We celebrated Brennan’s 6th birthday FRIENDS style this year and it turned out SO freaking cute! I’ll be honest, this theme was mostly for me, but with B turning 6 and there being six friends, it felt like a fit and I knew I could make it fun for kids! Here’s a look back at her past birthday parties!
One | Two | Three | Four | Five
As per usual I started with a mood board- I went heavy on the purples and oranges, adding in pops of pink and yellow. I added in black and white polka dots though out which was my favorite part.
I have been a HUGE Friends fan since forever, so this theme came pretty easy to me- I of course included all the major fan favorite moments, but most of the party was very much, if you know you know details. I threw the party at home in our dining room, making it over into all the iconic Friends scenes.
The Table
I started by designing a napkin with Suburban Soiree, We made a purple dinner napkin into the iconic apartment door. I layered with an orange stripe plate from Shop Sweet Lulu and used my Cricut to write “Joey doesn’t share food” on each one. I found these incredible lobster napkin rings so added a white linen napkin and lobster on top. For the cups, I wanted to use them to add the primary colors from the dots of the logo. I did not want the primary colors to be too aggressive, so using red, yellow and blue cups added them subtlety.
Each cup had a stir stick and drink marker in monochromatic colors. Acrylic Sticks did all the acrylics and the drink markers were a specially collaboration between Paperie Off Park and Acrylic Sticks. The little umbrellas hanging were so adorable, complimented with a taxi, pizza, smelly cat and a polka dot straw. I filled the center of the table with florals and paper taxi cabs filled with treats. The made the taxi’s into “Relaxi Taxi” and “Relaxi Cab” (Season 7 Episode 17, The One with the Free P*rn). The taxis were filled with French Fry cookies by Royally Iced, gummy lobsters and extra treats.
Above the table I hung Sweet & Low packets raining down onto the table, which was such a fun detail (Season 1 Episode 8, The One where Nana Dies Twice)! I finished the table with “MOO-Point” (Season 7 Episode 8, The One with the Moo Point) salt and pepper shakers and custom garlands by Pearl & Jane. I used my Glitterville vases and a special newspaper vase for the florals.
The Florals
I grabbed all the florals from Trader Joes and added in some fun things link an extra lobster napkin ring, mustache straws (Season 5 Episode 24, The One in Vegas Part 2), and I had to add in cups (Season 5 Episode 18, The One Where Rachel Smokes) to some of the florals- the Rifle Paper ones just added to the florals in such a fun way!
The Outfits
With a theme like FRIENDS, it could go very “character party”, I wanted it to feel more like you were in an episode of the show, and not looking at it from a fandom perspective. That being said, I went shopping for the girls outfits on Zara, I saw the crocheted dress for Brennan first, it was giving major Phoebe vibes so I ran with it! I found the cutest pants and tank set for Denver that screamed Monica, and for Ray I wanted to give Rachel in the mint green dress (Season 3 Episode 2, The One Where No One’s Ready)- so did the floral pistachio skirt and cream sweater for Ray-chel.
We did name tags for everyone (Season 5, Episode 15, The One with the Girl Who Hits Joey), which was really fun, even adding the guests names to their favor bags. I of course went by Regina Phalange (Phoebe’s alter ego).
My favorite part of their outfits was their hats. I made each girl a party hat, like Phoebe did when she was in charge of Cups and Ice (Season 5 Episode 18, The One Where Rachel Smokes). I matched them with their outfits, added embellishments, tassels and ribbons, I glued them onto headbands to stay well on their heads. I made myself one too, just like Phoebe.
I of course had the PERFECT t-shirt from Mojo Provo- it has embroidered FRIENDS icons all over, with all the iconic moments. I also did an outfit change into a black and white polka dot dress!
Central Perk
I turned our bar into Central Perk- this was my favorite part. I covered the back wall with brick wrapping paper to give it the vibe, and covered our wine cooler with a green stripe shower curtain. This is where we went really custom with the details. Itsy Bitsy Parties created a custom sign to look like the coffee shop. I layered in cake stands, treats and fun coffee shop items. Paperie Off Park created the coolest coffee mugs with watercolor icons from the show. I added salt and pepper shakers, coffee beans and florals.
I framed a couple photos of the cast on one of the shelves and it made it feel so cozy. I did custom treats related to the show and Itsy Bitsy created all the packaging for me. We did Mockolate Chip Cookies (Season 2, Episode 8, The One with the List), ATM Vestibule Gum (Season 1, Episode 7, The One with the Blackout), We Were on a Break Kit Kat Bars and Toblerone’s (Season 5 Episode 14, The One Where Everybody Finds Out). I styled everything on cake stands and made “Crap Bags” (Season 10 Episode 14, The One with Princess Consuela) for the kids to fill with all their candies!
I filled the coffee house with more cookies, maple leaf cookies, water and straws!
