For her step-daughter’s 12th birthday, April of Events Inspired by Love wanted to create a dolphin inspired kids party with a sense of sophistication. Her result? This Dazzling Under the Sea Party with tons of sparkly elements, shimmery sweets and a refreshing tablescape fit for an elegant celebration! (Want to see more styling by April? Check out her Darling Woodland Owl Girl Baby Shower!)

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

• White floral ‘coral’ centerpieces with blue trim & apothecary vases filled with sand & shells
• Sand dollar cookies, dolphin sugar cookies & adorable octopus cake pops set on brown sugar sand
• Large apothecary vase candy bar with ribbon & pearl string embellishments
• Waves & bubbles backdrop from crepe paper streamers and clear iridescent bead strings
• White sequin birthday girl chair back & dessert tablecloth overlay

PARTY DETAILS, as told by April…

Theme

• This party was created for my super sweet step-daughter.  This year she turned 12 and wanted something a little more sophisticated.
• Dolphins are a new favorite for her so that helped determine the theme and we transformed it to an Under the Sea Theme.

Decorations

• An ombre blue color palette was chosen from a package of photo frames found while out shopping for ideas, and this became the starting point.
• A king size dining table was created for guests with shimmering teal linens and silver chiavari chairs with ocean blue satin cushions were provided by Glow Concepts.
• One special chair the birthday girl was adorned with a white sequin floor length chair back cover.  Gorgeous all white floral arrangements were used for a special detail to mimic corals found in the sea.
• White hydrangea, china mums, garden roses and astilbe were set in white vases with crocheted blue trim and silver sequins.
• Multiple glass bubbles set around the table included a single china mum “anemone”.  The table settings included round sea grass placemats and clear glass silver ringed chargers topped with Tiffany blue satin napkins bound with twine and a single sea shell.
• Tall clear glasses were set with blue dotted paper straws.  Short ombre blue bubble cups were also provided for a special punch.
• A special blue “bubble” Swarovski crystals table number set on frosted plexi glass guided guest to their sets.  Multiple vases of sand and shells were set to finish off the Under the Sea themed guest table.

Food

Keeping with the theme the food provided for the event were given creative names; “submarine” sandwiches, turkey roll up “sushi”, peanut butter & jelly “fish” sandwiches and gold fish crackers in a bowl.  Ocean water punch quenched the thirst of all the guests.

Sweets Table

As sweets tables have been all the rage for all types of events I wanted to create my own spin on an Under the Sea Themed Sweets Table.  The base started as a 6ft table covered with a satin Tiffany blue linen with the most A-MAZ-ING hand made white iridescent sequin overlay.  A custom waves and bubbles backdrop was created from crepe paper streamers and clear iridescent beaded strings.  A two tiered shimmery blue cake with fondant waves adorned with white chocolate shells became the centerpiece of the sweets table.  Flanked on both sides of the cake were multiple jars filled with under the sea themed sweets; blue and white bubble gum ball “bubbles”, blue and white salt water taffy, blue cotton candy “sea foam”, blue and white rock candy “coral”, candy coated chocolate “pearls”, white meringue “sea urchin” cookies, home made sand dollar cookies, sugar cookie dolphins and octopus cake pops. Sea shells and sea stars were scattered around the table for extra detail.

Glass bubbles were hung with color coordinating ribbon above the tables to create that under the sea feel along with four large hand crafted jelly fish lanterns.  A custom Happy Birthday sea shell banner was also created by EIbL Boutique.

Games

The first activity for guests was to create their own sand art dolphin necklace, they then went on to water balloon toss (first one for the kiddos & then one for the adults), next a dolphin ring toss and musical chairs.