Lights, camera, birthday! Jen Carver of Banner Events here to share a recent movie party that I styled for my boys! We recently rolled out the red carpet (literally), to welcome guests to the premiere of our two sons’ Hollywood movie themed birthday party! It was such a fun theme, perfect for any age or gender & easy to pull off with a mixed age crowd! We are excited to take you “behind the scenes” & hope you enjoy the magic of the day captured by Karina Rigtrup of A Fresh Take Photography.
Keep an eye out for these star worthy details:
– DIY Stanchion and rope-lined red carpet VIP entryway with Hollywood walk of fame stars
– Custom movie reel and popcorn 3D cake by 4 Kids Cakes
– VIP Lounge with children’s seating decked out with colorful props and faux marquee lettered signage
– Concessions stand with popcorn, hotdogs and “blockbuster” treats labeled with DIY movie reel place card holders
See more amazing Boy Birthday Parties:
– Modern Lego Party
– “Angry Bird-day” Celebration {Angry Birds Inspired}
– Vintage Pop Art Super Hero Party
– Retro Bowling Party
– Ninja Party
– Pizzeria Pizza Party
– Dinosaur Excavation Party
Invitations: Our event kicked off with some awesome invitations designed by Anders Ruff Custom Designs. We loved the ticket style invitation & colorful “admit one” enclosure card which included all of the exciting details about the theater style lunch, trip to the dessert & concession tables & excursion to the local Regal Cinemas to see Thor 2.
Fun is in the details, so I was thrilled with the cute ticket stub return address labels Maureen designed for the envelopes. For a little extra pizzazz, we used black & white rugby striped paper sacks from Cakes & Kids as our envelopes. (P.S. If you are looking for an easy online option for printing, we LOVE Print My Picture Online. They can handle both small printing needs like invitations & large format needs like step and repeat backdrops!)
Our birthday “stars” loved hand-delivering their invites with custom movie reel favor boxes from Piggy Bank Parties, that we filled with printable wrapped treats (Candy Galaxy), foreshadowing the excitement to come!
Now Celebrating: Our little guests arrived at Carver Cinemas and were greeted by the Paparazzi as they made their appearance on the red carpet. Our entryway was decorated with red aisle runners, movie night ropes attached to stanchions my husband made (thanks Hello My Sweet for the inspiration), and a cute home cinemas doormat from Oriental Trading Company flanked on each side by incredible Hollywood Walk of Fame stars from Creative Designs by Toni.
Guests were ushered to their VIP seats, marked with personalized star chair backers designed by Anders Ruff & embellished with glitter cardstock from American Crafts.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the dining area for the 12-13 year old stars. Place settings consisted of colorfully layered plates, chargers & placemats, with ticket stub-wrapped napkins, vinyl accented acrylic tumblers (Ten23Designs & I Have A Favor) & mini gable box favors (Party On Designs), with ticket name tags tied up with twine! (We love the “now celebrating” gable box labels & straw party flags included in the printable package).
We added some Hollywood style to our VIP lounge with tin movie reels, faux movie marquee letters (laser cut wood & vinyl from Ten23Designs) & colorful centerpieces made from Blume boxes (Party On Designs) & printable movie themed picks from the Anders Ruff movie collection.
There was a duplicate VIP lounge area for the 6 year-old guests to dine in style.
Concession Table: We definitely wanted to get two thumbs up from our house full of “critics”, and everybody knows that hungry guests aren’t happy guests. We prepared a smorgasbord of movie theater style nibbles that would delight both old and young. (We loved using laser cut wood film reels from Ten23Designs & a “now showing” sign & gold stars from Oriental Trading Co. on our backdrop.) There were hero hot dogs, big night out nachos, premier popcorn, sensational soda & amazing customized cotton candy from Soiree Event Design! And, what would a concessions stand be without blockbuster treats? Candy Galaxy has an amazing selection of movie theater sized boxes of candy that our movie stars got to choose from.
Dessert Table: After lunch, games & opening presents, it was time for the Hollywood dessert table.
