Here is part 2, for more eye candy during the “On Cloud Nine” whimsical graduation party.
The band, “Entrain“, was AMAZING!! It’s an awesome percussion band from Martha’s Vineyard! Perfect dancin’-barefoot-in-the-grass kind of summertime music! A raised stage was built for the band and there was plenty of space for dancing the afternoon away. “Entrain” began playing about 1 1/2 hours into the party, the live entertainment added a very exciting element to this graduation party and was a major teen draw. The band is very interactive so they had everyone dancing, teens and adults, in no time.
About 2 hours into the party, Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Scoopers arrived to cater an Ice Cream Sundae Buffet. There were 4 types of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, tons of dry toppings, hot fudge, hot caramel sauce, strawberry sauce, and whipped cream. It was a warm day and the ice cream was a major hit with all ages! (See “iSCREAM! Sundae Buffet” under Party Planning Tidbits to learn how to put one together at your party.)
Unfortunately, the candy buffet didn’t photograph very well due to the deep shadows at that point in the day, but it was definitely a highlight for the kids! Most of them had never seen a candy buffet before. You may recognize that Miss Party cleverly cloned the chic New York City candy store, Dylan’s Candy Bar, for the sweet young grad. Oh, and you’ll love the too-cute cookies, too! Many thanks for those yummy cookies to a couple of talented ladies who have local cookie decorating businesses.
See “A Candy Buffet, Part 1“, to find out how to set up one for your next big event, this is a three part post. You might also like to make ‘cloud-like’ Marshmallow Garlands or Candy Garlands to string over the candy buffet table or through some part of the party space. Miss Party loves them done both ways!
The candy bar consisted of:
Giant lollipops
Single color M and M’s
Mini fruit slices
Sour gummy worms
Jelly Belly jelly beans
Blue raspberry Airheads
Lemonheads
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (full size)
Twizzlers
Bite-size Twix
Bite-size 3 Musketeers
Bite-size Snickers
Bite-size Milky Way’s milk and dark chocolate
Bite-size Butterfingers
A plastic bin held supplies for collecting their goodies: there were ‘to go’ small zipper plastic baggies with ‘Etch-It’ labels affixed for guests’ to write their name and plastic cups to fill for the grazers. (See “Etch-It Labels” under ‘Party Love’ for more details on these versatile tags used on the favor bags, candy cups and beverage cups.)
All the linens were lovingly custom made for this party by the graduates’ mom. Believe it or not, every one of them was done with no sewing involved! Besides all the table toppers, there were strings (and strings and strings) of fabric and paper pennant garlands. These linens were absolutely essential to setting the whimsical theme of the party and it wouldn’t have been nearly as fun without them!!! Go, Mom! (See ‘DIY Table Toppers and Runners’, and ‘DIY Fabric Pennant Garlands’ and ‘DIY Paper Pennant Garlands’ under the DIY Party Projects or Party Planning Tidbits.)
The family luckily had an enormous bin of Zolo pieces (actually a child’s building toy collection that looks like they belong in a Museum of Modern Art!) from when the kids were young. A few weeks before the party, they spent an afternoon creating as many whimsical and wacky creatures as possible to be used on the high boy cocktail tables and food tables. Miss Party loves how they added so much character to the tables and were just perfectly at home!!
One more party table decor idea! “Words of Inspiration” table frames were so cute to add to the tables when they were ‘off-duty’ and waiting to be used at a later time for the buffet. (See DIY “Words of Inspiration” Party Table Decor Tutorial under DIY Party Projects or Party Planning Tidbits.)
Hope you enjoyed this theme! Miss Party Smarty wants to hear your comments, or other ideas to add. Here’s to party planning with your head in the clouds!
