An elegant ball with French flair inspired by Disney’s Cinderella
I quite literally had a ball on Saturday night. I spent a whole year hosting Disney themed dinner parties for adults (see them all under the Disney Dinners tab here on my website) and could not believe how much you guys loved them. My Disney Dinners have had well over 500,000 views! To celebrate my first year of Disney Dinners, I decided to host a special event: welcome to my Cinderella Ball.
I transformed my house for this event, which had about fifty guests. I moved furniture out of my living room to make a dance floor, I bobbidi bobbidi boo’d myself epic ballroom lighting, and I cooked so much food that I had to put the leaf in my table for the first time in years.
The fun thing about choosing Cinderella for this theme is that it’s the only Disney movie that includes a ball. If you haven’t seen it, the premise of the movie is that Cinderella wants to go to the kingdom’s ball but her evil stepmother and stepsisters get in her way. With the help of some mice, birds, and her fairy godmother, Cinderella is able to have the night of her life and is living proof that a new pair of shoes can change your live.
Photos courtesy of Katie-Rose Watson, Mary Anita Batchellor Photography,and my guests.
The Rose Table is in no way affiliated with The Walt Disney Company.
“Why it’s like a dream! A wonderful dream come true!”
Watch the live video for a full party walkthrough:
The Ambiance
It was quite easy to decorate for the Cinderella Ball since there is a grand ball in the movie and the entire premise is our heroine trying to attend. When I think Cinderella, I think sky blue even though in the original film, her dress is so light it’s nearly white. I also obviously think bows because her her animal friends tie cute little bows in one of the most charming scenes in the film, so I tied sky blue bows all over my house: around my kitchen columns, over my mirrors and artwork, framing my clock, et cetera.
Cinderella’s bird and mice friends spend the day sewing her a dress as a thank you for all that she does for them and I celebrated that with bird figurines hidden all over my house. My dining room was framed with silky blue fabric sweetly “hung” by birds, as if they’re in the middle of making Cinderella’s dress.
“We can do it, we can do it
We can help our Cinderelly
We can make her dress so pretty
There’s nothing to it, reallyWe’ll tie a sash around it
Put a ribbon through it
When dancing at the ball
She’ll be more beautiful than all
In the lovely dress we’ll make for Cinderelly”
Pumpkins Galore
Surely it comes as no surprise that pumpkins were a major part of the decor! The pumpkin carriage is iconic. Therefore, I decorated the whole house with white pumpkins, a theme that spilled into every room, and I had three orange pumpkins set as a Hidden Mickey that my guests had a ball taking pictures with. I also had candles burning all around and sky blue rose petals sprinkled on every available surface.
I also found this great “Prepare to be Enchanted” doormat in Cinderella Blue at Etsy. Here is the link! How could I resist leaving this up year round? This will greet everyone who comes over for the rest of time.
The most notable decor at my Cinderella Ball was the lighting: I hung a twinkling light curtain in the dining room (you might recognize it from Disney Dinners: Princess and the Frog) that paid homage to the scene where Cinderella dances with her prince under the stars. Additionally, Iused particularly fabulous color-changing light bulbs and LED wash lights, which turned my living room into a pink and blue dance floor reminiscent of the dance floor at Cinderella’s ball.
Lastly, I used the snow light machine that I used at Frozen in the kitchen, which I supposed wasn’t directly tied to Cinderella but it is January and the lights are sky blue.
UPDATE: Due to popular request, I’m linking the lights I used in my Amazon affiliate store for your convenience:
“The lights!” – the King
Finally, I turned my oversized living room clock in a focal point since time is an important element in Cinderella. I stopped the clock at a minute to midnight, emphasized it with a sky blue tulle bow, and projected fireworks on the face using the AtmosFX Digital Decorating Kit. (Read my article about AtmosFX here.) Occasionally I have a strike of design brilliance and this was it!
“Oh that clock!” – Cinderella
The Table
The table at my Cinderella Ball was a lot simpler than my Disney Dinners tables because it was set for a party spread, not a dinner party. I used the light blue tablecloth that I used one year ago at Disney Dinners: Frozen. The focal point was the fabulous pumpkin carriage I found at the Dallas Arboretum with my friend Kat this fall. She called me over and said, “You need this.” One of the gift shop employees asked, “What, are you Cinderella or something?” to which Kat replied, “She’s not not Cinderella.”