This was such a fun part of the event to decorate. From the gorgeous gold sequined tablecloth (Candy Crush Events) to the over-sized Carver Cinemas background sign (designed by Anders Ruff and printed by Print My Picture Online), to the movie reels used as cupcake stands & food label holders to the “must see taste” treats of the year, this table got rave reviews!
The 3 tiered cake by 4 Kids Cakes stole the show with two layers of chocolate cake & mint filling and a popcorn box topper made out of rice krispies! The details were phenomenal!
Speaking of cake… there were also delicious cupcakes made by 4 Kids Cakes, topped off with the most adorable movie themed fondant toppers by the one and only Edible Details. The custom cupcake wrappers Anders Ruff designed for us were spectacular!
Oreos were covered in chocolate to resemble Walk of Fame Stars (4 Kids Cakes) and were gobbled up before I had a chance to sample one! (You can call them a smash hit!)
Delicious marquee sugar cookies by Frog Prince Cake & Cookie Design definitely made the cut! Scrumptious and beautiful!
And then there were these amazing movie themed cookies from Sweet Stacys. The boys couldn’t get over how H U G E they were. And the taste, definitely two thumbs waaaay up!
Extra beverages for our adult supporting cast, were made available in these cute milk bottles embellished with coordinating beverage wraps from Anders Ruff, rugby striped straws (Cakes & Kids) & party flags.
Party Favors: There’s gotta be swag for red carpet stars, and our guests definitely did not go home empty handed. They filled up favor boxes from Piggy Bank Parties & also received popcorn containers from The Dollar Tree (2 for $1–great deal) filled with Hollywood themed goodies from Oriental Trading Co. Sun glasses, movie clapper key chains, “you’re a star” lanyards & awesome personalized shirts from Stitch This went home with each guest.
Show Time: And now for the main event! We loaded up our VIP vehicles & journeyed to Regal Cinemas, where a manager was waiting to give the boys a behind-the-scenes look at theater operations before their movie premiere. They loved the VIP treatment and learning about how a theater works. And they loved seeing Thor 2! Our birthday stars had an amazing day!
Vendor Credits & Resources:
Styling & Concept: Jen Carver of Banner Events
Printable Graphic Designs: Anders Ruff
Invitation: here
Printable Package: here
Photography: A Fresh Take Photography
Printing (both large & small format): Print My Picture Online
Gold Sequin Tablecloth: Candy Crush Events
Custom Appliqued shirts: Stitch This
Ribbon & glittered cardstock: American Crafts
Hollywood Walk of Fame Vinyl Stars: Creative Designs by Toni
Laser cut wood movie reels & marquee letters, vinyl movie themed accents: Ten23Designs
Custom cake, cupcakes & Oreos: 4 Kids Cakes
Custom fondant cupcake toppers: Edible Details
Custom marquee sugar cookies: Frog Prince Cake & Cookie Design
Custom movie themed sugar cookies: Sweet Stacy’s
Colored sixlets, movie theater boxed candy, mini Hershey bars: Candy Galaxy
Custom labeled cotton candy: Soiree Event Design
Blume boxes, mini gable boxes: Party On Designs
Custom movie reel favor boxes: Piggy Bank Parties
Acrylic tumblers: I Have A Favor
Paper straws, rugby striped bags, popcorn boxes: Cakes & Kids
Party paper: Smashcake & Co.
