Outside the Box

The theme for the party was a tropical island forest. This is the front of the office and one of the two check-ins. The clients loved this.

In addition to scuba diving, I wanted a lagoon, so I created this one.  I had fun building these panels.  The little fish are part of a centerpiece that was on the bar in the room.

I used teal tableclothes to match the water, and created lighted fish bowl centerpieces.

I ordered rubber fish and plastic coral and blue rocks.  Then I found Amazon also

sells balloon lights.  The are the white circles you see in the bowl above.

They last for days and days.  

Here is the centerpiece.  I used square wood blocks covered in the blue glass rocks.

I glued the poles to each board.  I ordered plush sea life on Amazon.  This was another

popular feature.

Above are the middle of the office check in panels.  This gave the allusion of

forest and tropical flowers leading back to the outdoor patio tent.

I used my two river rugs outside, along with "petaled" green table clothes, that I also

got on Amazon.  I already owned four green umbrellas.

I bought two bamboo panels for behind the buffet table.  I had wired screen that

I tied lush greenery and flowers to for the tropical feel.

I pulled out every tropical silk plant that I have stored in the office's party shed.

The I added tropical basket arrangements I made.

You can see my leaf runner I have used for over ten years.

Here is another look at the second arrangement and flowers on the screen.

For years, I used the rectangular tables on risers for a bar height bar in the garden.

We gave them away.  The round tables you saw above are the new kitchen tables.

I wanted two bar height tables (badly).  So I ordered a small bar height square patio table on Amazon, and had my hubby cut the legs down to fit  30" chairs, which office owns.

Then I found a round tabletop on Amazon that we screwed to the other table.  Add a petaled tablecloth and you see how nice it is.  I made two and had the other by the band.

The dessert bar is always a treat.  This year I hid ice cream sandwiches on the other side of the office in the freezer.  The guests had to fololw a "scuba trail" to find them  They loved this.

I also usually order cheesecakes and bundt cakes.  I found a bakery that just makes cake pops.  This was a BOON!!!!  I had the monitors set to "coral reefs" above the desserts. Each dessert label was a widelife creature you'd find on a reef.

A tropical island will have lots of birds. Every tree in the office garden had at least five stuffed parrots.  The guests thought this was hysterical.

A tropical island also has wild animals.  These were in the check-in area.  They ended up being donated to a local school.

Of course there were flamingos.

 

We had a pre-covid size crowd.  It was a beautiful warm day.  The band was great, the food was great, a desserts were fun, and everything was just as I imagined it to be.  The last photo is of my daughter.  Over the years, she has arranged to hire all of the bands, in addition to being my right hand.  She knows Hobby Lobby inside out.  Please note the pot behind her.  Someone on the staff asked who was watering these pots.  Job well done when people think they are real.