Andrea from Dolce Drive truly created a FAIRY-TALE of a birthday party for her adorable daughter Sabrina with this Cinderella-inspired soirée! One of the things I love most about this particular Cinderella party is that – in the spirit of the original tale – Andrea incorporated both the “princess” elements AND the “peasant” side of the story!

The little girls were actually greeted with patchwork aprons and hankies for their hair (which I almost think look cuter than the tiaras, btw!) and told to “finish their chores” before they could attend the upcoming Royal Tea Party celebration. After HAPPILY doing “chores” like baking fake cookies, “sweeping the chimney” and eating lunch, they were transformed into princesses for the Royal Celebration, where they dined on “tea” (apple juice) and sweet treats, alongside a very special guest!

So much creativity and thought went into this sweet celebration! Read on for LOTS more princess-worthy pics, plus all the MAGICAL party details….

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Andrea…

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Theme

Cinderella Inspired Royal Celebration
My daughter, Sabrina, is a huge fan of the fairy tale story, Cinderella. Speaking from my personal experience as a party stylist, allowing the child the freedom to participate and pick his or her theme is important. However, mommy must also be happy with the style of the party, after all she is the one in charge for……say 18 years. =) I often get calls from frantic mommies expressing distress over the fact that there child wants a Minnie Mouse party or an Elmo party “how do I make that cute”. By allowing your child to pick his or her theme doesn’t mean they have to style the event, you are still in control of the “LOOK” of the party. Make a list of your child’s favorite things, colors, activities, food, clothing, books, shows, etc. and go with it. Pick and choose favorites so they know you are pleasing them and this day is about what they love!!!!

My List

of Sabrina’s Favorite Things
Blue, pink, Cinderella, dress up time, tea parties, cleaning the house (yes my child loves to clean, vacuum, and all), story time, sweets, cupcakes, candy, sing, make up, bubbles, bounce houses.

Decor

Inside: I hung gorgeous paper pink pom poms over a kiddie table and incorporated linens that my mom purchased in Europe when I was a little girl. The linens was casual, but also delicate and “princess-y” due to the a hand-sewn floral detail.  The chimney area was decorated beautifully with Cinderella-inspired peasant items: pumpkins, the pink dress that the mice & birds had sewn for her, and a vintage broom!

Outside: I used blue as the main color and added hints of pink and white. I purchased items from Homegoods such as a vintage carriage, vintage cart, and dress form. The kiddie table was beautifully decorated with blue linen, individual place settings, sparkly slippers, large bunches of white hydrangeas and pearls.  We used kiddie chiavari chairs in the inside as well as at the outside table (these are the cutest ever!). The dress up area was decorated with white hanging tissue pom poms.

My sweet SIL, Heather from Heather Renee Photography, also contributed some items such a bird house and a beautiful large Arch that I styled with flowers, which she used as the main area where the girls were photographed outside.

I decided I wanted to also use a Fleur De Lis in addition to the traditional Tiara design used princess parties. I made all the paper goods for the event, the center piece cut outs of shimmery Fleur De Lis and tiaras, the name banner, thank you tags, and food table tents.

Invitations

I worked with Jessica from Pen N’ Paper Flowers who designed a beautiful Cinderella Inspired carriage just for me.With the carriage, I designed a magical yet simple invitation which would set the platform for the event. Guests received their invitation in a wooden like scroll which was hand delivered.

Guest List

This was the hardest part of the celebration. I have a lot of friends, and I love to include them in everything I do. Most of my friends have children, and not being able to invite all of them was rough. Sabrina’s birthday last year was at a park and I invited over 60 kids, so I only saw my daughter for a few seconds and barely got a chance to even hold her while we sang Happy Birthday. While we had a blast last year, I knew for this year’s party theme I really needed to keep it simple with the guest list so that I could be as involved as possible at the party. At age three it is difficult to keep kids under control when there are too many, which is why I chose to invite 10 girls, all within her age range (2 – 4). I figure that depending on the theme, each year, I will decide the guests list count. This year, ten girls was just perfect!!

Activities

The celebration began indoors, where guests were greeted with burlap, white eyelet patchwork aprons, and matching hankies (my mom and I sewed these a few days before the party). They were handed brooms, small hand towels, and buckets. They were to clean the chimney, mop the floors, shine the windows, and finish their chores before they could attend the Royal Celebration. The little girls loved cleaning and even took out baking supplies and prepared fake cookies for the anticipated Royal tea party they were to attend!

Once the girls finished their chores and ate their lunch, they were guided outside where the magical celebration began. There was a special make up, hair and dress up area. The girls were completely transformed to little princess dolls, wearing fancy gowns, white gloves, shimmery tiaras, and handed rose bouquets (which I also made).

The little princesses sat at their Royal table where they anxiously awaited for their special guest to arrive.  A gorgeous 16-year old family friend of ours dressed in a white beautiful gown, a tiara and gloves and came to surprise the girls as their Princess from a far away land! My daughter’s jaw was on the floor. She greeted the girls and sat with them for tea and sweets. It really made the party so much more special!

We served “tea” (apple juice) from a tea pot , gorgeous and delicious cookies created by Allyson Jane and Sweet Dough, princess cake pops from Terri’s Treasures and cream puffs and cupcakes from our local bakery.  Our guest princess taught a quick and sweet etiquette class. She taught the girls to say please and thank you, sit properly and place their napkins on their laps. I rented the Story of Cinderella (original 1980 version) from a local library and read it to the girls.   They spent the rest of the afternoon dancing, popping bubbles and being photographed with their sweet guest Princess. My daughter really wanted a bounce house and I wasn’t sure how to incorporate this into the theme. I found the perfect castle bounce house from Bouncing Parties Express and had them blow up the bounce house at the very end of the party where the girls got to enjoy it for just enough time to bounce on out with their mommies…..

Highlight of the Event

Sabrinas expression when the princess made her grand entrance, in fact, I still get teary eyed thinking about the expression on her face when she saw her. It really was my favorite part of the entire party. Being able to enjoy the party and my daughter on her special day was also a huge highlight for me.

Favors

Cotton Candy flavored Jelly beans in sparkly jewelry boxes, Drizellas beads (chocolate sixlets) in clear containers. White toddler gloves, shimmery tiaras hair wraps and slippers, rose bouquets, aprons and hankies. {Another plus of keeping the guest list small, I was able to really spoil Sabrina and her little friends with goodies!}

It was a magical and memorable day!! Sabrina and I still talk about her birthday and how special it was. =) I want to thank all the incredibly talented ladies who participated in making this day so beautiful.  I am so grateful and humbled to have had you aboard this special day. Thank You with all my heart for everything you did. =)