The Cake Corner
Another FAVORITE. House Of Fete did a mini Friends photoshoot a few years ago, so I already had THE purple door. I added an orange chair I rented from The French Ecelctic– it looked just like the couch, in chair form. Behind the chair, I made a little gallery wall, I used some iconic friends things like a magna doodle, and a print from Joey and Chandler’s apartment. I framed an old FRIENDS illustration of the cast, I ripped out of a magazine when the show was still on Prime time.
I used a small round table for the cake, I went with a cheesecake (Season 7 Episode 11, The One with All the Cheesecakes), as the birthday cake. My amazing neighbor baked it for Brennan and it was SO delicious. Itsy Bitsy created a custom cheesecake box based on the episode that came out SO CUTE. I added birthday party scenes framed of the cast and my favorite part was the table.
I was having trouble figuring out what the table cloth should be, so I pulled a sheet I had laying around, and leaned into The One with the Apothecary Table, Season 6 Episode 11. I had Itsy Bitsy create a reversible tag- one side reading Pottery Barn, and the other from the Antique Store. The sheet was referring to the sheet Ross uses to cover his coffee table. Very #IYKYK- but I love how it turned out!
The Activities
This was my first idea to make the theme fit for a six year old. The Happy Stuff sent over cats and the kids were able to make their own Smelly Cats. In this corner Paperie off Park painted a gorgeous fountain from the opening scene of the show. On the table all the cats were displayed and ready to be stuffed. They had custom smelly cat tags with made the extra cute. The table was adorned with florals, photos and the guest book! Her guest book was The Velveteen Rabbit (Season 4 Episode 6, The One with the Dirty Girl).
Next to the table I had a coat rack with canvas bags to hold their Smelly Cat! Their cats came with the tote and I decorated them with Stoney Clover Friends themed patches, pins and buttons made my girl Lynda! She made the buttons out of Ralph Lauren ads as a nod to Rachel’s Career.
The girls had SO MUCH FUN building their own cats, and we did one more thing to fill the party! I created a trivia game like The One with the Embryos, Season 4 Episode 12 – my all time favorite episode. I created questions within the proper categories that the younger girls could answer- each girl picked a color, answered the question and got a piece of candy! It was such a hit.
The Hutch
My hutch is typically something I have to hide, or make it so it coincides with the party, I was originally going to put the fountain in the glass panels of the hutch, but it was way too good so I had to PIVOT. I used leftover brick paper inside the glass. I ran out of paper so left the first door open and styled the inside!
I put the poster from Monica’s apartment on the top and added some disco balls, it turned out SO cute!
The Food
Everything I served had to be on theme, here’s the menu:
- The Joey Special- Two Pizzas
- The Moistmaker- turkey sandwiches with Chanberry sauce
- Marcel’s Bananas
- Eat a lot of grapes- (Season 5 Episode 24, The One in Vegas Part 2)
- Rachel’s Trifle
- Spud-nik Chips and Dip (Season 8 Episode 6, The One with the Halloween Party)
- Jam and Graham Crackers- (Season 3 Episode 3, The One With The Jam)
- Cupcakes with Fried Chicken Ice cream (Season 5 Episode 9, The One With Ross’s Sandwich)
- Mac + Cheese – a play on Mac & C.H.E.E.S.E. one of Joey’s TV shows, and Chandlers Thanksgiving meal.
- Princess Leia Honey Buns (Season 3 Episode 1, The One with the Princess Leia Fantasy)
- Eddie’s Goldfish (Season 2 Episode 17, The One Where Eddie Moves In)
- Yoohoo’s (Chandler’s Favorite) + Juice Boxes to drink (Season 2 Episode 15, The One Where Ross and Rachel… You Know).
The Flatlay + Presents
Itsy Bitsy created the most incredible invitation. The iconic orange couch with little trinkets stuck in the cushion. A ticket to Yemen, a coffee cup, the Prom video and the letter to Ross. I layered in art work from Paperie off Park and some of my favorite items from the party.
I wrapped her presents on theme with some left over brick paper and an old calendar, I used illustrations, Chalk Designs by Me Tags and Acrylic Stick gift tags to embellish!
You can shop the entire party HERE!
The Photography
As always my very talented friend, Dani Lacey Photographs drove to capture the details and the girls for the party. Her photos turned out better than I could have ever imagined. I am so grateful to have these memories captured, I will cherish these photos forever.
Event design @house.of.fete
Host, florals + party hats @kelseyklos
Photographer @danilaceyphotographs
Invite + custom paper goods @itsybitsypartieskc
Watercolor artwork @paperieoffpark
Cookies @royallyiced
Acrylics @acrylicsticks
Party goods @shopsweetlulu @daydream.society @jollityandco
Napkins @suburban_soiree x @kelseyklos
Cups @rice_us
Cake @_michicakes
Smelly Cats @thehappystuffplush
Garlands @pearlandjane
Chair rental @thefrencheclectic
Friends t shirt @mojoprovo
Favor bag decor @stoneyclover + @kellschic
Take One Tag @chalkdesignsbyme
Fried chicken ice cream @life.raft.treats
Cutlery @pinkantlersshop
XO
Kelsey
