Barbie Hearts Ice Cream Kids Birthday Party

BY JOANNE SALEM – CONFETTI PARTY HIRE PHOTOS BY WOLF & WILDFLOWER PHOTOGRAPHY

Retro midwestern meets girly kitsch in this ultimate celebration of American culture featuring Barbie, sundaes and flamingos!

This styled shoot is part of Confetti Fair's United States of Party collaboration; a collection of 23 unique parties and events – all inspired by a US location.

What inspired you to choose Wisconsin as your party theme?

We chose this state as we wanted to do something different, not a typical one that most would choose. It offered much inspiration to create a fun kid’s party highlighting fun facts of Wisconsin that many might not know (admittedly we did not know either). What inspired you to choose Wisconsin?

What was the inspiration for the theme and styling?

The main theme of the shoot was Barbie. Did you know, the first Barbie was Barbara Millicent Roberts from Willows, Wisconsin? This fun fact inspired the development of a Barbie focused kid’s party. We also wanted to incorporate some state symbols into the design. The first was milk. Wisconsin is known as America’s Dairyland and milk featured on the table setting, (the cake also featured cow print). Next was ice cream sundae. The first ice cream sundae was concocted in Wisconsin! We incorporated this into the design of the cake with images of sundaes and the overall colour theme of pastels. Thirdly, were the plastic flamingos. In 2009 the plastic pink flamingo was declared the official bird of Madison, Wisconsin. Lastly, the state flower is a Wood Violet, so we incorporated pale purple delphiniums to as an ode to this flower.

What is your favourite thing about the USA?

The food, entertainment and larger than life atmosphere!

Which DIYs or party trends did you incorporate into your shoot?

We included balloon installations which are so popular at the moment and make an impact at any event. Also, a fringe backdrop – need I say more? Other trends were the neon lights and light-up letters. Transparent decor such as the kid’s ghost chairs were added and customised with decals to embrace the Barbie theme. Also included were props embracing the curved trend with an arch as the centrepiece of the set-up. Finally, the cake design used edible printed paper matching the theme, achieving interesting effects both visually and texturally.

The Wisconsin Team

STYLING, PROPS, FURNITURE, BALLOONS AND STREAMERS CONFETTI PARTY HIRE @confettipartyhire

PHOTOGRAPHY WOLF AND WILDFLOWER PHOTOGRAPHY @wolfandwildflowerphotography

CAKE SCARLET JADE AUSTIN @scarletjadeaustin

LIGHT UP LETTERS AND NEON LIGHTS LOVE GLOWS @loveglowsletterslightslove

FLOWERS 1969 FLORISTRY @1969floristry

DECALS GET GLITTERED @getglitteredtutus

DRINK STIRRERS, CAKE TOPPER AND DESSERTS A LA ROCH @alarochcakes

CONFETTI BIOCONFETTI @bioconfetti

VENUE THE ARGENTON @theargentonhotel