I designed a 6 figure quinceañera for the Princess and the Frog, we only left out the gondola
Turning fifteen is a big event in Latin American culture. A young woman throws a party worthy of a princess.
The birthday girl has teamed up with celebrity event planner Lisa Lafferty, who has coordinated events for stars including Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, to throw the social event of the season.
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Lafferty has an impressive portfolio of luxury events to her name, including a Met Gala-inspired wedding and a Tim Burton-style quinceañera.
Speaking to The US Sun, she explained that birthdays are often the moments when she dares to dream big and starts at the drawing board.
“It’s a little bit more fun and personal for me because … it takes me back to a childhood memory of being a kid again, watching these movies and creating something magical out of the things I used to watch,” Lafferty said.
“It’s satisfying, but it’s also on the same level as some of the fancy weddings I’ve done. A lot of my work is very experimental, it’s very luxurious and opulent.”
Now she’s taking on 15-year-old Beverly’s Princess and the Frog, a quinceañera themed event.
With an estimated cost of “high six- to seven-figures,” the party took the event planner and fellow organizers by storm Festive events seven months to work out the details.
A team of over 90 people put together the party every day, during an installation process that took five days.
Beverly was given the royal treatment down to the smallest details of the party, from twinkling lights to live animals and even authentic New Orleans-style cuisine.
No expense was spared for this extravagant event, with a guest list of just 50 people attending, including 25 teenagers and 25 accompanying adults.
GONDOLA IS ABOUT BUDGET
Lafferty and Beverly chose, starting with the location, The Colony House in Anaheim, California.
They transformed the venue’s massive parking lot into the atmosphere for their redesigned pond and hand-crafted bayou.
“We use artificial grass and materials to store water that we fill ourselves, and we create a moat for a photo opportunity,” Lafferty said.
The designer also enlisted the services of a Hollywood prop company and woodworkers to create custom furniture, which initially included plans for a gondola to take guests to the shore.
We had two beautiful black horses with beautiful feather headdresses on their heads, and she arrived with them so that all her guests could see her.
Lisa Lafferty
“Originally, we wanted guests to arrive in a gondola and travel across the water to the entrance of the venue. We wanted to have mechanical alligators that look very much like Disneyland,” she said.
“That became way, way, way too much [budget]so we moved away from that.”
FOOD AND ALCOHOL FREE BUBBLES
Lafferty, a culinary curator with an extensive resume of skills, coordinated the feast’s Creole-inspired dishes, which were created by the team at 24 Carrotswith special sweets from Sweet novella.
The appetizers included pan-seared red snapper with Cajun spices, vegetarian jambalaya, sweet potatoes, cornbread with honey butter, chopped bayou salad, and apple cider braised vegetables with ham.
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Guests enjoyed appetizers such as mini southern chicken sliders, caviar fondants and short rib chili.
The meal concluded with an extensive dessert menu, including lotus lilies, dragonfly cookies, fairytale rice krispies and lemon meringue tarts.
And of course there was a non-alcoholic juice bar with refreshments like “Swamp Water” cucumber-lime mocktails and agua frescas.
Guests even received a goodie bag with delicious chocolate frogs, special candles and framed photo portraits for the Bayou.
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Lafferty revealed the birthday boy was a non-negotiable over the 5ft-high, specially made Lambeth coconut and passionfruit buttercream cake and an 8ft-high non-alcoholic champagne tower.
MUSIC AND… ANIMALS?
No party is complete without music and of course the duo goes all out with their New Orleans themed party.
They brought in a live jazz band and a team of dancers to introduce Beverly to a new dress.
The band serenaded the guests with traditional mariachi songs (another absolute must for Beverly) and it turned into a real party.
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Initially, the duo planned to work with a Hollywood animal training company to keep 25 live frogs in their constructed pond.
The whole thing had to be complemented with ground mist and fake fireflies to create a smoky rainforest atmosphere.
Ultimately, they settled on koi carp after plans for frogs fell through.
The most difficult part of the quinceañera, according to Lafferty, was the enormous task of installing real weeping willow trees with faux accents to make them appear even larger.
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Lafferty explained that the harsh climate of Anaheim did not make the feat any easier for her and the team at Butterfly flowers.
They arranged an assortment of foliage plants, from smilax, ivy and juncus grass to wildflowers, Spanish moss and protea and parrot tulips.
“We’re competing here with the warm climate of Anaheim,” she said.
“I know New Orleans is warm enough, but here in California it’s a whole different vibe.”
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SHE CAME IN ON HORSEPOWER
Beverly, who was in charge of the evening’s fashion, made a dramatic entrance from the start.
“We had two beautiful black horses with beautiful feather headdresses on their heads, and she arrived with them for all of her guests to see,” Lafferty said.
Beverly, who also made two custom ones Natayla Valentine Atelier dresses for the special occasion, kept the guests captivated by the fantastic event.
Lafferty spoke about the collaboration between the birthday girl and her team, adding that all it takes is an idea to make magic happen.
“She gives us some pictures that she likes and we bring them to life and show her what she can do with them,” she said.
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