We recommend celebrating milestone birthdays with a spectacular evening with family and friends. Our friend, Divan, hosted a fabulous Arabian Knight themed party for his 40th birthday. With help from Twinspirational, he was able to transport his guests to an exclusive Arabian oasis filled with vibrant colors, delicious food and exotic entertainment. We are excited to share this magical evening with you.
With any theme party, it is important to create the right atmosphere for your guests. An Arabian Knight party requires traditional Moorish decor, rich textures and bright colors. Divan originally intended to host the party in his residential lounge in New Jersey. He could have purchased or rented decor, but that can get expensive quickly for this particular theme. It is significantly easier to execute an Arabian Knight party in a Moroccan, Lebanese or Middle Eastern restaurant. After researching various venues, we recommended Arabesque, a traditional Moroccan lounge that combines North African, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines. It took a little convincing, but Divan was happy our recommendation.
A tented room is a perfect way to transport guests to Morocco. Arabesque’s Berber Lounge features a luxurious tented room filled with vibrant maroon, gold and blood orange pillows and Moorish bronze lanterns. Archana’s gorgeous centerpieces perfectly complemented the room. Archana created chocolate genie lamp lollipops in red, orange and gold that were used as table centerpieces, in addition to party favors. You can buy the chocolate molds from a specialty baking store like Sweet Treat Supply or Amazon. We placed the chocolate lamps inside three small jars, which were decorated with gold/red shiny paper and gold/silver tassels. The jars were then placed on red, orange or ivory fabrics. We also placed two gold genie lamps to complete each table arrangement. The genie lamps also served as whimsical photo booth props.
The festivities began with a large cocktail party followed by an intimate three-course dinner. During the cocktail hour, guests dined on a variety of delicious appetizers, including pita with hummus, babaganoush and red pepper dip, chicken brochettes and black olive crostinis while sipping on wine and cocktails.
An Arabian Knight party isn’t complete without a belly dancer! We actually had TWO performances: one during the cocktail hour and one during dinner. We listened to Arabic beats all evening, and enjoyed a performance by Rachid Halihal.
Bling Photo Booth allowed guests to snap some fun pictures. Some guests even used the genie lamps and genie lollipops as props.
We usually order cakes from our favorite bakery, Mother Mousse. A group of Divan’s friends surprised him with a stunning royal blue hookah cake from Baku Bakery. Specialty cakes are an easy way to add an additional decorative element. We recommend displaying the cake for the duration of the entire party. While it might not be as dramatic as surprising the guest of honor during the cake cutting, we prefer to make use of the cake as main centerpiece during the party.
Our friend, Carlos, treated the guests with a special violin performance of Happy Birthday. Our friend, Jeff, compiled a spectacular guestbook with photos of Divan and his many guests. Divan also surprised his fellow Capricorn guests with yummy cupcakes.
Dinner featured a delicious three-course pre-fix menu.
Our favorite dishes included the chicken cigars and lamb shank.
We were excited to try the traditional Moroccan dessert, Pastilla au Lait, but we are definitely chocolate girls and LOVED the chocolate mousse.
Divan, thanks for letting us add some Twinspiration to celebrate your 40th birthday. You hosted a wonderful party! Also special thanks to Omar Balouma, the owner of Arabesque, for making this party a success.
“We had the kind of conversations that only great friends can ever share. They were touched with magic.”― Tahir Shah, In Arabian Nights: A Caravan of Moroccan Dreams
This looks like such an incredible party! Everyone looks incredible
This looks like a wonderful event! Love that you celebrated the milestone with so much flare!
Oh my godddd, that looked like an amazing 40th birthday party! I wish I could have come! I can't get over the amazing colours of the decorations as well as the food. Yum!
I love your theme party, look like you guys are having so much fun. Arabian night is always a sexy night and let me think of Ali Baba and the belly dancer. I would love to attend such party.
This looks like way too much fun! What a beautiful time for all 🙂 I love the colors!
This Arabian knight theme looks amazing. Such a creative idea and it looks like you had a lot of fun!
What a lovely party. I love the theme. Looks like you all had such a blast!
This looks amazing! And what a spectacular cake. I love Mediterranean foods.
This looks like such a detailed and thought out party! I really love the little lamp chocolates and that cake looks amazing.
Lately I've been celebrating my birthdays only with current boyfriends, it just feels more intimate, but your party looks amazing! You must've had a lot of fun!
Looks like you had so much fun! You were surrounded by great people – and you're in a great place, sharing great food, and great memories!