it was party time this past weekend, and we had a major beach bash to celebrate little mr. re-nest #1’s big eighth birthday! special thanks to the great team at iddy biddy pool school in sycamore for allowing us to invade + showing our kiddos a fantastic time! (and for putting up with this crazy creative mama’s party decor plans!)

when we landed on the whole beach party theme (which made total sense with the party location, btw), i instantly knew who i wanted to consult for invitations. joni at silver pumpkin designs did an amazing job with creating a vintage, muted color palette for the invites that helped set the perfect tone. once we had the invites, the little mr. and i talked and we wanted to focus on lime green, orange, teal, and brown for our party colors!

the invitations went out (with a little touch from mama….i added some extra paper details from my cricut life is a beach cartridge, did a little hand lettering on the envelopes and finished each with a little burlap twine). next up was to design the cake (little mr.’s favorite part!)….we did some inspiration searching on pinterest, and came up with the idea to do a single six-inch cake accompanied by some homemade cupcakes with a little beachy theme. i wanted to support my friend deanna at sweet dream desserts + catering because she does ah-mazing, delicious cakes….and, deanna was totally up for the challenge for our beachy themed cake!

the party came together so well from here…we had space at iddy biddy pool school that we could do a food table + the tables for the kiddos to eat. plus, they have this great mural there that i knew would be a perfect spot to use as a little mini photo booth that i was totally excited to use! i loved being able to use the space we had + the decor that was already in place to help make the party complete.

here’s what you’ve been waiting for….all of my fave pics, tips + tricks from this year’s party!

i say it every party, but this one was just f-u-n. the kids had a great time, and i had such a blast planning + making + styling this party! up next: little mr. re-nest #2’s “chicka chicka boom boom” fourth birthday bonanza!