Run for the Roses – A Kentucky Derby Party

November 7, 2021

For this Kentucky Derby Party I got together an amazing team of vendors to create an event to get people inspired to start celebrating again! I wanted to do something a little different and have always wanted to create something for the Kentucky Derby, so put together this ‘Run for the Roses’ styled shoot.

Obviously we were going to go heavy on the roses, the term ‘Run for the Roses’ refers to the blanket of 554 roses presented to the winner of the Kentucky Derby each year. Dawn Tintari from MidSummer Mother created the lush arrangements in vintage trophy cups I rented from History for Hire- one of my favorite prop houses from my prop styling days!

Creative Amme created all of the menus, place cards, horseshoe stir sticks and laser cut bar sign and Astral Design Studio hand painted the horse and jockeys I found on Etsy. These are honestly some of my favorite details from the shoot! I love how they tied in colors of the Fig House stain glass windows to both of their designs, they just nailed it!

Krista from Two of a Kind rentals supplied all of the beautiful rentals. I fell in love with that gorgeous blue sofa which was truly the inspiration for the whole look. I love how beautifully the vibrant blue compliments the crimson roses, it feels so romantic!

The menu was created by Chef Mario Tolentino from ROOMFORTY and featured some signature Southern dishes like deviled eggs, shrimp and grits, and Kentucky smoked bbq chicken. Pharmacie provided the cocktails with a twist on old classics like the Kickin’ Mule and a Margarita Royal, perfectly refreshing for a warm summer day!

I kept is simple and clean with white and gold table top details from Otis and Pearl and pale grey linens from FOLD Santa Barbara. I did choose to add the mismatched blue and glass goblets to echo the colors of the couch and love how it keeps the table interesting with varying shapes and textures.

Of course no meal would be complete without some sweets! The girls from Butter Cake Shoppe created this gorgeous cake with horseshoe detail and the hexagon rose cookies. I love how they kept it fresh using geometric shapes in their design (not to mention how yummy everything was)!