Hi there, in this blog post I will share with you how I created my son’s tropical dinner party for his 18th birthday with under 24 hours notice. I’ll take you through my process of using fresh pineapples to Dunkin Donuts to create the perfect night for my son and his friends.
With my son going to a soccer academy in North Carolina and his friends moving home to France or going to College, we decided to have an early birthday party for my sons 18th birthday.
I asked my son for weeks to work out a date with his friends to have a dinner party, and in true teenage boy spirit, he gave me just under 24 hours notice to prepare.
We decided on a tropical theme which seemed like so much fun because coming from Sydney Australia his birthday usually falls in wintertime.
I did have a sneaky head start because I had already been collecting fake flowers during Michaels 80% off sales for my daughter’s upcoming party.
THE PARTY SETUP
We set up a formal dinner party table and a cozy outdoor movie area.
The first thing we did was setup all the furniture, somewhere to eat, serve the food, and watch a movie.
I then searched my house looking for anything that would help add layers to my tropical boho theme. At this stage, I am not too fussy and grab anything that has potential.
Items I was looking for included anything: rattan, gold, tropical, floral, and also a touch of boho.
If I was in Sydney, this is when my friend and neighbor, Viola, would also hunt through her house and loan me whatever she has to add to the look.
Whatever I find around my house I put in one place, this way I knew what I had to work with, either as a prop or to add functionality.
Next, I set the table with a rose gold glitter table runner, pineapples, lanterns, and tropical flowers. I checked with my son that he liked the setup so far and that it didn’t feel too girly for him. He really liked it, so I ran with it!
THE TABLE SETTING
My favorite detail of the party was the table setting. I started with a good base, this included a rose gold table runner and three large fake Monstera leaves evenly spaced on top.
Two fresh pineapples were evenly spaced on the table and gave the table setting height, texture, and authenticity. They were the best investment I made for the party.
I also added limes, vases with flowers, a flower garland, lanterns, and candles.
Knowing that it was going to get dark during the party the lanterns and candles added ambiance during the night. We also had a string of festoon lights hanging in a tree and along a fence.
For the place setting, I used gold plate chargers, white plates, and natural linen napkins. l cut flower heads and leaves off their stems and placed them on top of loosely folded napkins.
FOOD AND DRINKS FOR THE PARTY
Being a cake decorator and a party planner, but with under 24 hours, I asked my son if he wanted a nice party setup or a cake. He choose setup, so I made super easy Dunkin Donut stack for his cake.
For dinner we ordered takeout from their favorite pizza place. I also made my son’s favorite creamy tomato pasta in my Thermomix, a green salad with homemade salad dressing.
I baked some cupcakes and one of my sons friends brought along some cookies too.
Thanks for popping by!
If you found this post helpful or have any questions please leave me a comment.
Thanks, Stacey