

All the little ones went home with their own golf club and a few balls. I found the clubs here! Super cheap and the perfect party favor. I added on cute gift tags (from Chickabug here) with a big pink bow.

We also had little gumball favors too, because I love party favors.

The kids had a total blast! Besides the fact that it was freezing, the adults did too. Naturally I didn’t take enough pictures with the adults/family but I do have a cute one of my Mom and Blakely!

One other cute detail I added above the party buffet table and also on the front door were these Boxwood Monogram Letter wreaths from Grandinroad. I’m obsessed. I’m going to hang one permanently in her room (which I’ll be sharing here as soon as I finish it). All we did was swap out the ribbon for a pink and white gingham so it would match the decor.

Her little dress was one I snatched up as soon as I saw it released by Shrimp & Grits Kids. Since it was freezing cold, I just added tights and a long sleeve shirt. Good to go!

Last but not least are the darling invitations created by Harper Gray Designs.

There we have it! I can’t believe our little girl is 4. TIME FLIES.

If there is something I’ve left out or you have a question, please leave it below in the comments. I’ll do my best to check in and answer them.

RESOURCES

Pink & White Striped Tablecloths
Golf Cups
Pink and White Striped Straws
White Planters (At Home)
Pink Cake Stand
Kids’ White Chiavari Chairs
Kids’ Tables
Invitations – Harper Grey Designs
Gift Tags, Water Bottle Labels
Food Tent Cards
Golf Dress