Swoozie's x Double Dare: Solar Eclipse Soirée
Haven't we all wanted to throw a day party surrounded by endless moon and star décor? I know I have! This month's long-awaited solar eclipse gave me the perfect excuse to call on a few of my girlfriends, string up some gorgeous garlands, fill the tables with confetti and delectably curated confections, and unashamedly toss back a few day drinks. I know the solar eclipse isn't officially until August 21st, but since the event falls on a Monday, I thought a Saturday soirée was the perfect idea to get everyone even more stoked about the occasion while offering a little inspiration to those of you who are still planning! It all begins with details...
Since the whole party revolved around the idea of the solar eclipse, I decided from the beginning that the party had to be outside. I imagined somewhere simple, natural and a location that not many people knew about in order to create some excitement among the guests for getting to visit somewhere new. With this in mind, I knew the Sans Souci Community Garden in Greenville's quaint Sans Souci neighborhood would be the ideal spot. The grass was freshly cut, the veggies, flowers and herbs were abundantly blooming and it was a truly euphoric location.
When I started planning the solar eclipse soirée, I knew invitations would be my first big impression on all my guests. So, with a simple idea in mind, I created the watercolor galaxy background and then added gilded gold hand-lettering to make it special. As if that wasn't enough, I shredded the sides of each invitation and hand-dipped it in 14-karat gold dust to give it a little something extra. Was it time-consuming? Sure. Was it worth it? Absolutely.
When it comes to décor, ordering 20 different things from Amazon and waiting on them to arrive, or even worse— ordering 20 different things from 20 different places while you're trying to plan a party can be an absolute nightmare. My setup was seamless.
I dropped by Swoozie's the week before the party and got everything I needed to make the entire party look stunning. The tables were flawless, the decor made the surroundings look full and plentiful, and it added just enough delicate touches to evoke all the "oohs" and "ahhs" from my party guests. From the plates, napkins, and cutlery, to the garlands, banners, and balloons, Swoozie's helped me create the most adorable atmosphere for this outdoor escapade!
The Party Cocktail
Nails by Raechel Ferguson.
One of my favorite summer bevs is a Moscow Mule, so I decided to give it a twist to make it fit into the party theme. When creating this delicious concoction, I made a list of the ingredients that I thought would be delicious in the drink and what would make it somewhat different than your average mule. While ginger beer and bitters were still in the cards, I added a blueberry and lavender simple syrup instead of lime or lime juice. I opted vodka over rum for the sake of everything blending together in a more graceful way. However, these weren't just any old brands of these products chosen to create this crazy drink. I hand-picked each component of this drink and they are all hand-crafted, small batch and small businesses that have an amazing product. Here's the recipe...
Moon + Stars Mule
Place 2-3 Lavender Infused Ice Cubes in Glass
Combine in a Shaker :
2 oz. Small Batch Vodka from St. Augustine Distillery
1 oz. Belvoir Fruit Farms Ginger Beer
1 oz. Sallie's Greatest Blueberry + Lavender Simple Syrup
2-3 drops of Fee Brothers Bitters
Shake accordingly
Pour over Lavender Ice Cubes
Garnish with a Lavender Sprig
The Table Accompaniments
Finding food and beverages to accentuate the theme came as a super easy task because everyone I found had such great products. I knew I wanted a beverage nook with the featured party cocktail as an option, but I also wanted to have a few additional options available as well to accommodate the guests who wanted to indulge in a non-alcoholic beverage. This beverage nook sported everything from white wine to Belvoir's Ginger Beer to Sallie's Greatest Blueberry + Lavender simple syrup infused water and our featured Moon + Stars Mule. Amidst the gorgeous star plates, gilded napkins, pretty drink cups and confetti on the tables, we had overflowing buckets of Poppy Cotton Candy Hand-crafted Popcorn, cookies and cake pops from The Chocolate Moose and endless tiers of Malvi Mallows in dozens of different flavors.
