As always with my kids' birthday parties, I start to plan by choosing something that they are obsessed with at the time, then think of how I can make unique, creative activities and decor around that. This time, it wasn’t hard to decide the theme since we had Elle hopping around the house singing the entire Moana soundtrack for months! We decided that for her birthday, we would make Elle a tropical princess of her own (just like Moana) and bring all of the Tahitian fun of a beach luau to our own home.
Since Elle was only turning three, we settled upon an intimate get together with a few friends; this way, it would be easy to pull together and more like a play date than an all-out party. Of course, we couldn’t have a luau without the hibiscus flowers and palm leaves that decorated the inspiration of it all, Moana. So I got to work on painting watercolor flowers in bright shades of hot pink, yellow, and aqua blue. At the event, this print detailed gift wrap, personalized stationery, table confetti, and birthday signage. These watercolors were even mirrored on the beautiful three-tier hand-painted cake by Ashley Holt at Sugar Monster Sweets in Brooklyn, New York. Alongside the cake sat amazing Moana inspired cake pops from The Poppery complete with Maui’s magical hook and ocean scenes. The kids enjoyed their dessert on top of colorful linens from my dear friend and collaborator, Pablo Oliviera at NuageDesigns.
Elle’s friends had lots of fun dancing around to How Far I’ll Go and taking photos in the glittery photo booth with all of our luau props. Coco and Co. provided the cutest custom stamped coconuts that we served at our personal coconut bar with my tiki bartender husband included! Coconut water is Elle’s absolute favorite drink so it was the perfect treat for this paradise party custom branded with her own birthday logo, of course!
Elle was dressed in the most adorable red and white Hawaiian printed dress from Smiling Buttons. Reyn Spooner outfitted the boys in blue-toned Hawaiian shirts with tropical patterning that matched all of the luau decor. My Tiny Tags customized necklace was engraved with Ellie’s name and added an extra special accessory to my Walter Baker printed outfit. Tinsel Design made flower crowns inspired by Moana and my watercolor flowers that detailed our artwork for all of Ellie’s printed goods. This luau playdate was a perfect getaway to celebrate our little girl!
Happy 3rd Birthday to our Elle-oana!
Invitation Design & Event Branding: Ceci New York | Custom Watercolor: Ceci New York | Photography: Ana Gambuto | Floral Crowns: Tinsel Experiential Design | Cake: Sugar Monster Sweets | Cake Pops: The Poppery | Branded Coconuts: Cocoandco | Hawaiian Shirts: Reyn Spooner | Elle's Dresses: Smiling Button | Ceci's Dress: Walter Baker | Jewelry: Tiny Tags | Crayons: Art 2 The Extreme | Linens: Nüage Designs
Take a peek into our design process and invitation suite for this event by reading Elle's Moana Inspired 3rd Birthday Party Invitation With Watercolor Florals.
CREATIVE TEAM