Photo by: Jenna Elliott of One Eleven Photography

Before the summer officially ends, I wanted to share an inside look into one of our favorite parties of the season. On the longest day of 2015, we celebrated the birth of our beautiful and talented BFF, Juliette Lewis, with an ethereal, Summer Solstice-themed dinner party. We were so unbelievably honored to have the party featured on Elle Decor and MyDomaine - two of our favorite sources for home decor and lifestyle inspiration.

This radiant birthday girl was so fun to plan a dinner for. I asked her what her favorite style was and she said "Romantic -- like Romeo and Juliette." So we put together a palette of purples, brass, vintage dishes and lacy linens to create that.

Both Sis and I love a bare, solid wood table. It's our preference for most events these days. The slotted wood bistro chairs (all from Classic Party Rentals) added a clean, European charm to the garden setting.

Most of these gorgeous tabletop items -- including the mis-matched vintage dishes, brass flatware, candlesticks, napkin rings and linens were sourced from the amazing Borrowed Blu.

I love adding other "live" elements to the table, in addition to flowers. For this one, a combination of figs, plums and lichee went perfectly with the summery, romantic vibe. We always find that guests are more than thrilled to take fresh produce home to enjoy when the party is over. I love that it doesn't go to waste!

A little secret: These gorgeous (and legit!) amethyst crystals that added such beauty to the table - they're from Amazon! They also made great parting gifts for the guests. I love decor that does double duty!

I kept driving myself crazy, laying awake a night, wanting to have another modern and interesting element included in the table design. That's when I decided to "ombré" the candles down the table. I ordered four different shades from Yummi Candles (they have the best candles) and used about 6 per color. I LOVED how it came out. I also want to say that you can almost never have enough candles. The tables that really speak to me have an abundance of candles. Go big or go home yo.

Checkin' things out. It's good to look at things through some kind of camera to see if it's making sense from a photograph's point of view. Sometimes I will realize "Whoa! That's really sparse" or "The flatware crooked!"

For the evening's signature drink, I made one of our favorites -- hibiscus cooler. It's a really refreshing drink -- great warm summer days (and nights). Pick up some organic hibiscus tea from Whole Foods or your local health food type store. Brew the tea and add raw agave (or whatever sweetener you prefer) to taste. Cool and pour over ice. Done!

I make this in huge batches for parties. It's easy to make but don't wear clothes that you care about while making it - the color is super bright and stains! To make a large batch, boil a huge pot of water, put a box or two worth of tea bags in and then sweeten with agave to taste. Then put on a ton of ice, only when you are ready to party. I serve it in one of my big drink dispensers so guests can just help themselves. Got some boozers coming? Keep a bottle of vodka or gin around for them to spike it up!

Cocktail modeling is my favorite job.

For the dessert table, I draped an antique desk, that I inherited from our Nana, with more of the vintage lace. I made the yarn backdrop from basic cream and gold colored yarn purchased at Joann Fabrics. I measured, cut and knotted rows of ten strings, making the middle row the longest and coming up bit by bit on each side to make a V shape. I liked the romantic boho vibe that it gave.

Our girl Emily from Whisk and Whittle outdid herself again with the most beautiful, and GLUTEN-FREE, confections. Her cakes are works of art. The large cake in the back is a berry shortcake and the shorter cake with the cute "Little Shop of Horrors" guy on top is some seriously relish carrot cake. To make sure the chocolate lovers got some love of their own, she made salted chocolate chip cookies and brownies. We had a lot of fun eating dessert that night!

Look at all those gorgeous goddesses!

Massive thank you to all who helped make this evening so magical! Love you, JL!!!! xoxoxo!!

---

CREDITS:

Party Design, Florals, Signature Drink + Custom Backdrop: Twink + Sis

Photography: Jenna Elliott of One Eleven Photography

Tabletop + Linens: Borrowed Blu

Misc. Tabletop: Twink + Sis' Own

Furniture Rentals: Classic Party Rents

Desserts: Whisk and Whittle

Candles: Yummi Candles

Amethyst Crystals: Amazon

Backdrop Materials: Joann

Yesterday afternoon I hosted an intimate "baby sprinkle" for my sister-in-law -- expecting baby no. 2 next month. My goal was to make a simple and lovely, country-side-esque afternoon for our 10 guests.

The guest of honor requested a tea-like light lunch but with ice-cold lemonade, instead of hot tea. Because she is expecting a boy, I wanted to make sure I didn't go too far down the frilly and girly high-tea route. Instead, I opted for my own clean white dishes, classic silverware, french linen napkins and touches of boyish anchors. My palette was navy, brown and white.

It was an interesting challenge with Jason out of town on tour - I had a 2-year-old helper who liked taking the straws out of the glasses - as you can see above. ;) But I'm really happy with the way it turned out. It was a nice mix of modern and classic. And I even did some crafting! Sis would be proud.

I gave myself a challenge: Don't rent anything. Because it was a small shower, I was able to use all of my own dishes, glassware, linens and silverware. As for the flower vessels -- I love the dark amber glass bottles my Kombucha comes in, so for several weeks leading up to the shower, I saved every bottle, took the labels off (had to scrub and soak and scrub again until all of the stickiness came off!). I purchased a few bunches of flowers and wild greens from Whole Foods. The bottles did double duty -- I also gave them away as favors at the end of the party. They make such a cool little vase for around the house. I'm a big fan.

For a special touch I made a few anchor decorations. These are little anchors I cut and stuck to wooden skewers, to create a more festive place setting.

I also made this anchor banner for the food table. Could be super cute on the nursery wall too!

I kept the drinks simple, with strawberry water and homemade organic lemonade.

We have been making most of our parties gluten-free lately. People normally can't even tell the difference and it suits the needs of the people who don't eat gluten. These scones from Buttercelli Bakeshop were out of control. The biggest hit of the day and gluten-free! I purchased organic apricot and strawberry jams and lemon curd. I made the Devonshire cream from this recipe I found on Joy of Baking.

You can never go wrong with a platter of organic berries. Never.

Butter lettuce salad with homemade candied walnuts, dried cranberries and goat cheese.

What do you do when you have a major cake-fail two hours before the party?! Get brownies, blondies and bars from the gluten-free bakeshop, cut them into square and forget you were up until 2AM baking!