Vintage Train Birthday Party

hip hooray for train birthdays!

     The party was a huge success, and the guests all had such a great time.
here are my favorite pics from the day.

Many thanks to the fantastic team at Hostess With the Mostess for the grand feature!

party details are below.

party inspiration:

• invitations were punched to look like real train tickets
• table backdrop is a simple duck cloth hung from a portable backdrop kit
• juice boxes were served in little muslin sacks, and customized using inkjet iron on transfers
   and did you know the standard juice box hole is the perfect size to fit a retro paper straw!!?!
• cupcakes were baked into candy cups
• wooden utensils were gussied up using a strip of washi tape on their handles
• yogurt parfaits are served in mason jars with burlap squares and bakers twine holding it all together
• loot bags were customized using the same design from the juice box, but printed on ink jet labels
• mini hot dogs were just standard franks cut in half. here's how we got the look:
      thaw frozen dinner roll dough and let rise per package instructions
      reshape dough to hot dog shape & rise again
      brush with a thin egg wash and sprinkle with poppy seeds, then bake per package instructions
      cut mini dill pickles into spears and serve with desired condiments
      nestle each mini dog into a standard-sized cupcake liner
• we have loads of cardboard at our house, so we upcycled all our boxes to create a station master's
    office for the guests to decorate. what fun!!!


vendor credits:

invitation suite by kellyallison photography
table design by may boury styling
sweet treats by frost cake & cupcake design
paper goods & party sundry from fort & field and paper source


enjoy!

rainbow butterfly birthday party

we're in the midst of planning our next birthday shindig, so I figure it's a good time to share some parties from last year.

what better way to start than with our rainbow butterfly birthday party from last summer:

INVITATIONS: designed and printed by kellyallison photography using materials from Paper Source and photos pulled from my instagram stream
PARTY FAVORS: everyone received hand tied tutus, and were invited to decorate butterfly crowns (inspired by these, but designed in house and cut from a silhouette cutting machine)

SWEET TREATS: thanks to whisk kid & bakerella, I was empowered to try my hand at the many layer cake and the ever intimidating cake pops. The butterfly chocolate idea is an adaptation on the incredible monarch butterfly from hello cupcake.

PAPER GOODS: mostly sourced from the good people of fort & field (I've said it before, but best party sundries ever!)

DECOR: great ideas from Design*Sponge & Style Me Pretty lead to the cupcake liner pom-poms and the streamer kites.


enjoy!


kellyallison photography is a chicago area photo studio passionate about the visual documentation of love, life and all things beautiful.

HWTM & cowboy love

more fun press for our cowboy party.

thanks so much to hostess with the mostess for this super fun feature!!!

enjoy!


kellyallison photography is a chicago area photo studio, specializing in modern family portraits, and narrative portraiture of children, babies and newborns. 

hostess with the mostess feature: parisian batmitzvah

this summer I had so much fun photographing this lovely event by lisa of step brightly.

      as with so many other events, I've not had the chance to share pics. . . but I'll plan to do so soon.

                       really.

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hostess with the mostess thought is was pretty great, too.
      many thanks to the HWTM team for their wonderful post!

kellyallison photography is a chicago area photo studio, specializing in events and modern family portraits.

bluegrass party sneak peek, and love from Amy Atlas

This summer I had the pleasure of working with Step Brightly and Sweet Soirees who created an incredible 2-yr-old bluegrass birthday party.

Every detail was perfect, from the live music to the burlap accessories and flea market touches.

I'll post pics from the event soon, but in the mean time, check out this super fun guest dessert feature from Amy Atlas.

     It's always such an honor to be featured on her amazing blog!

kellyallison photography is a chicago area photo studio, specializing in events and modern family portraits.

Amy Atlas Blogs Me!

We recently had a little rainbow butterfly birthday shindig to celebrate a certain someone turning four.   

      The whole thing was her idea, and it turned out to be quite a hoot.

I promise to post more photos soon, but in the mean time here is a real sweet post from Amy Atlas that pretty much sums it up.

Amy Atlas Guest Dessert Feature: Rainbows & Butterflies


Enjoy!

Apartment Therapy Blogs Me!

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There's a fun post today on Apartment Therapy Family (formerly Ohdeedoh).

They liked our cowboy party,
     and put up a sweet little feature.


Check it out!

kellyallison photography is a chicago area photo studio, specializing in modern family portraits, and narrative portraiture of children, babies and newborns.

Gather & Collect for Apartment Therapy

a few weeks ago, I had the great pleasure of photographing one of my favorite stores for a post on Apartment Therapy. we had such fun playing with lovely vintage home goods, and styling to our heart's content.

you can visit the real Gather & Collect here, and you should, if you're ever in the neighborhood.

   in the mean time, here are some favorites from the session.



enjoy!

kellyallison photography is a commercial photo studio in the chicago area, seeking out clients that share a love of great design, and are drawn to all things beautiful.