I’ve been sitting on a secret! I’ve spent the past few months working with a terrific couple planning a surprise LBI Historical Museum event. When they told me about the cause for celebration it really drilled down to the core of everything I love about celebrating love and family down the shore. My childhood memories are all about spending time with my family during summer vacations. The years I spent waiting for that August vacation at my grandparent’s house. Spending time with family and friends. So, when Rick and Sharon told me they wanted to plan a surprise dinner party to celebrate 10 years of vacationing with close family friends, I was on board!

LBI Historical Museum Event | A Unique Dining Experience

They wanted a delicious meal and elegant dining experience, but in a unique setting. We tossed around a number of ideas before settling on the LBI Historical Museum on Engleside Ave. in Beach Haven. It’s right down the street from the quaint Victorian home that they have been vacationing in for a decade. And, seriously, what could be more unique than having dinner underneath a whale skeleton!?

The Vacation-Aversary Home

Rick and Sharon gave me the task of finding vendors who could add special touches to their event. I had such a blast doing it! It didn’t take long to realize that the common design element was going to be the Victorian home these families had been vacationing in for the past decade. It became the heart of the event’s design inspiration, which you might remember from my BWE blog post a few weeks back. It all seemed to come together once we commissioned Beach Haven artist, Jessie Temple, the artist behind Bunkerfish, to paint a watercolor of the home. The painting was then reproduced on t-shirts by Jetty. The end result was just stunning. Sweet Memories Cake Shoppe and Tea Room recreated the home in fondant as the top of a delicious cake.

The remaining design elements just seemed to fall into place. Delicate place “cards” using sand dollars with calligraphy from The Shaded Maple, a stunning place setting from Ocean Tents combined with hand-crafted table and mis-matched chairs from Rustic Drift, a delicate ivory lace runner, hurricane lamps, and a show-stopping drift wood centerpiece from Reynolds Garden Shop completed the look. And there to capture it all, in amazing detail, was Melanie from Melanie Cassie Photography. I had to laugh when she arrived at the museum a few minutes early to chat, snap some photos, and joke around with me. Later, she arrived to capture the surprise, and she was so happy to report how much fun these families were to photograph!

I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed working with this talented team!

LBI Historical Museum Event | The Creative Team

Rentals | Ocean Tents