Photography by Bailey Mohr, Beautiful Mess Photography
Click HERE for a gallery of more images from the party by Beautiful Mess Photography.
Alice, a.k.a. Anna Warren, serenely surveys her surroundings as she sits patiently at the end of the small table laden with teapot and cups and cake—cupcake-style. No, she hasn’t fallen down some pesky rabbit hole. No, she isn’t about to ingest anything that would make her big or Lilliputian. No, she isn’t going to shout and whine—actually, this blonde beauty hasn’t learned to talk. No, this Alice, in her blue-and-white pinafore edged in eyelet lace, is the birthday girl and queen of all hearts.
Then her best friend, Annie Koboldt, the other honoree at this first-birthday bash, arrived. Born only two days apart, to mothers who have been best friends since middle school, the little ladies are having a combined party, staged as a highly detailed rendition of the original Lewis Carroll tale. The doorway into the living room is festooned with silk and oversize tissue-paper flowers. The backs of the chairs are tied with bows of tulle. Chinese lanterns were suspended from the ceiling. Picture frames have been spray painted pink. A stack of cups piled high at precarious angles (hot-glued together) sits on the mantel. Clocks are everywhere. Looking glasses stand here and there. Tags specifying “Eat me, Drink Me” are attached to items. Potion bottles are scattered. Old keys lay on top of tables. Playing cards and a chess set are ready for players. And a trunk full of chic, vintage chapeaus is open and available to all partygoers—big and small.
Not everyone is totally on board with the storybook theme. Elijah, 3, Anna’s older brother, prefers riding his rocket ship to the pretend tea. It’s “served” at a child’s table passed down from Anna’s great-great-great-grandfather; the starched tablecloth dates back to childhood parties thrown by Anna’s mother, Leah. Before long, Anna’s dad, Todd, rounds up the little guests and escorts them to the TV upstairs. The friends and mothers, all outfitted in party dresses, don hats (some fitting, some perched) and sit down for lunch, tea, and the latest news.
The food choices are determined more by color than, say, menu. There are apples dipped in pink-tinted white chocolate. Cupcakes topped with pink icing and a gumdrop. Pink chocolate–drizzled pretzel sticks.
Mrs. Warren and Annie’s mom, Julie Koboldt, marvel at the layout, which their friends jointly helped assemble. Their friend Rebecca Roam decorated the rooms and collected the paper flowers. AT HOME’s art director, Lindsay Hotz Timme, brought fresh flowers and with help from Jeana Reisinger of Living Arts arranged them in Mason jars. Bailey Mohr (just hours away from going into labor), of Beautiful Mess Photography, photographed the party.
“Like Alice in Wonderland, it was magic,” says Mrs. Warren.
The Details
The Birthday Girls: Anna Warren and Annie Koboldt
The Hosts: Leah and Todd Warren
The Location: The Warren’s house in Maplewood
The Guests
Little:
Gavin Bleyer
Arle Alex Mohr
Jamieson Roam
Lincoln Roam
Elijah Warren
Big:
Kim Bleyer
Julie Koboldt
Amy Lyon
Bailey Mohr
Jacqueline Morgan
Rebecca Roam
Krista Schweiss
Lindsay Hotz Timme
The Menu
Mini Pigs in a Blanket
Stuffed Mushrooms
Chicken Salad on Mini Rolls
Pink chocolate-covered pretzel rods
Pink chocolate-covered apples
Strawberry yogurt-covered raisins
Powdered donuts
Grapes
Cupcakes with strawberry frosting
Petit Fours
Goldfish
Strawberry and plain marshmallows
Pink Punch
Coffee
Tea
Recipes
Chicken Salad
3 cups cooked chicken breasts, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped- about 3/4 cup
2 carrots, chopped-about 3/4 cup
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons horseradish
Coarsely ground black pepper, to taste
Mix everything together well. Chill for at least one hour before serving. It tastes much better if allowed to chill overnight. Serve on mini Hawaiian rolls
Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms
1 ½ cups hot water
1 package (6 ounces) stuffing mix for chicken
2 pounds (40) fresh mushrooms
2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained
1 cup Kraft shredded low-moisture part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 cup Kraft grated parmesan cheese
Heat oven to 400. Add hot water to stuffing mix in large bowl; stir just until moistened. Set aside. Remove stems from mushrooms; chop stems. Melt butter in skillet on medium heat. Add chopped stems and garlic; cook and stir 5 minutes or until tender. Add to stuffing with spinach and cheeses; mix well.
Spoon into mushroom caps. Place, filled-sides up, in shallow pan.
Bake 20 minutes or until mushrooms are tender and filling is heated through.
Pink Raspberry Punch
1/2 gallon raspberry sherbet, softened
1 (4-ounce) can lemon-pink Hawaiian punch
1 (28-ounce) bottle ginger ale, chilled
Combine sherbet and Hawaiian punch.
Add ginger ale just before serving. Yields 2½ quarts.
Pink Melted Chocolate
1 package white Almond Bark
5 drops red food coloring (more/less depending on the desired shade of pink)
Put Almond Bark into medium saucepan and melt on low heat, stirring frequently. This will take approximately 8 minutes. If you need to soften it further add vegetable shortening (not butter).
Use this to roll the ends of the pretzel rods in, drizzle on pretzel rods, and spread onto golden delicious apples. Top it off with white sugar crystal and edible fairy dust (found at Hobby Lobby) to give it the "magical" effect.
