Industrial Chic 30th Birthday Party

When an event planner throws her husband a surprise birthday party, it’s bound to be memorable. Tatiana from White Elephant Events found a way to not only surprise her husband, Josh, but surprise him with an exquisite – yet masculine – industrial chic 30th birthday party (see another one of our faves here!). The celebration was given much thought and enjoyed even more so. It’s giving us quite a few ideas for our next intimate gathering – wine, candlelight, and a super cool space, anyone?

Tatiana shares, As an event planner and designer, I always strive to give my clients a unique experience, filled with unexpected details and elegant sophistication. When planning Josh’s 30th birthday, I called on fellow vendors and friends to make his day a truly spectacular surprise.

First, as with all events, I started with a color palette. A man’s party isn’t as easy to plan as a woman’s and the colors, especially blue, have to be just right: some blues hint at baby-shower, other’s at more seasoned milestones. I decided to incorporate an aqua water color stripe, with hints of black and white. Just bright enough while remaining chic and masculine.

To set the tone for the evening, guests were greeted by the magical sounds of Natalie Hall of Classic Strings. She kept the mood sweet and celebratory with interpretations of popular songs from John Legend, Ed Sheeran, and the like. Kathi Littwin, of Kathi Littwin Photography, was on hand to capture all of the nervous excitement and make sure all details were properly photographed. The stationery suite was designed on Tiny Prints and supplemented by additional paper goods (hand painted by yours truly!). Behind every menu was a fact card providing guests with a unique tidbit about 1986, the year josh was born. Sweet Pistachio Patisserie incorporated the color scheme into a gorgeous blackout chocolate ganache cake and white amaretto macarons. Monica designed the white floral centerpieces and left a few white buds to sit atop the cake. TOPS Malibu makes the best sparkler candles and the numbers “3” and “0” were used as the final cake topper. My gown was provided by the amazingly talented Heather and Sathya of Lakum, a local Brooklyn bridal atelier.

I selected Atelier Roquette in Red Hook, Brooklyn as the venue as it is equal parts urban and romantic. The space, which is on an unassuming, industrial block, looks like a simple warehouse from the outside. However, once inside, owners Monica and Lisa transport you via sweeping drapery, sky lights, and candlelit chandeliers. They are also the owners of home made bklyn, a local restaurant and catering company, so creating a menu that was perfect for our guests was a seamless collaboration.

The best part was seeing how shocked and happy Josh was! He walked in to a booming “surprise” and Natalie played a cheerful rendition of Happy Birthday. As the sun set the room became aglow with warm candlelight and our intimate gathering was considered by all the perfect way to kick-start Josh’s new decade of life!