Animals, Bubbly, and Cake

This past Friday my husband and I threw our friends 

our annual zoo lights party.  It was so much fun!  

I had been planning the decor, food, and cocktails for months ahead.  

My parents hosted a lot of parties growing up so hosting is in my blood.  

We offered two cocktails: a bubbly beverage and a whiskey cider.  

I used my favorite bubbly (here) and 

locally sourced hard cider (here).

Whiskey Cider

Bubbly Rock Candy 

*Side note: sugaring rims is SO much harder than I thought! 

I could not get it to look perfect like all of the photos on Pinterest.  

A should-have-watched tutorial here.

Considering I have a limited amount of champagne flutes and rock glasses 

I had each guest label their glass with a gold zoo animal.  

In all I had about 40 small gold painted animals.  

They decorated the cakes, drinks, and food display.

I wanted a wintery cake so I made a 

Peppermint Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Coconut Frosting.  

It was SO good.  I forced myself to toss the leftovers after the party

or I would have eaten all of it for breakfast the next morning.  No joke.

The finishing touch to our party was the gold tinsel photo backdrop 

paired with animal masks.  As seen below we had a lot of fun.  

Who doesn't want to wear an animal mask?

{photos and styling by me}