Beauty & the Beast for Madison-Sophia

I’m not a princess and fairytales kind of person, so naturally, I’m not a princess and fairytales kind of mum. But I make an exception for Beauty and the Beast.

How can one not love Belle and her love for books, reading, and adventure? And how can one not love a romance the grows out of friendship? And so Beauty and the Beast became the theme for Madison-Sophia’s first birthday.

​It just so happened to also be the year that the new movie was released, so hey, we would be current, if not anything else.

The story of Beauty and the Beast has so many wonderful elements to it – books and reading, adventure and travel, love and friendship, the importance of family – and so I wanted these elements to be the focus of my décor. 

​I also wanted it to be different to other Beauty and the Beast parties, I wanted to stay away from the usual yellows, reds, and navy blue so I opted for a vintage and rustic approach. With the exception of yellow, and the deep red, I used pale pink, gold and pale blue as my colour scheme.

​As we live in South Africa, it is very challenging to find Beauty and the Beast props for décor. This inspired me to make many of the décor elements myself, and this is why I wanted to share this party as I hope it can inspire others in the quest for unique Beauty and the Beast party ideas

For the guest tables, I spray painted old coffee and baby food jars gold. I then varnished onto the jars, printed Beauty and the Beast musical sheets, and images from the 1991 movie and also added rhinestones to finish the look.

I dusted some of the jars with glitter and added tags with music notes on them. I chose yellow and pale pink roses to compliment the jars. Through the images and music sheets, these jars told the tale and song of Beauty and the Beast. I used pale pink tablecloths with bronze sequence box runners with floral and gold paper plates. 

For the cake table and backdrop, I used a ladder, dresser (it was impossible to locate a tea trolley - which would have been ideal) and suitcases to show case other elements of the movie. These were Belle’s love for reading, her desire for adventure, many of the enchanted characters from the story as well the enchanted rose and mirror. I love the effect of the different coloured paper flowers with the gold bunting. 

To showcase the characters of the movie, I placed an open Beauty and the Beast book on the ladder. Also on the ladder were gold spray painted easels, which held biscuits with the different characters on them. This also speaks to Belle’s dad as an artist. 

The ladder also had the enchanted rose and dome as well as rose designed cupcakes. The suitcases, vintage books, and globe map encapsulated the story of Belle’s love for reading and adventure. The main dresser had the gold and pink cake with the topper “Tale as old as Time” as well as the party packs and the tea set floral arrangement. 

Another handmade item was the “Be Our Guest” hessian bunting which was displayed at the entrance of the venue. In keeping with the reading theme, I also designed bookmarkers as keepsakes. ​Hope you enjoy the pictures! 

Service Provider Credits

Planning, styling and décor: Rivonia K Naidu-Hoffmeester Venue: Post House Parties Photography: Creationography - Lifestyle and Birth Photography Linen: The Tablecloth Hiring Company Paper flowers: B-Lumiere Designs Vintage Decor Hire: Hand Creations - Vintage decor hire and Crazy Parties Flowers: The Flower Market Bookmarkers printed and laminated: 3at1 Jean Crossing Catering: Lucky Bread Company Cake, cupcakes, cake pops, biscuits and macarons: The Turquoise Squirrel Patisserie