2023 was the year of Taylor Swift and we of course participated in every way we could, ending the year with an EPIC Taylor Swift themed party for Denver. She is a well trained swiftie so the theme was decided early and I had SO much fun planning it.

The overall vibe was a little different than I had seen being done I wanted to heavily focus on her discography and highlight the Eras Tour in subtle ways. I started with a mood board. Lots of jewel tones and an underlying focus on Denver’s favorite song Bejeweled.

Let’s get right into the Details, starting with the invitation.

Flatlay

Lindsay of Itsy Bitsy Parties took on the invitation and executed to perfection. I had a vision of using the elevator buttons from the Bejeweled music video. I loved that it incorporated all the Eras colors, and was huge Easter egg in the actual video. Lindsay added incredible details like the hair pin, jewels and lots hidden lyrics from different eras.

I surrounded the flatlay with lots of collected trinkets and swiftie things. Being that Taylor Swift is the ultimate mastermind I wanted everything to have a purpose and be intentional. I grabbed a few things specifically for the flatlay like a Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) cassette tape, TS guitar picks and some cool find from Goldthread like the Red key chain and Lavender Haze matches.

The Table

When I started planning this party the only thing I knew for sure is that I wanted there to be 10 guests and each setting at the table would represent a different era. I used some plates I had collected over the years and planned to use my acrylic rounds on top to make each plate cohesive. Jollity + Co had all the cups and napkins to pair with each plate, believe it or not colors like black and navy blue are not common in the party supplies world, but Jollity has every color.

I made the cups extra special and used Bash Boutique confetti and mod podge to make them shimmer and really represent each album. At the beginning of the party planning process I went to Cami Monet to create some custom pieces for the party. She did a gorgeous watercolor table runner with a grid like pattern that had a little nod to the Eras Tour concert poster. Of course she made fun designs for each era and we turned them into stir sticks! I am obsessed with the icons, like the teal boot, disco ball and blue jewel. You can grab this set of 10 stir sticks HERE. And finally she created the custom pieces to go under the acrylic rounds. I wanted to do something with friendship bracelets and this was the perfect opportunity!

Cami hand painted “beads” in the colors of the eras as well as letters, I chose som score phrases that would capture each album, while keeping the letter count low. I then placed each bead by hand and topped the plate with the round. I am OBSESSED with how they turned out, they are a perfect nod to the album and the entire table looked cohesive even though everything was a different color.  

The Backdrop

This is the first party in the new house, so it was a bit of a challenge to take on! Balloon Therapy Charleston came to the house to create an epic balloon corner. It served as a perfect backdrop and filling the corner of the dining room perfectly. I am obsessed with the balloon chain to look like a bracelet that spelled ERAS. In front of the balloons I added a bar cart with a record player. I had an entire basket of Taylors Records so Denver could pick and choose her music.

I also had some fun bottles on the bar cart for the adults. We of course had Champagne to cure our champagne problems and a bottle of august (slipped away like a bottle of) wine. I actually traveled with this August Bottle from California, it is made in Sonoma by a friend of mine and embodies Taylor perfectly!

Another item I had in my mind to use from the start is my old door. I have used it at a few parties like Ray’s Palm Spring bash and our Friends Thanksgiving shoot. I painted it orange as a nod to the Karma door that comes on stage during her performance on tour. I wasn’t sure how to use it until Itsy Bitsy told me she could make candy microphones, it instantly became the perfect display.

So, let’s talk about these mics. During the Eras Tour Taylor uses a different microphone while she’s singing her different albums, they are each different, intricate and beyond gorgeous. Lindsay custom made 10 microphones and filled with with colorful jelly beans to embody the different colors. Not only were these incredible to display, but they made it so much fun to sing and dance, and the perfect take home gift.

Favors

Speaking of take home gifts, I curated some amazing party favors for each girl! I started with the little golden book of Taylor Swift, it Is not only gorgeously illustrated but the sweetest story about her life so far. I then added mini Cuddle and Kind cats. Being that Taylor had 3 cats and it is a pinnacle theme in her life is was perfect. They each got “Karma” tags (’cause Karma is cat purring in my lap cause he loves me), and the back each said the names of Taylors IRL cats. Oliva Benson, Meredith Gray and Benjamin Button. I tied the tags with orange velvet ribbon and they were too cute for words. I finished the baskets with custom RED heart sun glasses and Eras tour confetti Lauren Glass custom made for me. I ran to our local theater and grabbed some Eras tour popcorn buckets to put everything inside.

I used my coffee bar in the dining room to display the favors and some activities for the party. in the area I hung a gorgeous snake tapestry, disco balls from the ceiling and framed Taylor Swift Newspaper one that read Getaway Car and one that said mirrorball, this little nook was giving all the reputation vibes. The bar has glass doors so I used the coolest Taylor’s Junk Drawer wrapping paper to line the inside and make it feel intentional.

