A few weeks ago I began to plan a middle school graduation party for my teenage daughter and 45 of her closest friends. Feeling a bit overwhelmed, I decided to seek the assistance of some very creative women I had found online.

First, I contacted one of my favorite designers, Carolyn, from Cards with Care and asked her to make a custom invitation. We wanted a chic and sophisticated card with bright, neon colors. This was printed on glossy photo paper and it came out really sharp! Here’s a mock-up of the final design:

Then, I decided to try out the inspiration board services of Chris at Celebrations at Home. Chris is a party planner and has an incredible blog filled with fabulous parties to spark your creative juices. I sent Chris a copy of the invitation Carolyn had designed and she sent me back two inspiration boards. Here’s one:

You can see the other one on her blog here. Little did Chris know, I had already planned to use tissue poms in the decor scheme. I had also been considering ordering the very same paper luminary lanterns she selected. I was thrilled to see these on her board! But what set me on fire was the dreamy tent she included on the board. The party space was a tennis court with an adjacent cabana structure. Since the framework was already there I knew I would be able to design a snazzy tent of my own. Living in suburbia has its advantages as I spent the next two days scouring Ikea for curtains, Marshall’s, Target and Century 21 for pillows and Lowe’s for a rug. Here is the end result. What do you think?

The custom color tissue poms were created by the talented ladies at Fiesta Pom Pom. I love how they were varied in size and design. They had so many colors to choose from it was hard to decide so I chose five! Here’s a close-up of the beautiful poms:

Stayed tuned for part two when I’ll share photos and sources for the party desserts and sweets as well as how I kept the active teens entertained. Would love to hear your comments!

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