Real Event: Ballet Baroque 30th Birthday Party

A few weeks before my birthday my father told me that he has always preferred woman in their thirties, as they know what they want in life. Apparently, woman in their twenties do not. This was certainly true when it came to planning my three oh(-dear) birthday party - which I did in my thirtieth year, so technically it counts.

One advantage of a party at this age is that I now had the means to make (most of) my ideas a reality. My sixteen year old self would have been proud! So with my theme firmly in place I planned for dinner at my favorite restaurant, a limo ride home and a dessert table that I spent months dreaming up. After all, baking is the main reason why I have parties!

For more on the Ballet Baroque theme have a look at my previous post here. 

Balloons filled with rose petals; an easy DIY to add some glamour.

I decorated the restaurant table with a scatter of fabric rose petals
and gold glitter candles to go with the Ballet Baroque theme.

The restaurant we went to was Merchants Tavern, Shoreditch. I first tasted Angela Hartnett's cooking at the Whitechapel Gallery's Café and my tastebuds have never forgotten that day. Therefore, when she opened Merchant's Tavern I knew that's where I would be hosting my 30th. Her menu is described as French, Spanish and Italian, and it's delectable. The venue is a perfect blend of casually stylish and indulgently opulent while somehow remaining laid-back (for Shoreditch). 

After dinner we took a limo ride back to my house for a dessert buffet and much champagne. As one does.

The center piece of the desert table was a two tier cake I dreamed up especially for the occasion. The bottom tier was pink-milk flavoured with silky ruffles of Swiss meringue buttercream. The top was a red velvet cake with velvety cream cheese frosting. For a touch of drama, I decorated the cake with a scatter of black sugar-paste rose petals, and a cake candelabra. . . of course. 

One cake is surely not enough, so I also made an airy ombré berry cheesecake and piped rose cupcakes. These were then interspersed with rose and vanilla meringue kisses, ribbon-shaped butter cookies, chocolate mousse cups and intoxicating Bailey's truffles.

It was a fantastic evening and a great way to start my thirties. And just to surpass my sixteen year old self's dreams, the next morning hubby (bottom right) and I jetted off to New York for a week. I had never dreamt I could be so lucky. If this is what 30 holds then bring it on!

Speaking of all my dreams, I have also just launched an online bake shop and I am very excited! Most of the bakes from this post are available to order. 

Have a look adelsbeautifulbakes.co.uk.

xxx

Ballet Baroque 30th Birthday Party

If I have to turn 30 I'm going to do it my way. That means there will be a theme and possibly a dress code. The best kind of party! And since we are talking about what I want, I'll include a few of my other favorite things.

1. My Perfume

My favorite perfume is the inspiration for the theme: Ballet Baroque (that's right, ballet baroque is a theme...because I said so...it's my party). I imagine it to be drama and opulence in black and pink. 

The opulence will start at the very beginning, with the invites. Since my last name is not Kardashian however, I'll have to employ some DIY. 

2. Handmade invitations

Invitations are a very important element to any party. Besides containing all the necessary information they also act as a trailer to the main event. Today the likes of e-mail and Facebook make it very easy to get the word out. Call me old fashioned, but I like the idea of creating something physical that represents your event. Something that can be posted. Lets face it, nothing interesting really arrives by post anymore and I see this as an unmissable opportunity to add some excitement to the usual mundane pile of bills and statements. And even more exciting, creating something bespoke and handmade. 

The invitation design is based off a quote by one of my favourite designers, Coco Chanel:
"A woman has the age she deserves"

I designed the image and then needed a way to reproduce it. Printing is a bit drab so instead I made my own stamp out of craft foam.

Off the shelf envelopes are not going to cut it either, so I customised some with gold inserts and ribbon ties.    

3. Flowers. Lots and lots of cut flowers

When it comes to flowers my views differ somewhat from Coco Chanel; in this case more is more. And of course the vases need to match the theme!

For the vases I cut the tops off a few glass jars. Watch this video by my latest YouTube crush, CrazyRussianHacker. Once you have cut the bottles, sanding the cut edges smooth works incredibly well (especially if you get your husband to do it). Next up, spray paint or glitter glue the bottles and the results look fantastic.

4. Cake

Anyone who knows anything about me knows that Cake is the real reason I like to throw parties. I love making and decorating beautiful and delicious treats that are almost too pretty to eat (some have said). The following three blogs provided inspiration for my theme.

Ruffle cake Made From Scratch

Rose cupcakes Created by Diane

Triple berry cheesecake Woman & Home

I also have a few original ideas for the theme including lace stenciled, all butter cookies. These are made with a thin layer of black sugarpaste, fixed to the cookies with apricot glaze, and brush-stenciled with royal icing. They look much more complicated than they really are to put together. The best kind of baking!

So, these were a few of my favorite things. I guess turning 30 won't be too bad.

xxx

Follow my Pinterest board for this theme here.