As you may have seen on my Instagram, I helped to host a birthday celebration this weekend! The initial plan for Maggie’s birthday had been to drive out to New Braunfels, float the river, and enjoy each others’ company. Then we got lazy, didn’t want to find a house to stay at, or drive all the way out there. We were also lacking in money from a very fun girls weekend consisting of a little too much shopping and cocktail sampling. Classic.

So in order to save money, we decided to pick the fanciest theme of them all: a glamorous night of cake and champagne. How do you throw a party like this on a budget, though, you ask?

We asked everyone to bring the finest bottle of champagne money (or $15) could buy and dress to the nines. I provided decorations and sweets, naturally, and Maggie got to work finding some scrumptious champagne cocktail recipes! I was pretty proud of the party we ended up with.

The decorations cost me less than $25 between having a few cute items at home and shopping in the sale section at Michael’s. Mixing everything pink with a lot of flowers and a little glitter, we ended up with a cute little spread. Check out the details below and throw a fabulous shindig, even after spending all of your money at the mall for Texas tax free weekend this week!

1. The Decor

The decor for this party can be completely thrown together with whatever you can find on sale. I went into Michael’s on the hunt for pink and gold, and it turned out they had a bunch of cute items for $1-$2 a piece. I added the list below to my own champagne glass collection and dishware.

Balloons = $2
Hanging pink pinwheels = $2
Pink polka dot straws = $2
Pink and orange beer bottles = $0.60/bottle
Gold Plates = $2
Tablecloth = $1
Scrapbook paper, cut into triangles and hung as a banner = $0.25/per piece
Flowers = $4

2. The Desserts

Really, the dessert ends up being a huge part of the decor at this party. Funeral cake was requested for the birthday cake, and since she’s not the prettiest cake at the party (if you know what I mean), I dressed her up with a pink buttercream icing (1/4 stick butter creamed, 2 cups powdered sugar, 1/3 cup milk, 2 drops of red food coloring), edible disco dust, and pearl candies.

The other desserts included key lime, raspberry filled petit fours (recipe to come soon!) and lots of candy. You can go with any candy to keep the theme sweet, but I used Sourpatch watermelons (cute and delicious) and dum dums (a childhood throwback).

3. The Drinks

The most important part! People love trying fun, new cocktails. By putting the recipes up on a big board in front of the bar with all of the mix-in’s in front, people feel ready to bar tend. Again, just ask your guests to bring a bottle of champagne and the rest of the ingredients shouldn’t put you back too much mullah.

Guests can start by trying something new and then move on to create their own signature beverage! The yummy champagne cocktails we tried were all fantastic – might I suggest the champagne mojito as my favorite?

Champagne Mojito

G&C

Blackberry Thyme Sparkler

Mango-Peach Bellini (We were lazy and bought mango-peach nectar and just mixed it with the champagne!)