Perfect Party Decorations for Hosting Out-of-Town Celebration

Last year I had the privilege to attend my grandmother’s 100th birthday party.  Thirty-eight family members gathered in Florida for a fabulous weekend of celebrating her milestone birthday.

My uncle was hosting the party and I volunteered to decorate the room at the country club.  I wanted to make it festive with a personal touch in honor of my grandmother’s beautiful life.  I also wanted it to be bright and colorful as she was so full of life.

Taking this into consideration, I had to think of decorations that were light weight and easily portable via my plane ride.

(Above picture of my grandmother blessing her family at her 100th birthday celebration).

Photos Add a Personal Touch

Family pictures and tissue paper pompoms add a festive touch to the table

I thought it would be fun to decorate each place setting with a photo of my grandmother with another family member at the party.  After selecting my photos, I enlarged and printed them on my home printer on white paper.  I used scalloped scissors to cut around the pictures, then glued them on craft paper that I found at Michael’s in the scrapbook section.   I chose pink and orange paper to go with my color scheme.

I put a photo at each place setting and as everyone arrived at the party, they had fun walking around looking at the pictures and reminiscing.

Welcoming table with family pictures

I also took pictures from various stages of my grandmother’s life and made larger photos of them and created a welcome table as you entered the room. I borrowed books from the club and created different levels to display the pictures on easels and covered the books with table scarves.

Tissue Paper Pompoms are Festive Table Centerpieces

My sister and I made tissue paper pompoms that we left in the accordion shape and stored in a large zip lock bag for transporting in my carry on.  The morning of the party, my family helped me fluff open the pompoms and decorate the tables with them.

For step-by-step directions on how to make the pompoms, click here for a previous post.

I used three different sizes of pompoms

grouped together for a beautiful pop of color

The pompoms brightened up the plain white tablecloths

These decorations were easy, inexpensive and portable.  They created the festive and personal atmosphere that my grandmother deserved.

My grandmother passed away three months later and she was so happy to have her family together for one last celebration.  Gather your family together and make it festive — you will cherish the memories.