I have a treat for you all today! I have SO MANY details to share about this fabulous pink dessert table I created in May. This project is an excellent example of how I pull together a dessert table from my own baked goods, source treats and even design imagery for the theme. It was also a special project for me because I had a chance to collaborate on the design with another very stylish blogger.
Through the magic of social media I have made a connection with many style savvy people with interests in interiors, events and desserts. Tisha Leung of TISL Style is one of those people and she has been a wonderful sweets cheerleader for me on Instagram (she also interviewed me for her blog, you can see that here). I have enjoyed following her lifestyle blog, featuring urban living with soul and bits & bobs of beautiful thoughts and finds. It was just our luck that she lives in NYC as well, so I proposed a sweets table for her daughter’s 2nd birthday party at Brooklyn’s Pier 5.
The inspirations for the party were simple: Tisha loves to dress her daughter in a raspberry pink color, rather than a precious pink, little Zoe loves shoes and Tisha is a fan of retro paper dolls. Without calling it a theme, I easily had a “theme” to create a fondant shoe cake topper and a paper doll for imagery. We didn’t officially name this theme but I nicknamed it Little Miss Goodie Two Shoes, obviously because of the cake topper and age of her daughter.
From vintage paper doll inspirations, particularly Betsy McCall, I hand drew and watercolored a Zoe doll for the thank you tags. This cutie will be a printable in my Etsy shop and I welcome custom requests to personalize her hair and dress color, I can change all of that in Photoshop!
We started the table off with a small cake for Zoe’s happy birthday song, a timeless buttercream vertical ruffle that I topped with raspberry pink Mary Jane’s with gold toe tips. I crafted these of fondant in just the right toddler size proportions so not to look like baby shower booties. Cupcakes with gold sugar sprinkles were also served and included a set of gluten free for Tisha’s husband.
In working with Tisha’s requests and ideas for this table we were also able to source some beautiful treats and favors.
A sparkling lollipop was a must since we knew the outdoor light would highlight the glitter inside of this one from Sweet Caroline Confection’s Etsy shop.
Tisha wanted to acknowledge her Chinese ancestry with fortune cookies, which I ordered in bulk, dipped in chocolate and then added edible glitter.
While almost all of the treats were take home worthy, including my Zoe Doll cookies, Tisha choose personal fruit pies boxed in a kraft box and miniature paper doll sticker books for the kids as favors.
I suggested the purchase of ceramic initial trays, found here, since the 3 letters of Zoe’s name wouldn’t be too much to invest in and could be used for countless other parties as well as home décor. We filled them with an array of pink candies.
Other treats included pink Pocky sticks found on the international aisle in most grocery stores and chocolate cookies.
For simplicity, I used all white serving pieces including some vintage milk glass; I’m starting to accumulate quite the collection for my dessert tables!
While sweets were aplenty, savory foods were too, Tisha’s guests treated themselves to Brooklyn’s Smorgasbord during the party, I thought this was a great idea and perfect planning on Tisha’s part.
The gorgeous backdrop of lower Manhattan was a much anticipated part of the table design. Tisha went to the site bright and early that morning to snag the best spot and we were so very lucky to have beautiful weather for this event. Ive worked on 2 dessert tables at Brooklyn’s new river side parks and the trick to getting a public table for your party is just about getting there early, at least by 9am.
A big thank you to Tisha and her family for letting me create this table for Zoe!
This post features pictures we both took. So what’s your favorite part?
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