{a birthday cocktail party}

{see the DIY instructions for the backdrop HERE}

Last night we hosted a little cocktail party get together to celebrate our birthdays.  This was the first large gathering we have had at our new place in Chicago and I decided to keep it simple rather than going all out with a theme.  Inspired by the fun mix of colors from this photo, I created some simple decorations using a mix of tissue paper I already had laying around.  A few strands of garland and some confetti was all this party needed to turn it from a regular get-together into a birthday celebration, along with a spread  of savory and sweet snacks.  And to top it all off (because its not a cocktail party without alcohol) we made big batch of whiskey punch and diy champagne cocktail set up!

 {our dining room set up moved around slightly, instructions for garland here}

 {a party staple- our party sized recipe version here. every time we make this punch I bet Chris that there is no way our guests will finish it and I am consistently proven wrong as this was drained clean by the end of the night even though it had 3 full handles of whiskey in it!}

{champagne cocktail set up}

 {my favorite champagne bottle bucket from here}

{recipe for this party favorite is right here} 

{I did not make these from scratch (no one has that kind of time)-

 they are available in the freezer aisle of target}

 {easiest recipe to make. ever. its only three ingredients and your friends will be so impressed- recipe here}

{funfetti-obviously. this is a birthday party after all.}

{mini red velvet}