Activities

In addition to the favors, this little nook hald some fun activities for the girls to do! We had Olive and June nail polish to get Eras Tour manicures, Bejeweled temporary tattoos and all the beads for Friendship bracelets. More beads were piled down the center of the table in color order. The girls had SO much fun making bracelets and trading with each other!

Cake Table

It’s not a party without cake, but for Denver in the spirit of Taylor, we needed THREE CAKES. Yes, you heard that right! I partnered with Amirah of Flour Shop to create some incredible Taylor coded cakes. I put them on a thin table and used these incredible fringe garlands to look like her jacket from the Karma song on tour.

The first one, Flour Shop signature rainbow layered cake, this was the main birthday cake for Denver. It was frosted and covered in sprinkles to resemble the cake from the Lover music video. I topped it with the same blue candles and an acrylic lover house cake topper. We sliced it open to reveal rainbow and it is giving all the ME! and You Need To Calm Down Vibes.

Cake number two was a recreation of the iconic wedding cake from the video, I’ll Bet YouThink About Me, from the Red (Taylor’s Version) Era. The fun part about this cake, is that the inside is red velvet and in the video Taylor grabs handful of cake. This was Denver’s FAVORITE part of the party, being able to put her hands in the cake. Flour Shop knocked it out of the park doing the piping details and hidden 13 on the cake.

Cake number three was a personal favorite. I really wanted to have a nod to the Surpise Song/ Acoustic section of the Eras tour. Taylor does a guitar song and piano song and the Surprise Song piano is iconic, so naturally it had to be a cake. Flour shop sent over a simple (and so delicious) chocolate cake, I then added edible flowers from Magnolias Yarden on the outside of the cake. It looked exactly like the piano. To add the finishing touch I used KitKats for piano keys on top, an idea I used when making my Eras Candy boards.

I added cake stands of incredible cookies to the cake table. Royally Iced Sweets took some favorite Taylor details and make them out of sugar. I places cake stand of her creations throughout the party as well! I still can’t get over her little cardigan cookie. OMG.

I used disco ball plates for cake and custom napkins from Suburban Soiree. We did two designs, for the large cake napkins, we did a cream napkin with the lyrics to Our Song. Taking a page from the lyrics,

“I was ridin’ shotgun with my hair undone
In the front seat of his car
I grabbed a pen and an old napkin
And I wrote down our song”

The Bar

Of course the adults had their champagne but the kids needed something fun too! I set up a small bar in the corner with Cherry Lips aka raspberry lemonade, and Crystal Skies– water. To stay on the 1989 theme I used leftover wall decals from Wallery of paper airplane and placed eight of them on the wall above.

I added a red scarf, cake stand with cookies and an adorable 1989 pennant flag. Some favorite bar details were the cocktail napkins and coasters. The second napkin design staying on the Reputation theme with a quote from Delicate. The coasters I designed using a scene of TS from her YNTCD music video. It was details like this that really made me fall in love with the party.

Outfits

I can’t forget the outfits, I grabbed Taylor dressed from Taylor Joelle many months ago! I wanted to make something special for Denver so I DIY’ed a lavender denim jacket with custom patches! Find all the ones I used HERE. She was gifted this incredible Taylor Swift doll by Candy Kirby which made for the perfect addition to the guest list.

I was going for a YNTCD look with the fur coat, heart earrings and sunglasses. Of course I added some incredible glitter boots and red lipstick.

Photos

The party really came to life with the magic of Dani Lacey. We have actually worked with Dani on several House Of Fete events, she now lives in South Carolina as well, and I new the vibe of the party would be perfect for her! She used some fun flash photography to really make it feel like the Eras tour aesthetic. I am obsessed with how all of the photos turned out.

Denver had the BEST TIME and we are still living in the magic we made!

XO

Kelsey

Styling @house.of.fete 
Host and florals @kelseyklos
Photographer @danilaceyphotographs 
Balloons @balloontherapycharleston 
Paper goods + microphone @itsybitsypartieskc 
Runner, stir sticks, punchies @camimonet 
Cakes @flourshop 
Edible flowers @magnolias_yarden 
Cookies @royallyiced 
Cake topper + sign @designandunwind 
Paper airplanes @walleryco 
Cups and napkins @jollityandco 
Custom napkins @suburban_soiree 
Karma cats @cuddleandkind
Sunnies @peytonjeanhandmade
Confetti @laurenglassdesigns 
Melamine cake stands @joyeuxcompany 
Fringe @ellieandpiperco 
Hat and flag @winnieandhaze 
Tags @chalkdesignsbyme 
Dresses @taylorjoelledesigns 

Taylor Doll @candykirbydesigns

Wrapping Paper @shavspaper