Red Rose Kentucky Derby Party Ideas

Photography by Candi Noble

This weekend the crowds will gather at Churchill Downs and the horses will “Run for the Roses”, in the 145th Annual Kentucky Derby.  With fabulous fashions and southern traditions, this is the premier horse racing event of the year. Last year, one of my amazing clients was hosting a group of friends at her home for the race, and she asked me to style a party table and beverage station for her.

We decided on a color scheme of black and white stripes with rose red.  The client wanted to help in creating the party look she was after, she cut out the horse shape for the backdrop and I added the ribbon and the roses. We placed the horse on a black and white striped square with a green backdrop that mimics green grass.

When you work with Mint Event Design you can be as involved in the party styling as you want, I work hard to create the celebration of your dreams.  You can help in the creation, or leave it all up to me, the choice is yours.

For the food, we decided to serve small bites that included Kentucky Hot Brown Sliders, cucumber bites and a fruit plate, I labeled everything with printable table cards from Elva M Design.

Because no party is complete without a few sweets I asked Dream Bakery Austin to create some red rose cupcakes, which turned out lovely, and horse shaped sugar cookies.

I placed everything on a black tablecloth, and added rose petals in a glass apothecary jar, then added roses and horse figurines throughout.  I also added a little pop of color, with the green grass vase.I used stands of varying sizes and colors to create different levels on my table.  This helps create visual interest and makes a party table look beautiful.

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Now let’s move over to the drink station, for the backdrop we used paper fans in our party colors of red, black, and white. Then I added different race themed shapes. We kept things simple and just served lemonade.  I used a clear glass dispenser to serve it and of course simple doesn’t mean “ugly”, so I also added cute black and white paper straws with a themed cut out.

We used these adorable and cheeky clear cups that say, “Talk Derby to Me,” and I added paper straws with more cut outs. The cut outs I used throughout the party were from Sugar Parties LA. To complete the look I added red roses in a silver vase.

Will you be watching the derby this weekend? Let me know in the comments below.  

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Vendor Credits

Baker: Dream Bakery Austin
Cutouts: Sugar Parties LA
Printables: Elva M Design

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