Real Party: San Francisco Retirement Party

Phew, I'm still recovering from the party last night! 

It turned out wonderfully. 

Everyone had a great time-- especially Katy, the honoree. She was absolutely thrilled! 

Here's the details! 

Rather than a standard guest book, we wanted Katy to have something fun to take with her when she moves away from San Francisco.  We found a great San Francisco scrapbook, and lots of vintage post cards with scenes of the city. 

 Guest signed postcards and put placed them in the scrapbook.  It made a nice display as guests entered the party too.  

The postcard idea was inspired by Martha Stewart Weddings.   There are so many fun ways to use this idea ~ its perfect for destination weddings & going away parties!

Katy LOVES Manhattans.   We could not have a party for her without featuring her favorite drink!

One of my coworkers volunteered to be the bartender! (Thanks Jen!)

Katy was given a special glass for her Manhattan. 

Another coworker of mine found this gift at Macy's.  Its a beautiful hand-painted Martini glass with scenes of San Francisco.  Perfect for our theme! They sell designs with many different cities...a perfect going away gift, wouldn't you agree?

And the highlight: the dessert table!

We had such fun putting this together.

The bar included vanilla cupcakes, raspberry gummies, black & red licorice, yogurt covered pretzels, madeline cookies, chocolate chip cookies, brownie bites, and cake balls. 

Guests of all ages loved it! Especially this little guy.  I love this picture of him, digging in with both hands! :)

What a fun party! I had a blast doing my first dessert table and look forward to doing more in the future!
Thanks to all the wonderful blogs out there for their dessert table inspiration!
Especially Amy Atlas, TomKat Studio, Celebrations at Home, and Save the Date for Cupcakes...though I read many more than those religiously!

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Inspiration Board: San Francisco Retirement Party

My blog posts have been a little sparse lately because I'm in the midst of some serious party planning. 

A coworker of mine is retiring and moving away and we are sending her out in style. 

I'm finally getting around to sharing the inspiration board we're working from! 

We wanted to do a tribute the the city where she's lived for so many years.   And in addition to a bright red Golden Gate bridge, we decided on black and white. A classy combo, just like the honoree. 

Lots of fun things in the works -- including a dessert table which is coming together quite nicely! -- and I can't wait to show you all the details later this week! 

Photo credits:
Red tablescape, damask runner, red candy vessels, red velvet cupcakes, Golden Gate Bridge, Vintage San Francisco postcard, red & black tablescape, fleur de lis candles, polka dot baking cups.

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