An Inside Look at Ben Fest

I'm excited to finally share photos from "Ben Fest," my husband's 30th birthday party. I had a blast planning this! I hosted the party at the Red Tree Gallery, an art gallery/coffeehouse. I thought it would be the perfect setting for "Ben Fest" since my husband absolutely loves coffee.

Invitation

I worked with a local designer - Christina Reinersman - to create the invitation as well as other print materials for the party. I was so excited with the final product. She took the caricature of Ben that I purchased for $5 from Fiverr (yes - only $5!) and crafted the "Ben Fest" logo. We used this logo on numerous things for the party.

Christina handled all the printing too, which made things so easy!

Here's an upclose photo:

Ben Eats

The art gallery setup made the perfect back drop for the food table.

Christina also created buffet signage.

I love putting food on skewers. It makes eating at a party more fun. My quick tip: wrap sparkly pipe cleaners on the end of each skewer for extra pizzazz.

Ben Drinks

Since this was an adult party, I chose to serve beer, wine and bottled water. People were able to purchase their own gourmet coffee drinks from the bar though.

To take the drink selection to the next level, I added a little "Ben Fest" to everything. I added stickers to the stemless wine glasses, ordered custom koozies for the beer cans and personalized the cocktail napkins using a "B" stamp.

I lucked out and found Redtree wine, which was a perfect fit for our venue, the Red Tree Gallery.

I added a couple additional signs in this area. You'll see "30 is cool." I also had "Thirsty Thirty."

Ben Sweets

Instead of doing a big cake, I opted for gourmet minis from Cupcakes with a Fork. We decorated them "30" candles from Party City and firework-style toppers from Hobby Lobby. 

Other Details

"10,950 days old, but who's counting?" I came across the language on Pinterest and loved it! 

We also had "Ben Fest" stickers. I used them as confetti on the tables as well as additional party favors for our guests.

The "Ben" head photo props and the "30 Things You May Not Know About Ben" fact sheet were two of my favorite additions. They served as party favors too. 

And here's Ben himself with my mom and I posing as "Ben." 

Source List

Venue: 

Red Tree Gallery

Caricature Illustrator: 

Glesmarie via Fiverr

Stationery Designer:

Christina Reinersman

Koozies:

Custom Trophy & Apparel

Cupcakes:

Cupcakes with a Fork

"Ben Fest" Poster
Walgreens

Large "30" and "BEN" Balloons
Bargain Ballons

Decor Items:
Party City, Hobby Lobby, Dollar Tree, Target, Shindigz, Michael's