We recently planned a 60th birthday party at a boat club here in San Francisco, and naturally decided to go with a nautical theme.  We had a relatively small budget for decor so Alexis and I did almost everything ourselves– we had a lot of fun!

Name tags were a requirement of the boat club so we made every guest a name tag “necklace” with rope instead of a chain.  The centerpieces, simple flowers studded with a nautical flag, served a dual purpose, in addition to centerpieces, every table had a different nautical flag which you were to match to the flag on the back of your name-tag .  We chose simple glass vases for the centerpieces and tied a rope around them with a nautical knot.  They were really cute!  We decorated the banquet tables with white table cloths, recycled fishing nets for runners and votives with white candles.  The round tables were topped with red and white checked table cloths and also had votives.  We used the nets as well as the same rope we used on the vases to decorate the buffet tables and cupcake table.

The menu was casual:  skewers of lamb and prawns, vegetables skewers, macaroni and cheese, potatoes with feta, artichoke and olives, spinach salad, and bread.  We also served a variety of passed and stationary appetizers including sliders and dungeness crab fondue.  For dessert, our client requested cupcakes and wondered if we could have something called a Blum’s Coffee Crunch Cake made into cupcakes– Blum’s was formerly a bakery in San Francisco and made this coffee crunch cake that became famous with locals and is now made by a few SF bakeries.  We quickly found the recipe and a baker to convert the cake recipe into cupcakes– Pinkie’s Bakery of San Francisco did a wonderful job, and the coffee crunch cupcakes were real crowd pleasers!