Dayton 30th Birthday | Party Planner

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When we are kids celebrating birthdays feels so magical. Maybe it is the cake or an excuse to have a party with our friends, but every little kid looks forward to their birthday. Unfortunately, when you grow up and all that changes. Suddenly birthdays aren’t that big of a deal.

For my 30th birthday, I decided that should change. Turning 30 years old felt like a big milestone, so I decided to design the birthday party I really wanted. Don’t get me wrong, it is super fun to have someone throw you a birthday party. But I loved putting together exactly the birthday party I wanted to celebrate 30.

If you have followed me for any amount of time you know that I draw inspiration for my event designs from all sorts of places. Maybe it is a trip I took, a painting I love, even a dish I love to cook. For my 30th birthday, I took inspiration from the drive between Dayton, Ohio and my hometown just outside Chicago. In the 5 years I’ve lived in Dayton I have made that drive more time than I can count. It is a drive that connects my two worlds - where I came from and where I am now.

If you have made this drive you know it mostly consists of stretches of farmlands. You can see for miles in either direction. It is beautiful, but particularly right after a big summer thunderstorm has rolled through. The sky is moody and dark but somehow still bright. The golden wheat from the fields stands out against the dark slate of the sky. That post afternoon thunderstorm feel was the inspiration for my color palette. We wove in thunderstorm inspired blues, slate, and yellows all through the design.

For the invitations, I worked with the Design House of Moira, someone who I have dreamed of collaborating with for a while. It was important to me to invest in quality artistry and I loved how they turned out. We designed these invitations to be an experience for guests as they opened them. They arrived in a box and were wrapped in a handpainted leather folio. The invitations were a little keepsake in themselves.

I knew I wanted to keep the guest list pretty small. I wanted time to be with each guest and for my friends and family that hadn’t met to have the chance to get to know one another. That is also why I choose to do one elongated table instead of a number of smaller ones spread around the room. I wanted to be able to look down the table and see the people I love laughing together and getting to know each other better.

I decided to have a little fun with the dress code going with “dress to impress.” This allowed guests to get creative and wear something they felt comfortable in and reflected their personality. I loved seeing how everyone expressed themselves through their outfit choices.

Continuing to play on the idea of connecting parts of my world, I wanted to highlight 3 areas of my life - college, friends, and family. There was no better way to do this than in my food selection. I can’t say this enough, don’t let the food at your event be boring! Food connects us and tells stories, make sure it does that for your event. This is the huge value of working with a quality caterer who can customize and get creative with your menu.

I knew my friends at Bernstein’s Fine Catering were the perfect caterers to make my culinary dreams come true. I talked with Bernstein’s about some of my favorite foods and meals that meant a lot to me and then trusted them to weave those in through our appetizers and 4-course tasting menu. The tasting menu was perfect because it allowed us to incorporate a wide variety of food in a cohesive way, without having an overwhelming amount of food.

We served empanadas as a tribute to the time I studied abroad in Spain and Panama. We had tomato soup, which was served at my wedding. Risotto which is one of my husband and I’s favorite dishes and something we make together often. They even found a way to incorporate Cheerios, one my all-time favorite breakfast foods, with a delicious cheerio crusted chicken. Ultimately, I loved that the menu allowed me to share a bit about my life and important memories with my guests. I talked about each course as it came out, so even if you weren’t a part of that time in my life, you understood why it was being served.

No party is complete without dessert and we had plenty. As a nod to my Dayton friends, we had some of the famous Dorothy Lane killer brownies. If you live in or around Dayton, you know Dorothy Lane. We also had a dark chocolate ganache cake and a vegan peanut butter cake. It was important to me to ensure that my guests with dietary restrictions could indulge and enjoy with everyone else. Finally, my sweet mother in law brought down some kiflis, my favorite cookies from Cleveland. And in case people hadn’t eaten enough, we sent them home with a soft pretzel. One of my all-time favorite snacks.

I really loved creating an event that represented me so well. It was fun to share that with my friends and family. Events should be a reflection of you and there are so many creative ways to weave your story into the design.

And trust me, I know there are a million reasons not to throw a 30th birthday party. Life is busy, friends and family don’t always live close, who celebrates birthdays anyway? But I’m telling you that having my friends and family all together in one place was so special. I think we could all benefit from slowing down and savoring the moment more. So throw the party and make the memories. You won’t regret it!