Bows & Arrows Birthday Party

Planning a birthday party for any age is a daunting task-- BUT, add in the pressure of planning for six year old triplets who all have their own sense of style, opinions, and personalities and you just might want to smile and cry at the same time! Making sure each of these sweet kiddos had the party of their dreams all within the same party was one of the most challenging themes I've ever tackled, but it was SO worth it!

I talked with Linda Carol (their mom) and began brainstorming ideas a few months out from their birthday and literally tried to think of concepts to merge multiple themes.. I kept coming up with nothing. Honestly, I came close to telling her that we just needed to have a boy party on one day and a girl party the next day. The previous year, we had been successful in convincing all three of them to have the same theme by just promising them lots of fun and making sure there were equal boy and girl activities. However, this year Kirkland made sure his mom knew he wanted a 100% all boy party with either a hunting or sports theme. Both of the girls requested similar yet different themes-- Carol Ann wanted "Baby Doll" and Mary Fowler wanted "Tea Party." Merging the girl theme was easy. Kirkland was the one throwing a wrench in my joint birthday party plan! One morning I was blow drying my hair, and the theme hit me (this happens a lot while drying my hair!), I text Linda Carol and the party planning began!

"Bows and Arrows" was our theme. Kirkland was going to get his hunting with an archery station, "bows and arrows," a tee pee campfire circle with a "No Girls Allowed" sign! Carol Ann and Mary Fowler were going to get their tea party with their baby dolls! The party was in December so we were mixing in some Christmas elements and making it slightly colonial to match the look of their home, where the party was taking place. Colonial and Christmas were easy to tie in to our theme because archery was a "colonial" activity and we were going to use American Girl dolls to tie in that element on the girls side of the party. The Stella & Company events team worked alongside decorator Melody Eubank to design the party and make sure it was executed perfectly. Between the two decorating teams and our perfect team of vendors, this party was the most spectacular child's birthday party of 2015!

Hot Chocolate and Christmas Carolers greeted as guests walked up to the party. The ground in front of the home was flocked with snow and live flocked Christmas trees with lit deer and floating balloons across the roofline. As guests entered the foyer, they were greeted with a ceiling of balloons. Girls were directed to the dining room to pick their stroller (party favor) for their baby dolls they were asked to bring with them. The boys were directed to the hearth to pick up their camoflauge t shirt, racoon hat, and duck call (their party favors). They could sit in Santa's lap or make their way to the activity stations from there! The girls enjoyed hat making for the tea party (their "bows" part of the theme) before making their way into the back yard for a tea party under a tent with chandeliers. As they entered the tent, they were given a strand of pearls for them and their doll as well as a pair of white gloves! We had cupcakes on paint pallette's with an area of sprinkles for the girls to decorate, box up, and take home with them. The girls enjoyed a dinner on vintage fine china with a plethora of tea party foods for them to snack on while sitting with their friends and playing with their dolls. They could pick their favorite custom tea cup watercolor print and have their names calligraphied on them and then framed (another girls party favor). Before or after they attended the tea party, the girls had the option of attending the salon where we had stylists on hand to do hair and simple make up for them and their baby dolls. The stylists were dressed in the theme of the birthday girls favorite American Girl dolls. The boys had the right side of the back yard with "Kirkland's Hunting Camp" where they could shoot marshmallow guns, practice their archery, burn a deer head into a slab of wood, carve a snowman out of a bar of soap, pop Jiffy Pop, roast a hot dog, or roast s'more over a campfire. A man on stilts also walked through the yard dressed in camouflage entertaining the children and ending the night with a unicycle show on the front yard where we served the birthday cake! Balloon deer lined the windows across the back of the house in the boys area. The parents also enjoyed a reserved area with a catered spread by Fresh Cut Catering and Floral by the pool where there were floating duck decoys and paper lanterns in the pool! Girly flower arrangements on the tables in this area were flanked with deer antlers to mix both sides of the party!

Relive the party with us in the photos below! All photo credits to Lindsay Vallas Photography.