First of all, can I just tell you that I love how all the elements of this party came together?! I'm such a sucker for those moments when your vision and reality align perfectly, and that is what happened with this event. Our mission was to create an upscale, intimate dinner party for a 50th birthday celebration. My client wanted to go with a black, gold and white color palette so we took that, along with the amazing white walled blank canvas of this fantastic venue, and created a moody, rustic theme that was classy yet casual and welcoming.

Since our guest of honor was male, we leaned heavily into black with touches of gold and white to create a more masculine vibe. Because our venue was completely white with lots of natural light, we were able to get away with this and not make it feel too dark. Heavier greenery centerpieces and a few floral accents of anemone and white amaranthus helped us create a style that complemented the rustic feel of the venue.

I love being able to incorporate little details that help make it personal to the birthday boy and his guests. We custom cut names for each guests' place setting, while one of the son's of the birthday boy hand made the red "Ed" you'll see displayed on the cake table. His wife hand picked a Steeler's-styled cake because it's his favorite team, and we displayed photos from his childhood to present all around the venue.

The night was filled with toasts to the guest of honor and story after story from the guests who stood up and told all of the different ways that he had personally made an impact in their lives. It was really powerful to hear just how much one person's investment in his friends can make a difference.