A summer garden party - Bellechella

If your one of my regular readers, you'll know all about my Annual Summer party. 

Each year we invite our friends from the UK to our home in southern Spain for a weekend of party's, beach days and Spanish explorations. 

This year my theme was "Belle- chella" (see what I did there)
Every year, the theme starts with a jumping off point. It might be a colour, an item iv purchased or something inspirational on Pinterest 

I have to admit, this party theme is my favourite so far. It was a lot of work... from sourcing all of the items, to setting up under the Spanish heat to creating the floral, all of which I do myself with a helping hand from the hub's. Whilst in the throws of execution I do ask why I do this to myself (ha ha)

As I said the hub's and I plan and execute the entire weekend ourselves (he is surprisingly creative and very handy) But honestly... it is so rewarding. I couldn't love doing it anymore. 

We used a large custom tee pee as a backdrop (did you see the little lace window btw...heart eyes!) And used wooden palettes as a long low table. You can usually pick these up for free if you ask shop owners or DIY stores. This was actually pretty difficult for me living in Spain and only knowing a little Spanish. You can however buy them from amazon 

I found the most gorgeous vintage place settings from a vintage collector called a vintage affair, (the lovely lady has a super cute stall at Altrincham market so I pop by when im in the UK) and they really helped to bring the theme to life. Gold cutlery, crystal glasses and candlesticks added a touch of glamour

I made an 8ft table length runner filled with roses, peony's, Lisianthus, hydrangeas, tiny baby pink spray roses and every kind of greenery I could lay my hands on...

I found some super cute teepee party favour boxes and filled them with fresh macrons. Aren't they just the cutest thing ever!!!

We set up a fully stocked bar for guests to create their own cocktail or recreate my signatureSeville orange G&T. I'll post the recipe on the blog soon, as its very simple but utterly delicious 

We set up little pockets of cocktail seating for guests to catch up and enjoy the garden. We added mini cactus and fresh peonies to the bar and occasional tables with gold tealights to add extra ambience when the sun goes down.

And of course its not a celebration without cake, so my husband made his signature chocolate cake which I dressed with fresh fruit and roses ...I get all the best jobs!

When the sun started to set we switched on the fairy lights and bistro bulbs and lit every candle we could find. Now that was a job on its own....

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I made my lavender and rose petal bath salts for the guests as favours (recipe) 

We lined the entire swimming pool with pillar candles of various sizes in glass hurricane jars, some floating in water. In between we laid tiny tea lights to create a layered effect.

We laid rugs in contrasting fabrics and patterns on the floor to create texture and interest and places soft cushions for our guests to sit on to make things as comfortable as possible. 

As the sun set, we lit flaming torched filled with citronella to create a path from the house to the party. Its really created a magical ambience and smelled incredible (as well as keeping those pesky mossies at bay)

We made a simple Spanish style buffet for the guests followed by cheese and chocolate cake.  We wanted to enjoy the evening with our guests rather than being in the kitchen all night so it worked really well for us.

The whole evening was totally worth it to see my lovely friends faces when they arrived at the house. The had no idea we had planned the party for them, I had told them we were having wine and nibbles. The moment was absolutely priceless and made all the effort worthwhile.

We ate, drank and chatted the night away totally excited to spend the weekend together and create some fabulous new memory's 

I hope you enjoyed these photos as much as I enjoyed putting the party together!
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Xoxo
​Belle