Happy Friday! Today’s blog post might be one of my all time favorites! This past Wednesday, Faith (of The Bicoastal Brunette) and I threw the soirée of the summer at a gorgeous estate in Darien, CT. By the way, the home is currently on the market! So if you’re looking for a one-of-a-kind, historic property in Fairfield County, lemme tell you, you’ve found it! Before I get into recapping the event, I want to take a second to thank all our amazing sponsors who made this evening possible! I know I say this a lot on here, but one of my favorite parts about blogging is connecting with local businesses AND sharing those local businesses with you guys!

All photography credit in this post belongs to Julia Dags. She’s amazing!

The Backstory

I first met Faith back in December at a Soul Cycle influencer event. She was home on winter break and while we tried to grab coffee a couple days after the event, that didn’t end up happening. Sad! Anyway, fast forward to this summer, Faith got home from college and we met up at The Perfect Provenance in Greenwich, CT to catch up! What started as a lunch, ended up being 3+ hours of brainstorming ways to collaborate with local businesses.

A couple more lunches followed and we came up with this idea to do a picnic photoshoot with some of our favorite local businesses. Well, that initial idea grew into our Celebrate CT event that we hosted on the 31st. It was a huge success and is definitely a testament to our ability to dream big!!

The Venue

What started as a picnic and grew into a party needed the perfect venue, but honestly, I think perfect is kind of an understatement here with 2265 Post Road. In keeping with our Celebrate CT theme we started reaching out to brokers with homes currently on the market. To me, it seemed like a missed opportunity to just throw this party anywhere- people are going to be talking about the event regardless, so why not have them talk about a home that’s currently for sale?!

We were so lucky to partner with the Book & Co. team at William Raveis on this summer soirée. Stacy Book, who is both the owner and the broker for this listing, along with her business partner Jennifer Montanaro, believed in our vision and we’re so lucky for that! The Books’ home, 2265 Post Road, Darien, CT is an absolute gem. The Books did an incredible job updating the home with today’s amenities, while also finding a way to honor it’s former glory.

My friend from college, Lexie Janney, is such a talented artist. She designed our invitations, our sponsor cards, and our signature cocktail recipe cards. I think everyone was blown away by her illustration of the home and her lettering. If you’re looking for someone to do some graphic design/ hand lettering for you, Lexie is your person! And if you’re looking for a new home, or if you know someone currently house hunting, make sure to check out 2265 Post Road, also known as The Garden Gate!

The Decor

Cynthia Princi of Cynthia Princi Restyling and Design did an incredible job styling the porch space for the event. Her styling/restyling business is out of Darien, CT and services the surrounding area. What I LOVE about Cynthia is that her business focuses on sustainable, environmentally conscious ways to restyle/stage your home. Read all about her approach here!

One of my favorite pieces that Cynthia provided for the event was this antique baker’s table. Cynthia worked with Nielsen’s to make my vision come true: a floral arrangement cascading out of one of the drawers. It looked even better than I could have hoped for!

Thank you also to ChappyWrap for keeping us cozy and providing some blankets for the soirée. Did you guys know that ChappyWrap is also local to Darien, CT? I absolutely love how soft, durable, and most importantly, washable their blankets are!

About the floral arrangements- WOW! Nielsen’s really outdid themselves! Thank you especially to Bob and Raya for adding such beauty and color to the space with their arrangements and other decorative pieces- like the candles! Nielsen’s has such a talented team. From the first time we sat down to discuss our vision, to the drop-off the day of the event, they thought of every detail and really went above and beyond!

Something you might not know about Nielsen’s is that they offer a flower subscription service. You can get flowers delivered to your door as often as you choose, but it gets better! They’ll even come to your home for a free consultation to help you decide which flowers would work best with your space. The phrase “above and beyond” is what comes to mind first when describing Nielsen’s service.

The Trailer

If you haven’t heard of Tipsea Trailer before, then YOU’RE WELCOME. Guys, this is the ultimate bar set-up for any party/event! Here are some more details about them: Tipsea Trailer is a “dry hire” bar, meaning that they do not provide the alcohol, instead it is the event coordinator’s responsibility to provide the alcohol. However, Tipsea Trailer works very closely with other local businesses and can point you in the right direction for all your needs- bartender, booze, decorations, etc.

The horse trailer-turned bar is so unique & quirky, and it makes such a fun statement for any event- personal or corporate! One of my favorite parts of last night was watching all the guests walk out to the trailer to take pictures cheers-ing in front of it! Claire, Caitlin, Stelios, and I even ran out to the Tipsea Trailer in the rain and found shelter inside while mixing our drinks behind the bar! (P.S. the inside is just as cute as the outside). We might have been watered down, but our drinks weren’t!

The Drinks

In keeping with our casual, summer soirée theme our bar was help yourself. Guests had the choice between our signature cocktail of the evening, “Clear Skies,” or our non-alcoholic beverage, Bimble Stress-Free Sparkling Drink with CBD. Both received high praise from all the guests.