Stanchions: by my sweet husband, Josh Carver (inspired by designs from Hello My Sweet)
Red aisle runner, movie night doorway rope, red ticket roll, Twizzlers, paper plates, forks, director’s photo frame key chains, movie star glasses, red curtain backdrop banner, you’re a star lanyards, entryway theater rug, now showing chalkboard, gold twinkling stars, silhouette movie night candle holders: Oriental Trading Company
Twine: The Twinery
Backstage studio tour: Regal Cinemas
More SOURCES for red carpet products to help you create your own Hollywood Movie Party:
–Creative Converting Reel Hollywood Round Dessert Plates, 8-Count
–Creative Converting Reel Hollywood Luncheon Napkins, 16-Count, Movie Reel
–Movie Set Clapboard
–Movie Set Picks (asstd designs) Party Accessory (1 count) (50/Pkg)
–Hollywood Clapboard Key Chains (1 dz)
–Paper Party Bags 10-Inch-by-5-1/4-Inch, 10-Pack, Popcorn
–Huge Vinyl Inflatable Movie Buff Party Decoration
–Beistle 52301 Stanchion Party Props
–Star Peel-N-Place Party Accessory (1 count) (1/Sh)
–VIP Party Pass 25″ 1/Pkg
–Movie Night Red Carpet Aisle Runner (15 ft)
–Nostalgia Electrics RHD800 Retro Series Hot Dog Roller
–Nostalgia Electrics RKP630 Retro Series Kettle Popcorn Maker
–Vintage Wooden Coca-Cola Crate with Handles
–Vintage Black Iron Rustic Marquee Letters from A-Z (18″ tall)
This party is truly incredible. Wow, wow wow. So much detail. Congrats it looks amazing and Jacob and Landon look like they had a wonderful time.
Jen, it’s just stunning. Love the detail and will come back to look at the set ups again and again!
I love everything about this party! It is so incredible and the details are just amazing!
Another amazing party by Banner Events! So happy that I was able to photograph it. Jen makes my job easy!!!
This party is amazing. My son wants a movie party for his birthday so this is just the inspiration I needed. You mentioned games were played. what type of games did you pay before the kids went to the movies?
Hi Kimberly- We kept things simple with age appropriate board games and some new video games. They didn’t have a lot of time to play due to lunch, dessert, opening gifts and transporting the kiddos to/from the movies. Thanks for your sweet comments. ~Jen
Jaw-dropping, Jen! Just perfections!
Thank you Brittany!
A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Every last little detail, perfect.
Hi, can you tell me where you found the movie reel stands that your cupcakes are displayed on? And where you got the red and blue cake stands. Thanks!
Hi Kimberly, I found the movie reels at Hobby Lobby for about $10 each on sale. They worked perfectly as cupcake stands. The red and blue cake stands were purchased at Target a little over a year ago.
Jen,
Can you tell me where you got the gold menu sign holders that stand upright an say, “Now Serving.”
I am planning an Oscar Party and would like to add these to my table.
Hi Denise- I purchased them from IKEA. I think they were $0.99 each. They come in a few colors (white, red, green, and blue). I gave them a quick coat of gold spray paint.
Hello Jen,
How are you doing? I was wondering where did you purchase the coca cola carts? And how did your husband make the red carpet ropes? By the way I LOVE THE HOLD DECORE!!!!
Hi- I purchased the coca cola crates at a discount store called Big Lots. I’ve seen something similar at World Market as well. The actual red rope part is from Oriental Trading Company, but the stand was made by drilling holes in aluminum pie pans from The Dollar Tree and inserting 1″ dowels (spray painted) into the holes and gluing them in place. He spray painted Styrofoam balls to put on top. Hope that helps!
Thanks Jen,
But I couldn’t find the Coca Cola crates @ either store. I pray I can find one before March 15th, because trying to have a surprise party for my daughter.
I just did a quick Google search and it appears that there may be several online retailers, even Ebay: https://www.google.com/search?q=coca+cola+wooden+crate&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=quUQU_vFJ5KJogTP9IHwBQ&sqi=2&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAg&biw=1976&bih=1069&dpr=0.85#imgdii=_
Love it!! I was wondering where you purchased your movie reel plates?
Hi- I purchased them from birthdayinabox.com. You can see a link to them on my Pinterest board here: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/15903404907289921/
Excellent! Well done and very informative. Thank you so much for sharing!
LOVE THIS! So much detail I am AMAZED.
Thank you Bridgette!
Jen.. I absolutely love this party! Thinking about doing something similar for my oldest in a few weeks. Did the kids bring any candy to the movie theater?
Hi Tina- Yes, we arranged a tour with the movie theater prior to our show time and took in movie theater sized boxes of treats with us.
I can’t find the acrylic tumbler with movie theme. Help!!!