There are actually quite a lot of pumpkin carriage decorations online if you want to replicate the look! I flanked the carriage with floral arrangements and other than that, the food was the table decor. More on that later.
I styled my side table with a glass slipper (just kidding, this is a real shoe that I wanted to wear at the ball but it was just too small so I decided to display them instead), candle, and blue flowers.
“A dream is a wish your heart makes
When you’re fast asleep.”
The Flowers
I chose blue hydrangeas, white hydrangeas, white roses, and pink alstromeria for my four Cinderella bouquets. The pink was a total last minute change when I was selecting flowers at Tom Thumb with my friend Kat. I loved the contrast of the pink and the nod to Cinderella’s mother’s dress that her mice and bird friends spruced up before it was destroyed by her stepsisters.
I used two plain vases in varying heights for the two table bouquets, a sky blue C’est la Vie vase gifted to me by friends for the kitchen bouquet, and a lovely iridescent Debbi Lilly vase I picked ups or $10 at Tom Thumb. This is exactly the vase shape I’m always looking for: wider at the base and tighter around the top. I can’t stand wide vase mouths because your flowers flop around unattractively and take a lot of flowers to look nice. I will use this one again and again!
The Music
For the music,I made a playlist full of dance music, Sinatra, Disney jazz, and a few hits from the last four decades that are sure to make people smile.
“They can’t order me to stop dreaming.” – Cinderella
The Fashion
I really went for it at my Cinderella Ball. If you’ve been following my 12 Months of Disney Dinners series, I’m sure you noticed that I usually Disneybound (Disneybound: to dress like a Disney character in a modern, non-costume way) as the main character. I had a ball (see what I did there?) looking for my Cinderella dress: a fluffy sky blue tulle number with lace up back and beaded corset bodice. I pulled a bit of my curled hair back in a sparkly clip.
I got this ballgown on Amazon made to my measurements with free Prime shipping. Can you believe it? I ordered my gala dress on Amazon last summer with custom measurements and I’m never going back to off the rack. Custom measurements will change your life. For your convenience, I’ve linked my dress in my Amazon affiliate store here:
Products from Amazon.com
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I’ve been dreaming about this night for so long. I couldn’t wait to see my friends in their formalwear! I’m pleased at how many of my friends got super into their outfits. Some, like my friend Kally, even Disney bounded for the occasion. Here’s a gallery of my lovely friends:
“My heart has wings and I can fly
I’ll touch every star in the sky”
The Dance Floor
There was more to this party than just the food! Following dinner, my guests danced the night away. I moved my entire living room configuration around in order to make room for a dance floor so that my guests would feel like they were dancing at a grand ball.
The Photo Booth
I also set up a photo op in a back bedroom, which I normally use as a gym. In the past I’ve used the only blank wall in my house as the photo area but for this party, photographer Mary Batchellor brought over her photo op stand and a gorgeous sky blue backdrop that amazingly enough, perfectly matched the fabric I used in the living room. None of my guests could believe that I didn’t buy the fabric together!
I’ve seen the photo op stands on Amazon and have never pulled the trigger, mostly because I’m actually quite cheap, but now that I’ve seen it in person, I fear I’ll need to own one. They are so easy to put together and they store flat and the possibilities are endless!
I used the same picture frame seen at Disney Dinners: Snow White in the photo booth with a magic wand, tiara, and sky blue rose petals for guests to toss in the air I wanted them to be silly and have fun. Check out the pictures:
The Drinks
I served two kinds of punch at my Cinderella Ball: Cinderella Punch and The Fairy Godmother because I wanted a couple of drink options. The Cinderella Punch has lemonade, vodka, and blue curaçao to tint it a lovely shade of blue, which I served in a giant white soup terrine for more whimsical fun, since a pumpkin carriage is a major theme in Cinderella. Get the recipe here.
The Fairy Godmother punch consists of Hawaiian Punch, pineapple juice, ginger ale, champagne, plus a fun pineapple star ice ring for the fairy godmother’s star-shaped wand. Get the recipe here.
