… Are you ready for it? Indie’s 7th Birthday ERA!

Well… I’ve officially reached the stage of girlmomhood where I had no choice but to cave on the Taylor Swift birthday party of Indie’s dreams. I’ve been a well known “Anti Swiftie” for as long as I can remember but DARE I SAY…… this might have been my BEST party yet??? Just proof that I’d do anything for these kids of mine! Read on for all the details that went into making this event unforgettable, and the vendors who took my vision and ran with it!

While raising two little Swifties, I’ve come to actually grow quite fond of her jams… but I knew very little else about Taylor Swift fandom & culture, so I turned to some friends in my life to tell me everything I needed to know. The verdict was in – we’d make friendship bracelets (apparently very much a Swiftie thing), decorate some tote bags & heart shaped sunnies (also very ‘Taylor’), and of course have a visit from THE ‘Taylor’ herself! (wink) But there’s absolutely no way I could emcee and facilitate a party like this, so that brings me to my very first important vendor – The Dainty Den! Located in Warren, New Jersey they are a boutique event space that caters to creating unforgettable experiences for women & girls. They specialize in kids parties, with a very beautiful, over-the-top pink space that is stocked with every detail you’d ever need and more. They just opened in January of 2026. In true Liz fashion, however, I had the grand idea to host closer to my home, in a local event space that was like a total clean slate – allowing me to really take charge of the event design and leave The Dainty Den to do the rest! Sherri Fishman, the owner, has been in the industry of kids’ parties for over ten years. She humored me and after discussing my vision… we were full steam ahead on an “offsite party”! Three employees (all very savvy and fun young ladies) arrived with a Taylor tablecloth and all the fixins’ needed to keep our guests busy and having the best time! Jewels and gems of every kind, hair glitter, temporary tattoos… you name it, they brought it. HEAVENLY for little girls! A fourth employee, who played our Taylor, showed up at just the right time and the kids went WILD…. but more on that later! What I loved about having The Dainty Den as our host is that I literally did not have to lift a finger! They took everyone’s gifts, hung up their coats, portioned out pizza, cut cake & poured beverages all in addition to making sure everything ran on a smooth and tight schedule. As a parent, the ability to sit back, socialize, and enjoy the fruits of weeks worth of labor is genuinely priceless.

The space lent itself SO well to exactly the vision I had in mind, so I’ll talk about that next. Luxx Lab Event Suite is located in Morris Plains, New Jersey and it’s a DREAM! Gigantic windows on two sides of the room flood the space with natural light. We didn’t have to turn on a single overhead light! Black & white marble flooring makes a beautiful touch. It’s complete with a kitchenette where you can heat food, make coffee, store extras, and of course a spacious and clean bathroom for guests. You get access to a coat rack with hangers, as well as access to all of their folding tables & black chivari chairs which make the space feel really lavish! You can choose from multiple packages when you work with Luxx Lab – they’ll design everything for you and allow you to use their decor, or you can DIY it all! I opted for the latter, but knowing they have things like charger plates, table linens, votives, etc. for use is really major. When I arrived for setup on the morning of the party, a staff member was there to let me in and show me the ropes. We had complete use of their sound system, including a large speaker and working microphone. I genuinely could not think of a better place to bring this vision to life.

In the spirit of decorating a blank slate, I called upon Balloons By D – a party planning staple in our household! Daniella knows how to execute every ridiculous thing I ask her to do, and she’s an absolute joy to work with. We went back and forth many times trying to get this balloon installation just right… and I am SO happy with the outcome! We decided on a wavy wall, a custom ‘friendship bracelet’ accent, a rectangular shimmer wall, different shades of muted pink & purple balloons, and star jack/disco ball accents to really jazz it up! Then I went even further and ordered a life size Taylor Swift foam board cutout from imprint.com that really elevated an already incredible design!

For the tablescapes, I ordered plates, napkins, tablecloths and Taylor temporary tattoos from xo, Fetti which has the CUTEST designs! The tablecloths are reusable and they washed very well. I’ll most definitely find a way to repurpose them for a future theme. I was so impressed by the quality. Gina at Sweet Charlie’s Confections is another one of my party must haves… we always can count on her to make the most delicious (and incredibly impressive) cakes with cupcakes to match! This time she called upon a printing service so that we could include actual T Swift album covers on each cupcake… can you even deal?! Gina makes these incredible creations out of her own home and her artistry with sweets never ceases to amaze me.

I added a few extra small accents – like a mock Era’s Tour poster (printed from Walgreens) to display on an easel, miniature microphones for each table that the girls ended up playing with during Taylor Time, some framed photos from Indie’s official birthday photoshoot, battery operated butterfly light boards that I got on clearance at Kohls (but here’s a similar link from Walmart), and my favorite detail of all – take home disco ball straw cups for each girl! I found them in bulk on both Walmart and Amazon! I used my trusty Amazon bud vases and filled them with brightly colored dried floral bundles (also from Amazon) for “everlasting” centerpieces. No need for water, and these little bundles (which are really tiny) can be saved and reused at future events! I also grabbed some T-Swift cupcake toppers and repurposed them in each bud vase for a fun and theme-y twist on party florals!

Between making their own sunnies & bracelets, snagging a bunch of Swiftie-themed stickers, and their straw cup… they filled up their totes from The Dainty Den and it was an instant bag of (really cool and high quality) party favors! But the best ‘favor’ of all had to be the memory of the “real” Taylor showing up to sing to the girls! They had specific song requests, and they all danced and sang and lived their absolute best lives for the latter half of the party. The playlist, of course, consisted exclusively of Taylor’s hits. I couldn’t have captured the magic of every detail without the help of my friend, Mark Martucci Photography! He has an incredible eye for candid, docu-style depictions and is such a fantastic choice if you’re looking for event photography that isn’t your run of the mill stuff. For my parties, I do the edits for my blog & instagram so they remain cohesive with the rest of my feed… but if you have a look at Mark’s instagram you’ll find his version of some of the best shots of the day! (See what I did there? His version??? Ugh. What has happened to me! Am I a Swiftie now?!) Below is a full gallery of party favorites by Mark, with a second gallery dedicated to Indie’s official birthday portraits taken by The Deerwood Co. who has been doing Indie’s birthdays every year since she turned three!

Huge thank you to all of Indie’s best girlfriends for celebrating with us, and to every single vendor who helped me with this vision. I am actually obsessed with how it all turned out! I MIGHT be closer to becoming an actual Swiftie now, after this labor of love! Follow along on my Instagram for more video content from this event… and enjoy the photo recap below! Thanks for reading!

And if you made it this far… of course this blog post wouldn’t be complete without our formal birthday portraits! A tradition I will keep around as long as my kids will let me!