Get ready to be transported to a place of wonder; a land where dreams come true. That’s exactly what Taleen at Simple Little Details set out to create in her own backyard for her twins’ birthday party (if you haven’t seen what she did when they turned one, you need to!). Her idea? A Willy Wonka themed birthday party where kids could be kids, and adults could reminisce on their own childhood with sweet sweet nostalgia. It is a land of candy, after all! And to that effect, there was no shortage of sweets; gummy bears hanging from trees, bookcases filled with candy jars, and not one, not two, but 3 birthday cakes! Welcome, friends, to The Chocolate Factory…
Taleen shares…
Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory was my favorite childhood movie growing up, so of course, I had to introduce it to my twin boys! After realizing they too love the movie I decided to transform our backyard into the whimsical world of Willy Wonka. I can’t tell you how excited I was to be able to design a Willy Wonka themed birthday party that took me back to my childhood. I wanted to keep it colorful and fun yet classy in the way that it was designed.
Each guest received a box invitation with a Wonka bar inside. As they removed the wrapper they found their golden ticket which was an invitation to Shant & Nshan’s birthday party. This set the excitement for the guests before the party.
When guests arrived they walked down the steps to the backyard and were instantly taken into a place of pure imagination. Guests walked under a balloon arch and flying bubbles, which then took them down a path that mimicked the famous scene in the movie where the children enter the chocolate room for the first time. Everything was completely hand made from the candy cane trees, to the life sized lollipops and flower tea cups. The oversized gummy bears were actually edible which had to be one of my favorite parts. At the end of the path you could find the dessert table. I wanted it to feel like the candy store from the movie with a variety of candy jars and lollipops. I made little cans that said “scrumdiddlyumptious” for guests to fill up their candy in. The amazing balloon structure was the perfect backdrop at the end of the path.
The tables were covered in a luxe purple velvet linen to tie in Willy Wonka’s coat jacket from the movie, and the chairs were a golden metal. The centerpieces were whimsical; the tall ones felt like lollipop trees with bright floral accents.
Some of the other fun details included the “inventing room” where the kids could be creative with various activities. They had fun filling up test tubes with sand and water beads. For drinks, we served “fizzy lifting drink” which was sparkling sods that I designed custom labels for. After we sang Happy Birthday we got all the kids together for a group photo and turned the bubble machine on. It was so fun to see the excitement on all their faces jumping up and down and having a blast with their friends popping bubbles.
Impressed? So are we! Check out more of Taleen’s incredible work – like this ombré sunshine themed party!