I also served unsweetened tea and water with lemon. I used my kitchen table set with a sparkly blue sequin table cloth for the drinks.
Thank you to my Cinderella Ball grocery partnerTom Thumbfor supporting The Rose Table! I was delighted to include an array of O Organics and Signature Select items on the menu. Watch me shop for Cinderella goodies:
Loving this Disney party? Check out all of my Disney Dinners and shop my Fairytale Collection!
The Food
This is indeed the first party in my Disney Dinners series that was not a seated dinner. Instead I made a whole bunch of appetizers and desserts. In fact, I made so much food that I had to put the leaf extension in my table to make it a whopping 8 feet long!
Since Cinderella has French origins, I gave some of the appetizers a French twist such as my Ratatouille Orzo Pasta and French Cheese Board.
The only dish served at Cinderella seen before at a Disney Dinner was my famed Chilled Cucumber Soup, which I served at Disney Dinners: Alice in Wonderland in tea cups. I served the soup at Cinderella in individual cups with crispy bacon to be sipped or shot.
Surprisingly, many of my guests commented on how much they loved the healthier party options: cucumber soup, a raw vegetable plate, marinated shrimp, home cured lox, pumpkin hummus, pumpkin bread, ratatouille pasta full of veggies and chicken. It’s not hard to make healthy beautiful and then guests feel free to indulge in dessert.
Finally, I turned a lot of my staples (Chambord Chocolate Cake, Fiori di Sicilia Sugar Cookies, Candy Cane Brownies) into Cinderella desserts by altering the recipes slightly and tinting everything a magical blue hue. Here is the full food lineup:
Cinderella Ball Menu
Pumpkin HummusNorwegian Gravlax (I cured it myself!)
Gus’ cheese board
Carriage wheels
Ratatouille Pasta Salad
Veggie Platter with hummus and ranch
Meatballs
Bibbidi Bobbidi Bleu Stuffed Mushrooms
Marinated Shrimp
Chilled Cucumber Soup Shooters
Cinderella Brownies
Pumpkin Bread
Glass Slipper Sugar Cookies
Amaretto Fudge
Mini Lemon Cheesecakes with Blueberry Sauce
Cinderella Cake
Dream Come True Cupcakes
Cinderella Donuts
Speaking of donuts! Donut blogger and enthusiast Rory Balkin of Donut Digest graciously provided dozens of custom Cinderella donuts from Dallas bakery Earnest Donuts for the ball. Could these beanycuter?! The donuts were a huge hit!
“Put them together and what have you got
Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!” – Fairy Godmother
Provost Park Pass
Altogether, I hosted about fifty of my beautiful, wonderful, delightful friends at my Cinderella Ball, including three of my dear friends from California and my favorite Disney vloggers Chris and Amanda Provost of Provost Park Pass. *SQUEAL* If you follow me on Instagram, you have heard of Provost Park Pass. I’m obsessed with their YouTube channel. It’s the best Disneyland channel by far.
Provost Park Pass and I have followed each other on social media for quite a while and on a whim, I invited them to the Cinderella Ball andthey actually came!Dreams do come true, people. I couldn’t even believe that my favorite Disney vloggers were standing right in front of me and you know what? They’re even more adorable and fun in person! They were the life of the party, while mingling with all of Texas as if they go to a Disney ball every Saturday night. Chris and Amanda, you guys are welcome any time at The Rose Table!
Fingal Thoughts
The Cinderella Ball really blew my expectations out of the water. I planned this for six months and still never dreamed it would be as much fun as it was! I loved seeing my friends finally dancing the night away in their formal wear and having a ball with the lights and photo op. It was the best possible way to end 12 Months of Disney Dinners!
What’s next? Don’t worry – you’ll see more Disney Dinners here on The Rose Table, just not one every single month. I have so many more entertaining ideas, recipes, and adventures that I can’t wait to share with you.
Update: I’ve now done two dozen Disney Dinners! See them all here.
Watch the magical evening:
“Have faith in your dreams and someday
Your rainbow will come smiling through.”
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Make your own magic,
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