Kennay Laurén
- Apr 20, 2023
- 6 min read

APRIL Party Highlight: Ava’s Princess & the Frog 4th Birthday

Updated: Apr 30, 2023

What a magical day!!! 🐸✨👑💫

This is definitely one of my favorite events thus far and I am so thankful for my client, Shae, for trusting me to bring to life a royal vision for Princess Ava’s birthday!

When Shae reached out to me with the idea for a Princess and the Frog themed birthday, I immediately got so excited because it’s one of my favorite Disney movies, Tiana is one of my favorite princesses, and I have yet to have gotten a chance to design the theme before. Shae said she wanted her daughter to feel like she was transported into the movie. Originally she mentioned wanting a castle and I asked her if it was OK for me to stick with the source material of the movie? For Tiana, she never really cared about being a princess. All she wanted was to make her and her daddy’s dream of owning a restaurant come true, so I wanted to do a unique take on the theme focusing on Tiana’s restaurant (Tiana’s Palace) for the event and bringing lots of New Orleans aesthetics into the mix. Shae trusted my vision and I am so thankful for her, and for how the event turned out!

Once I knew what Shae wanted for Miss Ava's party I immediately started brainstorming and creating a vision board of sorts to conceptualize my thoughts. This picture ended up being my inspiration for the party which I believe is some concept art by Disney for a restaurant they are planning to build at the parks for Tiana!

I really loved the idea of having the actual restaurant be a part of the party with café style seating out front like in the concept photo. I started reaching out to some of my top vendors, to make sure that we could execute to the vision flawlessly and they were all on board! Then I started working on some of the smaller details which you know are my specialty. I started off with designing a Tiana's Palace logo for the restaurant and creating a menu fit for a princess!

My client also had some gorgeous photos of her daughter from a Princess and the Frog photo shoot done by @creativesoulphotography, and I knew I wanted to incorporate those photos as much as possible in the event.

On the day of the event our party started at 10am, but we ran into some hiccups with set up so I quickly re-organized our schedule so that we could start on time but have the party room a.k.a. Tiana's Palace closed off. So I made a sign that said that Tiana's Palace was scheduled to open for lunch at 11:30am so that we could finish the setup without the guests being any the wiser. This went perfectly with the theme and the flow of the event anyways, because we got to close off the party room, which provided an opportunity for a big reveal, and all of the kiddos were so excited to play on the indoor playground that was our venue (Wiggle Giggle Marietta) when they arrived. Once guests started to arrive and were enjoying themselves, we had our special guest Princess Tiana come in, and the kids were so in awe! Tiana started off by doing story time, telling the story of the Princess and the Frog. All of the kids were sitting quietly captivated by the story, and even the parents were playing along. When Tiana finish story time, she did a live sing-a-long to Almost There, and then made Miss Ava an honorary princess! Princess Tiana was so gracious and kind, and took photos with every child. She then welcomed the kids into Tiana's Palace for lunch before she left. Now fun fact, the actress that played Tiana for our event did not know what we had in the party room, just as our guests did not know. So before she left, I asked her if she could welcome our guests into her restaurant? She turned and asked me "My restaurant is here!?", and I nodded. When she walked into the party room, her jaw dropped just as Princess Tiana's would walking into her restaurant for the first time. It was a really special moment. Princess Ava also walked in with the biggest smile on her face and went straight to her throne chair because she knew she was the guest of honor at Tiana's Palace! Once Tiana graciously said her goodbyes, we began serving lunch. Of course, I had to dress up for the occasion in Tiana's yellow waitress outfit and serve the kids with my special helpers from Wiggle Giggle the Madisons'.

Kids and parents alike devoured gourmet pizza, and "Princess Punch", which was a special blend of lemonade, limeade, and a little bit of pixie dust! For dessert we of course had Princess Tiana's World Famous Beignets, Decorated Princess and the Frog Sugar Cookies, Lily Pad Cupcakes, and Princess Ava's Birthday Cake! Needless to say, there was not a crumb, nor a drop left! We closed Tiana's restaurant for the day and the kiddos got to spend the rest of their time playing on the playground and helping Princess Ava open her birthday gifts. Overall, this was definitely one of the more magical events I have ever done. Photos and videos could not capture the whimsy that all of the kids (and parents) felt that day. That is how I earned my nickname the fairy godmother!

Some of my favorite decor elements from this event were obviously the beautiful props done by KRProphouse. The restaurant facade and character cut outs really made this event stand out. I also was in love with the 10' x 12' mural backdrop that we added that made the room feel like we had been transported to New Orleans. Some of my favorite little details were the Tiana's Palace custom menu centerpieces that we had at each table, the crown candleholders, and Princess Ava's photo marquees done by Styled by Seaci that were really a showstopping statement piece for the event! Also the adorable favor boxes by Crafting with Meek which I wish I got better photos of (luckily she got some great shots I'll post below).

This was a huge collaborative event! I'm really thankful to all of my vendors for helping me to bring my vision to life.

Huge shout out to the staff at Wiggle Giggle Marietta! The owner Tamara was more than accommodating and on the ball for the entire event. Her staff members deserve to be honorary princesses themselves because they were the sweetest and most helpful that I've ever worked with!

I have to give a huge shout out to our special guest Princess Tiana. She was by far one of the best princesses that I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. From the time that she arrived, she had the kids captivated. Not just because she was Princess Tiana, but she spoke loudly and clearly so all 100+ people could hear her in the venue. She interacted with the children, got down on their level, kept them engaged and even threw in the southern accent from time to time. Princess Tiana stayed to take photos with all 30+ kids at the venue, even stopping in the parking lot to take photos with some late arrivals. Thank you so much to for the beautiful performance!

Now let's get into these photos... Check out the décor!

Photos with Special Guests Princess Tiana, Princess Ava & Friends!

Storytime and sing-a-long w/Princess Tiana had everyone CAPTIVATED! And becoming an honorary princess will hopefully be something Ava always remembers!

Tiana's Palace is now open for lunch!

Before Princess Tiana left, she welcomed Princess Ava and her friends into Tiana's Palace for lunch. The kids were so excited, and Tiana even got emotional seeing her restaurant for the first time! I also got to have so much fun playing waitress for Ava and her friends!