My 27th birthday fell on a Sunday, my favorite day of the week, so I decided to celebrate with a pretty in pink birthday brunch party. Here’s a recap of the entire event!
The Planning Process
I’m so grateful to have had the help of a party planner for this event because it would have been mayhem to do it alone. My planner Erika of Esquared NYC helped with the vision and the execution of the event from start to finish. She found the perfect venue and came up with great ideas throughout the process including a phrase for a custom sign that ultimately became the hashtag for my event! In the end, I love how everything came together. This event is one that I wish I could relive, but since I can’t I will cherish it forever.
The Venue
The brunch venue is a part of a group of spaces called Sommwhere NYC, but my planner Erika found my specific venue on Peerspace. It was the first option she provided it was exactly what I was looking for: spacious, well lit, and one long table for an intimate brunch. As soon as I saw it I knew it was the perfect location so I booked it.
All of the amenities are listed on the site but as a heads-up: any feature of the venue that doesn’t explicitly say “included” or “complimentary,” assume there is an extra charge. For example, the venue host has an extra charge for using the coat rack, and even though the wooden “lounge chairs” are included in the space’s pictures those come at an extra cost as well. Overall though, the space was perfect and I would and probably might book again in the future.
The Decor
There were multiple components of the decor, so I’m going to break it down by the major sections of the room: the table, the decorative cart, and the lounge area. So let’s get into it:
The table setting
Luckily the table and chairs came with the venue as is. They provided chairs for up to 16 guests. The floral centerpiece and the flowers in the bud vases all came from A&M Floral Place in Brooklyn, NY.
My party planner Erika had an account with Shindy studio, which is where we rented the silverware, plates, taper candle holders, champagne flutes, glass bottle set (for the individual roses) and pink goblets from. We added these pink and wooden tea light candle holders. As a last finishing touch we added two sets of macarons on ceramic stands. I’m not sure where the stands were from but you can definitely find them at Marshall’s, TJ Maxx, or home goods. The vanilla and strawberry macarons were from Macaron Parlour LES which happened to be conveniently located one block away from the venue.
The personalized place cards for each guest were customized by my planner, Erika. When possible I suggest adding this personal touch because guests appreciate it.
The Signature Cart
The cart was a lovely way to display the cake and just elevate the decor. Both the cart and cake stand were rented from Shindy and the flowers and vases were also from A&M Floral Place.
The lounge
This area was a cute place for guests at my birthday brunch party to sit and take pictures away from the actual dining table. The wooden benches and coffee table came with the venue (for an extra charge) and the pillows were rented from Shindy. We left a polaroid camera here for guests to use while they mingled. I’m sure you’re wondering about who made the custom sign but keep reading until the end for details on that.
The Bar
This was one of my favorite parts because of how well it came together. I had always wanted to do a mimosa bar and a brunch birthday party was the perfect opportunity.
Originally I had planned on just having these beautifully aesthetic bottles of Cipriani Bellini. Yes, the bottles are already mixed bellinis and all your guests would have to do is pour themselves a drink straight from the bottle. Also because a bellini is technically just a mimosa with peach puree/nectar instead of orange juice, an alternative would be to have peach juice in the mimosa bar.
In addition to the bottles of Cipriani Bellini, I set up a mimosa bar. All you need are some carafes, juices, bowls of fruit, and bottles of prosecco. I wanted to stick with unconventional juices that actually taste quite good as mimosas so, in addition to the safe and traditional orange juice, I had guava, mango, and passionfruit juices/nectar. I highly recommend picking up the Goya or similar brand version of these juices because they come in exactly 1-liter amounts, which is the same size as most carafes, so it’s easy to pour in and you won’t have leftover juice in the carton.
For fruit, I went with raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, pre-cut strawberries, and fresh mint leaves. I also highly suggest using fruit that already comes in individual pieces or is precut to save you some effort. Of course, we had water in a dispenser and an ice bucket each for cooling the bottles as well as cooling people’s individual drinks.
The Food
I wanted to serve my guest a traditional soul food brunch, so I went with catering from one of my favorite restaurants: Melba’s in Harlem. The food was spectacular and guests ate swell, but unfortunately, the service did not match. The catering side if the business was difficult to reach throughout the planning process and they showed up significantly late on the day of the event. To account for this they did refund me half the cost of catering and the total delivery fee, but it is unclear if I would be booking them for an event again. (The restaurant is great and I highly recommend getting a meal there but leave the catering to somewhere else for now.)
The Cake
The most beautiful cake I ever did see was made by Melanie David of Jamm events. This was specifically a recommendation from my planner, Erika. She said their strawberry cake was incredibly good and I took her word for it. This cake did not disappoint. My guests raved about how great the cake was and when I took some home to my mother she even said the same thing.
The Little Details
And lastly, there were a bunch of little things that tied my birthday brunch party together. So let me list them out for you:
- The custom sign made by inspired engravings: this was a great idea by my planner and the phrase she came up with ended up being the hashtag for my event! #AllDayEniDay
- The customized EniGivenSunday storefront decal: another great idea by my planner. This one had passerby’s on the street walking by and asking about what was happening inside. I believe that was made by TwinsPrint.
- The guest board for hanging polaroid pictures: was a cute keepsake for me to hold on to polaroids from the end of the party and have guests leave nice messages!
- Lit candles to fill the room with nice aromas: I wanted my guests to have an experience and that included smell. I had two springtime scented candles lit in the back: one from Forvr Mood and one from Otherland to set the vibe.
- Signs for the hashtag, mimosa bar, juice tags, and menu were from Etsy. This was a last-minute decision but luckily since they were a digital download it was an instant access type of thing that you could customize and print on your own.
That pretty much captures everything that went into my pretty in pink birthday brunch party. I’m so glad I made the decision to celebrate this year and I hope you consider some of these awesome options and ideas for your next party!
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17
