{Stacey + Friends} Not Your Average Tea Party | Long Beach, CA Photographer

I love working with creative people! I was so stoked to collaborate with my friend Stacey on this eclectic tea party she hosted for her friends. And when I say collaborate...I mean she did all the work from styling to setup...and I just got to take pretty pictures. I've been so fortunate to shoot with Stacey a bunch of times...from her wedding, maternity, newborn, family, sister's wedding, best friends wedding, and now this awesomeness. She has impeccable style and taste...so it's always so much fun to work with her. Be sure to comment if you would so Stacey knows what an insane talent & style she has! 

Such an adorable setup....

 The hostess with the mostess, Stacey...

I asked Stacey to share with me & my readers her inspiration for the tea party. These are her words...

"I grew up in a house where my mother was addicted to design magazines and my father was an antique dealer, so having an eye for something odd and esthetically pleasing was almost imprinted on my consciousness from the start. Last Spring I hosted a tea party in my mother’s garden for my sister's bridal shower, where we all donned hats and sipped champagne out of her vintage tea cup collection. For this tea party, to celebrate our twenty years of friendship—and our friend Sara’s 40th birthday, I decided to host a more intimate tea party in my back yard. 

As for the look, I was inspired by a hot pink tulle dress that had been sitting in my closet, begging to make its debut. The multi-colored ruffle pillows recalled being in the night clubs of Barcelona in the late 1990’s—where every color sensation and was weirdly ultra-vibrant. I was going for a John Water’s meets Willy Wonka kind of look. Something low-brow and strange, and something sickly-sweet to represent the long-strange trip and decadence of our twenties, mixed with something subtly ethereal to represent the “ladies” we have become. Hoping to add a bit of Victorian influence, I threw in the silhouette of my baby son Maxwell as almost a signpost of where we currently are in life as we round the corner of middle-age. 

Regardless of how it reads, I had a blast putting it together and even more fun gossiping with my girls. Thanks for capturing it for us Charla!"

And by the way, this is one fun group of girls! I had so much fun laughing and hanging with them.