A little bit about Bimble…. there are so many cool things to share about this stress-free sparkling water, here are a few of my favorite details:

Contains no preservatives • Domestically sourced ingredients • Only 50 calories • Innovative formula- more CBD than the competition •
& Helps you chill

For those who are unfamiliar with CBD drinks, I get it! I didn’t really understand what CBD products were until visiting my grandfather who is all about his CBD gummies & oils. My grandfather loves his CBD products because they help him relax/chill/whatever you want to call it. Bimble does not contain THC, so it won’t get you high. It will help you unwind from whatever deadline or drama is stressing you out though.

Bimble has 2 flavors available for purchase online or in a store near you: Blueberry Lemon Ginger and Grapefruit Basil Mint. Get them here!

Now onto Cylinder Vodka– aka the best vodka. Yes, really. My friend Shamika (hi!) introduced me to Stelios, the owner of Cylinder Vodka last winter and I’m so glad she did because he’s awesome! Just like Bimble, there are so many things to love about Cylinder Vodka. It’s made with the highest quality ingredients, it’s local to Fairfield County, and it’s a small business! Oh yeah- and I can’t forget to mention that Cylinder Vodka donates a percentage of sales to clean water initiatives! Way to go Stelios!

The reason why I can stand behind this vodka so confidently is because I’ve tested it alongside Titos. I’m pretty sure this is the last time I did shots (ha!), but lemme tell you Cylinder Vodka went down smoother than Titos.

The evening’s signature cocktail was called Clear Skies (I was reallyyy hoping it wouldn’t rain). My friend Lexie, who designed our invitations and sponsor cards, also designed our signature cocktail recipe cards. They turned out amazing and were a great way for people to bring a little piece of the party home with them.

The Bites

Perhaps one of the best ways to sum up the evening was when we were cutting the gorgeous, naked cake that Palmer’s Bakery gifted us. While cutting the cake I said how this night was way nicer than my wedding would ever be, at which time Simone joked that we should be feeding each other the cake in true wedding fashion. Ha! But really guys, this evening was one for the books! (Get it?!…because The Books own this home…guessing this isn’t the first time they’ve heard that…) ANYWAY, no event can be a success without delicious food, and that we had a lot of!

A large seafood platter and sushi platter were gifted to us from Fjord Fish Market. Fjord has a total of 5 locations- 4 in Fairfield County and 1 in Westchester County. Whether you’re looking for a nice filet for dinner, a grab-and-go lunch, or catering for your next event, Fjord Fish Market is your place! They sell premium, sustainably-sourced seafood and yes you can taste a difference! Exhibit A was the sushi platter last night- which was the first of the food platters to go!

Our stunning crudité and fruit kabobs were courtesy of Four Forks. Four Forks is located in Darien, CT and provides prepared meals and catering. Megan, the owner, did such an amazing job making our vision come to fruition! Faith scrolled through Pinterest to find the most stunning crudité platters and fruit skewers and Megan was able to recreate them exactly! For those who love great food and supporting small, women-run businesses, Four Forks is for you!

Say CHEESE! Check out this gorgeous, gourmet cheeseboard by the Fairfield Greenwich Cheese Company. I noticed even at the end of the night that people were still picking at this delicious spread. I mean, who doesn’t love a cheese board?! The cheese platter comes on a rustic wooden tray making it super easy for entertaining! All you have to do is put it out on the table and voila, you’re done! The Fairfield Greenwich Cheese Company makes entertaining delicious & easy.

The sweetest part of the evening- dessert!! If you’re not familiar with Palmer’s Bakery, you should be! They’ve won more awards than I can count on one hand! In addition to the perfectly summer-y cake they provided us, they also made some custom cookies that had everyone’s jaws drop. The assortment of cookies was perfect for the event- blue hydrangeas to play off of Nielsen’s floral arrangements, and then lemon slices/wedges, mason jars, and Cylinder Vodka bottles all as a nod to our cocktail.

If you’re looking for cookies and cakes that speak for themselves, Palmer’s Bakery is your place! And I can’t forget to give Valerie a huge shoutout- she was SO helpful throughout every step of the process, from brainstorming ideas to finalizing our design to even coming to the event to help us set up! Thank you Valerie!

My Outfits

Thank you to Sailor Sailor for outfitting me for our Celebrate CT summer soirée! Of course it only made sense to partner with a brand local to CT, and well, to Fairfield County!! I had the pleasure of meeting one of the owners, Kim, at the party and she was so sweet! I’ll say it again (even if you guys are tired of hearing it at this point- sorry not sorry!) it never gets old for me partnering & supporting local businesses. *As an added bonus, Sailor Sailor clothing is made in the USA!

I wore one Sailor Sailor dress during the pre-event photoshoot and then I changed into the second for the duration of the event. The performance fabric, which has UPF 50+, was perfect to wear while running around making sure everything went smoothly at the event- especially since it was raining at the beginning and the material is moisture-wicking!

I love how these dresses make transitioning from day to night so effortless. I could run around all day doing errands in my Sailor Sailor dress and still get away with wearing it out at night (all you have to do is swap your shoes and accessories!). These dresses run true to size. Thank you to Kimberly and Kim, the owners of Sailor Sailor!

One last thank you to Cottages & Gardens Magazine for providing their current issue of CTC&G for all guests along with sharing the evening on their Instagram!