JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH SIP & SEE

Our beautiful friend (and amazing photographer) Jenna Elliott, and her husband Andrew, adopted a baby boy, James. Her girlfriends chose Sunday brunch to host her Sip and See at Jenna’s favorite place — Arlington Garden in Pasadena, California.

We were inspired by Jenna’s only request for the theme — the book James and the Giant Peach (which her best friend’s grandfather wrote). In looking at the James and the Giant Peach artwork, three things stood out: peaches, birds and the ocean. So we used those as the guideposts for the Sip and See decor.

For peaches, we used giant balloons, with green crepe paper leaves (that we cut out free-hand), to give the effect of peaches floating overhead. Dessert carried the theme through with peach donuts and the incredible peach marzipan cake topper by Whisk and Whittle.

Gold birds nested atop the cake stand and candy dishes from Target and little white ceramic birds decorated the place settings. We also incorporated Sugarfina’s Apollo Kumquats to serve as “egg” candies.

For the ocean, we tore pieces of fabric in blue, green and white and then tied them to twine to create the fabric garland runner. West Elm has some incredible agate pieces so we used the coasters on the place settings and bookends to adorn the cake stand.

We also loved the idea of using spheres as a nod to the peach, and to the earth in general, so we incorporated wood and metal spheres throughout the length of the table.

Photography: Jenna Elliott of One Eleven Photography | Event Design: Marlan Willardson & Laurén LaRocca of Twink + Sis | Floral Design: Marlan Willardson & Laurén LaRocca of Twink + Sis | Agate: West Elm | Baby Bug Pants: Mary Says Sew | Baby Peach Hat: Karen Fudge Baby Love | Bird Dessert Stand & Candy Dishes: Nate Berkus for Target | Cake & Donuts: Whisk and Whittle | Candy: Sugarfina | Ceramic Birds: Creative Co-op via Amazon | Food & Drinks: Hostesses: Jeanie Sigal, Clover Fiandaca, Erin Moore & Emily Hughes | Napkins: Meri Meri Toot Sweet | Park: Arlington Garden | Photography - Assistance: Sarina Cass of Red Anchor Photo | Plastic Wine Glasses: Cruvina | Round Wood Platters: West Elm | Spheres: West Elm | Vases: West Elm