Garden-Themed Kentucky Derby Party!

We’re off to the races with this colorful Garden-Themed Kentucky Derby Party brought to us by our friend Sarah of Sarah Sofia Productions! As a fellow southerner, there is nothing more I love than a Derby-themed soiree, especially with so many darling garden touches! I’m so thrilled that Sarah is sharing all the party details with us so you can be inspired to style your own party for the races! 

PARTY DETAILS BY Sarah Sofia Productions

Whether you’re throwing a Kentucky Derby party, Derby inspired wedding, or hosting a tent at a horserace this spring, you’ll love this Derby inspired party!

Spring is in the air and this Derby Garden Party has us wanting to celebrate with bright pastel colors, fun and flirty dresses, designer hats, and a bite size Derby inspired menu.

This Garden Party took place on Breezy Meadows Farm with lots of rustic charm and of course beautiful horses.

Sarah Sofia Productions mixed and matched highs and lows to create an electric garden party look such as faux white bamboo chairs and blush and blue napkins and blue and white table linens from Classic Party Rentals, with blush and gold plates and pastel vintage glasses from Anthropologie. Adding miniature horse and jockey figures, spray painted gold to each place setting made them festive! You could even use them as place card holders if you wanted a more formal setting arrangement.

The centerpiece was lush and full of spring blooms and a beautiful large succulent arranged in a wooden crate by The Flower Diva. This look is modern, yet rustic with the wooden crate and horse and jockey gold figure displayed on top. Fresh mint flower arrangements were displayed in silver mint julep cups on the food table with plastic horse figures spray painted gold.

Speaking of mint juleps, this peach mint julep displayed in Cheers Y’all Mason jar mugs from Shutterfly was a guest favorite! Adding a twist on the traditional mint julep gives your guests options and a great wow factor! Plus, guests can take home their custom mason jar as party favors! We also loved coordinating the southern phrase Cheers Y’all on personalized cocktail napkins.

When you think horseracing and the Kentucky Derby, the first thing that comes to mind is the fashion! Whether you pick out your dress or hat first, both go hand in hand. How fun and flirty are these one of kind LaRoque dresses?

Kentucky Derby hats are a tradition dating back over 100 years. Dee’s Hats handmade designer hats and fascinators and will tailor your custom hat just for your Derby outfit!

The Derby inspired menu consisted of small bites such as mini hot browns, mini crostini, mini cheddar cheese and herb biscuits with ham, and rainbow bow tie farfalline (pasta) with succotash by Sarah Sofia Productions. When hosting your own party and making food, consider making at least 3-4 main dishes. When being a hostess, I always try to make a few things from starch and buy a few things pre made such as cheddar biscuits and succotash I bought at a specialty store.

The desserts were the best in show with custom bow tie, Derby hat, and horseshoe cookies, mini pecan pies, mini lemon rosette cupcakes, and bourbon balls from Edible Art Cake Shop and pastel colored macarons from Tree House Macarons.

I love making a wedding or party unique with custom invitations! These hand painted invitations by Paperie Off Park set the tone for the party, pretty pastel colors and lots of fun!  Playing off the invitation “Gentlemen, grab your bowties” I added a limited edition Derby Bow Tie from Vineyard Vines.

Place Your Bets! Custom designed betting cards that coordinate with the hand painted invitation add another element of fun for this Derby inspired party!

Besides spray painting horse and jockey figures, my other favorite DIY was the beautiful spring wreath around the horse statue displayed at the bottom of the food table. Adding paper flowers either handmade or this garland added another element to the design.

When I saw a piece from Christenberry Collection I knew I had to have it or something similar for this Derby Party! Christenberry Collection curated a custom piece of art by artist Shields Catone, which displays the pastel colors used throughout the party design. 

Adding a few printables finished the design look. Sometimes less is more. You don’t have to have a sign or tag for everything. However, I do love the Kentucky Derby 2016 watercolor sign designed by Hostess With The Mostess!

Sarah has certainly WOW’d us with this gorgeous Kentucky Derby party! We are definitely ready for the races and can’t wait to sip on mint juleps while wearing our fancy hats! I hope you are inspired to host a derby soiree too!

CREDITS + RESOURCES

Venue & Horses: Breezy Meadows Farm
Photography: Andi Perullo de Ledesma Photography
Planning, Coordination, Design, Peach Mint Julep, Décor DIY, Food – Sarah Sofia Productions
Hand Painted Invitation & Betting Cards: Paperie Off Park
Tables, Linens, Chairs, & Silver Platters: Classic Party Rentals
Dresses:  LaRoque
Mini Desserts: Edible Art Cake Shop
Macarons: Treehouse Macarons
Flowers: The Flower Diva
Hats: Dee’s Designer Hat’s & Fascinators
Curated Art: Christenberry Collection (Meredith Christenberry)
Personalized Cheers Y’all Mason Jars: Shutterfly
Personalized cocktail napkins: Tiny Prints
Petite Blossom Cups – Springtime & Gold Mini Square Trays: Via Blossom
Models: Jaime Spencer – A Well Dressed Life , Kristen Shaeffer –Every Chic Way, Elise Houston – Her Heart and Home and Dominique DeLaney – Comfy Cozy Couture
Pink and gold plates & pastel vintage glasses: Anthropologie
White dinner plates & white horse head statue: HomeGoods
Wooden crates, Picture Frames & Pink Glass Cake Stand: Michaels
Limited Edition Derby Bow Tie: Vineyard Vines
Gold Horse & Jockey Figure, Plastic Horse Figures, & Mini Plastic Horse and Jockey Figures: Amazon
Mini Cake Stands, Straws & Oh Joy Spring Collection Plate: Target
Printables: Hostess With The Mostess