At LadyFaire, our mission is to uplift and connect women. we try to approach that mission through a “lens glittered with creativity and whimsy.” But like everyone, we can get a little… mundane. That is, until we spy an enchanting event created not by an influencer for clicks, not by a professional event planner, but by a young woman in Florida who’s really living magically. Captivated by images we saw on social media, we reached out to Avangeline to learn about her 30th birthday party. Held this spring, it was a true do-it-herself event that was delightful, economical, and sustainable. She was gracious enough to share her tips and advice for creating your own fairy fête!

LF: What’s your relationship to fairies? Are there ways that you incorporate the fairy aesthetic or values into your life? 

Avangeline: Growing up, I always loved the world of whimsy and fairy tales! When I was a kid, I decorated my bedroom like Tinker Bell’s Pixie Hollow, and I painted my own little fairies on the walls. I loved the magical explanation fairies provided of the changes in the natural world around us. As an adult, I still adore the wonder of nature, and the balance that we all share in preserving and respecting it. So much magic lives in the glimmer of the little sprouts blooming from seeds, sunlight refracting colors across a stream of water, or even the dance of the honey bees as they gather pollen to transform into honey! It’s all so whimsical! 

LF: What was the most important step when you started party planning? In other words, what’s the crucial ingredient that needs to be right before everything else follows?

Avangeline: The venue was my first concern before committing to hosting the party. This kind of party would work well for a large backyard setting or a local park in most cases. It’s important to consider what kind of aesthetic you’re leaning toward for your fairy party and then make sure it fits within the filter of the following questions:      

  “Is it local to those on my guest list as well as myself?” You don’t want it to be too out of the way for either you or your guests. As adults, trying to align schedules to meet is hard enough without factoring in a lengthy commute. You’ll also be transporting all of your decor and food to this space,  and believe me, excess travel time gets to be cumbersome. 

  “Is it affordable?” Some parks and reserves have an admission fee, and I wanted to make sure it was hosted at a place that both I and my guests could afford. I hosted my party at a local state park that had a low admission fee that was set per vehicle, not per person. I suggested carpooling to help keep the cost low for my guests, as well as to condense the amount of cars parking in the area. 

  “Does it accommodate my itinerary?” I knew I wanted to serve champagne and honey wine along with our picnic food. In some parks and public spaces there are restrictions on food and alcohol. I made sure that we were in a space that allowed both. Also, most parks close at nightfall. If you’re wanting a nighttime fairy light atmosphere, a public park might not work. I ended up renting out a glamping site at a local state park for my party. This made it possible for me to stay at the park and set things up over the two days I was glamping there, as well as have food and alcohol in the space. 

LF: We love the idea of a state park! What a beautiful opportunity to support the natural resources we’re so fortunate to have. How did you plan the menu and decor?

Avangeline: My vision for the event was a fairy tea party hosted in an enchanted forest. I drew a lot of my aesthetic inspiration from recipes and pictures on Pinterest, as well as the art of the Disney Fairies books of the early 2000s. I wanted the essence to be whimsical, perhaps a little quirky, but with a touch of elegance. 

My fairy menu consisted of charcuterie, pasta salad, scones, pastries, fruit, pesto bread bites, and artichoke dip. My mom and sister helped me assemble and put a little fairy spin into each of these menu items. I also commissioned a Black Forest tree stump birthday cake from a fairy friend of mine, Meghan. I knew that being in an outdoor camping setting, I didn’t want anything that required electricity to keep warm. For refreshments, we had iced tea and lemonade options with butterfly pea flower ice that could magically change the lemonade from yellow to purple! We brought a few coolers and several large food containers to pack up and preserve leftovers after the luncheon portion of the party was over.  

For decor, I wanted things to feel as though they were created by natural elements with a magical touch. I thrifted much of the decor slowly over the last year leading up to the party. All the place settings and serving trays were to be shaped like they were made from flowers, wood, or leaves. I thrifted place mats and glued moss to them to make my table runner. I used discarded wooden pallets for my picnic table base; the table cloth was actually a set of thrifted green curtains. I also thrifted the floor pillows and quilts in light earthy tones with pops of floral colors. All of the artificial flowers used on the table canopy frame were thrifted, though fresh flower arrangements were placed along the picnic table as decor, as well as to be used for a fairy crown party activity after the luncheon. 

LF: How did you build your costume?

Avangeline: I drew inspiration for my costume from a few  types of flowers: the sunflower, the moonlight girl tulip, and the dandelion; each of these holds celestial symbolism. The relationship of the sun and moon have always resonated with me. I love the beauty and complexity of holding both light and darkness within us, and that everything in life progresses through phases, each one holding its own significance. This party was for my 30th birthday, and I wanted to put a little symbolism into my look, as I too enter a new phase of my life. 

I’ve been sewing since I was a kid, so once I had a few pictures of my real inspirational flowers, I sketched a basic idea of my outfit’s design and patterned it out on my mannequin. Like most of my crafting projects, it was a lot of trial and error. I wanted the petals and stem leaves to turn up a bit and have some gravity-defying shape to them. To get that effect I added floral wire to the inside seam of the petals and leaves. I hand painted the shading and small details on the leaves and petals as well. I still haven’t gotten the hang of patterning corsets from scratch, so I bought a corset base from Scarlet Darkness, and embellished it with hand-sewn beading and leaf/petal attachments. The stem of the dandelion staff is made of a shower curtain rod that spray-painted green and glued into place. The puff has a styrofoam ball center and felt floral wire “seed” stems. The little fluffs are made of white yarn that I tied into little pompoms and brushed out to make fluffy. My wings were made by the talented team of artists at WingsandFlowerDesign.

LF: Was there a music playlist?

Avangeline: I used a Spotify pre-made playlist by one of my favorite Celtic Folk Bands, the Gothard Sisters! It’s called Hobbit Spring (LF: we’ve added it to our channel on Spotify!). 

LF: What activities did you include?

Avangeline: The itinerary for the party consisted of a fairy high tea service, fresh floral crown making, bubble wands, and pixie portraits. I included the fresh flowers arrangements in the table setting so that we could transition from food to crafts easily. I also brought a picnic basket filled with the other tools we needed to assemble the flower crowns: spools of floral wire, several pairs of scissors, and wire crown bases for each guest. I bought bubble wands for us to use while frolicking, as well as for ambiance during our crafts and pixie portraits.

One of the benefits of hosting in a reserve or park is the beautiful natural backdrop for photographs. We didn’t have a professional photographer, but we did have a blast posing, playing, and hyping one another up in countless pixie portraits on our iPhones. 

My favorite part of this whole experience was the unbridled bliss we all shared while letting our inner children come to the forefront. I’ve heard it said that our 30s are all about celebrating the things that we were too afraid to openly love when we were in our adolescence. Thus far, for me at least, I can say this to be “fairy” true. 

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