A Coastal Cowgirl Themed Dinner Party

To celebrate my 29th birthday, I hosted a pink Coastal Cowgirl Themed Dinner Party. In true Kirsten fashion, I thought hosting a dinner party would be the perfect way to celebrate. Even if that meant doing stuff all day to prepare. Once everyone is gathered around the table, conversing, eating and drinking, it truly makes it all worth it to me. What can I say? Feeding people I love and quality time is my love language!

The Table Setting

For the coastal cowgirl themed table setting, I wanted it to be 3 things: girly and coastal with subtle pops of “cowgirl.” I also wanted the color pink to be involved because it’s my favorite color. When you’re throwing a birthday party for yourself, you get to incorporate your favorite things!

I was lucky enough to receive my great grandma’s china as a wedding gift. It was perfect for this coastal cowgirl inspired theme. I always love when I’m able to use it, it makes the table that much more special. For this table setting, I set out the large plates and stacked the smaller plate on top. I used the gravy boat for my floral arrangement (see below in the “simple florals” section), and the sugar dish for some crackers.

Since the china is more of a vintage look, I wanted to incorporate some modern elements. To do that, I accented the dished with marble. I used these marble candle holders and picked up a couple marble cheese plates from Homegoods.

For pops of pink, I incorporated these dripless pink candlesticks (which were amazing and truly dripless by the way!) and pink place cards that sat on top of a white cowboy hat. The place cards were such a simple and cute DIY.

Watch my tutorial on TikTok: DIY Coastal Cowgirl Inspired Place Cards

I finished the table of with linen napkins and rattan napkin rings, as well as dainty glass cowboy boots with little flowers and a thrifted glass candy dish filled with my favorite candy. I also did the easiest seashell candle DIY. To do this, simply remove the bottom metal of a tea candle and place it in your seashell. Hold a lighter flame on it until the candle has melted into the shell a bit, and that’s it!

Shop the table

A Simple Floral Arrangement

I was so proud of this floral arrangement; I did it myself and you can do it too! I used the gravy boat from my china set. Then, I used scotch tape to make a grid on the top of the vase, and placed in pink spray roses. Then, I filled in the rest with white asters and the greenery from the white asters. I just kept filling the spaces, making sure the tape was covered. I cut down the stems and kept “zhuzhing” it until I was happy with how it looked.

A Warm Whiskey Welcome

I wanted my guests to have a “warm welcome” when they arrived. To do this, I offered them a warm shot of whiskey in pink cowgirl boot shot glasses. It was a hit (and very punny too if I do say so myself)!

In the words of Morgan Wallen “and she said don’t cowboys drink whiskey, hah, so we drank bottom shelf.” And although Makers Mark isn’t bottom shelf whiskey, I knew I had to incorporate whiskey into my coastal cowgirl themed dinner party.

The Signature Cocktail

For the signature cocktail, I did a Large Batch Lychee Margarita. You can find the recipe here. It turned out so good, I should’ve doubled the recipe!

I wanted my guests to be able to serve themselves the signature cocktail, so I wouldn’t be slinging drinks all night. To achieve this, I put the cocktail in a drink dispenser. I also had soda water with cowgirl hats on top of them and prepared the garnishes in advance. All that my guest had to do was fill the glass with ice, fill their cup 3/4 the way full, top with soda water and garnish! I also had lychee popping bobas as a special touch to add to the cocktail.

These mini glass straws are perfect for cocktails and work way better than paper! I put them on the bar next to the cocktail in a little pink ceramic cowboy boot.

A Coastal Cowgirl Themed Dinner Party Menu

I kept the menu for this party super simple. Almost everything was prepared in advance, so all I had to do was pop it in the oven when the time came. That way, the messes were cleaned up, and I wasn’t stressed in the kitchen as everyone started to arrive.

I also had a few people bring something with them. My friend makes this delicious homemade bread with cheese in it, so she brought that at my request for my birthday :). Another friend brought a yummy, Mediterranean style orzo pasta salad. And a third friend baked this olive oil cake for my birthday cake. Gotta love friends!

My husband grilled shrimp skewers with baby peppers. I also threw together my insanely easy lettuce dippers, which are always a hit. I made deviled eggs topped with a spicy pickle slice. And lastly, I made a hot pimento cheese crab dip with old bay seasoned potato chips, both of which are from this Martha Stewart appetizers cookbook.

Shop my outfit

Everything was delicious! It was truly my favorite way to end 28 and start my 29th year. I feel so lucky to be surrounded by such good friends, yummy food and even better drinks. Cheers!