It doesn’t matter the occasion—whether it’s a 4th birthday, a bachelorette bash, or a 60s inspired DTLA wedding—we love a retro party theme around here. Daisies, peace signs, and boho vibes, what’s not to love about the era of flower power and sunshine? Plus, if mama of 3 Kristen Dimond is behind it, we know to expect something rad. Considering her daughter Piper’s 8th birthday was as genius as this Camp Barbie affair, we knew she’d nail the groovy birthday party vignette when it was time for year no. 9. Thanks to Alison Bernier for capturing SO many deets from this far out day, below!
A giant floral peace sign made of faux stems? Sign us up!
A Groovy Birthday Party Theme: Stay Wild, Flower Child
Kristen says, Knowing that Piper wanted a “flowery” theme that felt “grown-up” for her 9th birthday party, I proposed “Stay Wild, Flower Child” and Piper instantly loved it—she couldn’t resist the thought of staying wild as she (too quickly) approaches her tweens! I knew I wanted the party to have a hippie, boho vibe to it, with plenty of flowers in warm colors like peach, burnt orange, goldenrod, dusty pink, and lavender.
So many of Piper’s friends dressed the part for this hippie party theme, wearing bell bottoms, tie-dye, and headbands. But if they needed something extra, the gals could jazz up their flower child looks at the braid bar, face painting station, or denim decorating table.
The flower station sign, complete with groovy type, says “you deserve some flowers”. Sure do!!
Since flowers were a priority, I knew I wanted to include a flower bar where the girls could make their own bouquets in personalized vases. MV Florals really delivered, creating stunning, colorful arrangements of daisies, poppies, peonies, and ranunculus throughout the party, but also went above and beyond by overseeing the flower bar and assisting the girls with their gorgeous bouquets.
Make Beads, Not War: Camp Lila set up the bead bar and denim painting station you’ll see below.
Party Food & Drink
They worked with Sip Sip Mobile Bar to create fun mocktails for the girls at the bar, complete with flowery garnishments and peace sign stir sticks and rainbow drink tags by Creative Amme:
Lavender Haze consisted of house-made lemonade infused with lavender and honey. Peace, Love, and Passion Fruit was a concoction of passion fruit juice, homemade passion fruit syrup, fresh passion fruit seeds, mint, citrus bitters, and hand-squeezed lime topped with sparkling water.
For the actual grown-ups, groovy themed cocktails featured rum, tequila, or mezcal, and lots of fresh fruits.
Elysian Eats artfully assembled for each kiddo the most perfectly detailed, beautifully individualized picnic baskets which they could take with them to picnic barefoot in the grass. The baskets were filled with baguettes, flower-shaped cheeses, and hippie-themed treats. Their spread for the adults was equally amazing, filled with mouth-watering, gorgeous details.
The girls were treated to hippie makeovers, including braids and flowery face paint and decals from Dazzling Faces. How FUN is this look for our birthday girl?!
Love us a beautiful spread of crudité!
To make the party feel a little more “grown-up” for Piper, we enlisted WonderTent to bring their WonderDome for a “California Dreamin’ Lounge,” which we filled with cozy pillows, magazines, and colorful popcorn from The Jolly Sheep for the ultimate “mellow-out” zone.
Um, kind of obsessed with this hippie look. Do they make this fit for grown-ups?!
Groovy Birthday Party Activities & Crafts
If you didn’t paint some frayed denim, did you even go to a groovy birthday party?! Chelcea Cummings created the most far-out invitation for us and included a flower-shaped insert that asked guests to bring used denim to the party for painting with Camp Lila. On the day of, Camp Lila helped guests paint groovy details like flowers, peace signs, and smiley faces on their denim or on a denim piece chosen from their “thrift shop,” stocked with thrifted jackets, jeans, and bags.
The Dessert Bar
From the outset of planning the party, I had a vision for Piper’s cake to epitomize the theme “Stay Wild, Flower Child” by incorporating colorful meringue flowers “growing” chaotically all over the cake, like wildflowers growing on a hillside. Wow did Sugar Crush Sweets crush it! The raspberry-lemon cake was a masterpiece, complete with two-tiers of meringue flowers and kisses, which we donned with paper daisies and lots of baby’s breath.
To round out our dessert table, they also created delicious daisy cupcakes, cakesicles, and macarons perfectly on-theme, and Danielle Keene of Sheila Mae made the most delicious donuts and daisy, macrame rainbow, and shag peace sign sugar cookies that are always the first treats to go from the dessert table. Outside, Cloe Lane from Bon Puf spun cotton candy into daisies with groovy edible wafers in the shape of flowers, peace signs, and rainbows, and Happy Ice scooped their rainbow-swirled, psychedelic Italian ice to keep guests cool.
With so many fun balloon decorations at the party, a giant peace sign to pose in front of had to be one of them! Love these DIY paper flowers for a wall backdrop too:
Peace sign candy station, check! In rainbow, of course.
Kristen continued the faded denim theme throughout with details like these little denim pockets she purchased from Etsy then embellished with painted daisies for the utensils.
Macrame details brought in a good dose of fringe to this retro fete.
Even the cotton candy looked like daisies!
The true “grown-up” hit of the party was the most perfect vintage photo booth for our theme, Gloria, the Photo Booth Camper, from The Traveling Photo Bus. Giving off major hippie vibes, both kiddos and parents lined up to take pictures with boho props again and again!
Peace, love, and flower power!
Photography: Alison Bernier ǀ Design & Planning: Kristen Dimond ǀ Cake & Desserts: Sugar Crush Sweets ǀ Cookies & Donuts: Sheila Mae | Balloons & Backdrops: The Pop Shop ǀ Florals & Flower Bar: MV Florals ǀ Invitation & Paper Details: Chelcea Creative ǀ Acrylic Details: Creative Amme ǀ Tent: WonderTent Parties | Cotton Candy: Bon Puf ǀ Graze Table & Picnic Baskets: Elysian Eats | Rentals: Sweet Salvage | Paint & Bead Activities: Camp Lila | Photo Booth Camper: The Traveling Photo Bus | Mobile Bar: Sip Sip Mobile Bar | Face Painting & Braid Bar: Dazzling Faces | Italian Ice: Happy Ice | Popcorn: The Jolly Sheep ǀ Bounce House: Calabasas Bounce House
