Masquerade Party

A couple of weeks ago, one of my best friends, Jamie, turned 30, well maybe 29...again... :) We got the ok to plan a surprise birthday party for her, with her husband footing the bill! Awesome!

Here's Jen (my co-party-planner) Jamie (the birthday girl) and me in our fun masquerade masks. Jamie always talks about how much fun it would be to have a masquerade party...so the theme was easy to pick out. We asked all of the guests to wear all black and convinced Jamie to wear a turquoise dress so she would really stick out as the guest of honor.

Amber from Fern Photography did the photos. She is also a military wife and just opened up a studio downtown. I love her funky, modern photos!

I found a great venue for a reasonable rental fee. The History Museum is in an old factory building downtown and the event room has so much character with brick walls and big wooden doors, that I knew we wouldn't have to add much party decor to make it look nice. All we had to add for decor was some twinkle lights over the dance floor and centerpieces on the tables.

We found feather wreaths on sale at Joann's and lay them flat on the table. Then we placed small vases inside the wreaths and had battery operated tealights and a mix of peacock feathers and ostrich feathers in the vases.

We prepared 4 of the Stoffer's family sized Chicken Lasagnas and had other close friends bring bread or salads. With each lasagna at only $10, we saved a lot of money by not hiring a caterer.

Another close friend, Erin, made the cake. She makes cakes for all of our parties and they always turn out so perfect!

I love these ladies! Janie, Erin, Jamie, Jen, me, and Irene. This is my core group of friends here in Montana. Being a military wife, you really learn to make great friends quickly. Being away from family, close friends become family.

I really tried to get a good picture of Jake and me, since we hardly ever dress up. Yes, Jake is rolling his eyes...but it fits his goofy personality!