Meet The Party Darling

Hello Darling! My name is Stephanie. I am the owner and party stylist for The Party Darling. This blog is all about parties from what's new in the shop to the latest party trends, simple party recipes, styling ideas & tips and so much more.

Do you find yourself in one of these categories? 

1. A creative individual who loves to throw parties but needs resources like custom printables as well as unique and on-trend party goods.
2. A busy or working person who doesn't have the time to plan and design but still wants to throw a stylish party.
3. The noncreative type who needs it all laid out for you from design plan to shopping, to preparing food and then setting it all up.

If so, then this blog is just for you! I will help take the stress out of party planning by giving you the resources you need to throw a darling party without losing your mind!

A little more about me...

I am married to the most amazing and supportive husband. We have been married for almost 20 years. He has helped me so much along the way and continues to support me with each new venture. I am also the "mom" to three little fur babies (Tebo 9, Maggie 16 & William 3). We don't have any children of our own, but we have nieces and nephews that we adore. 

I was born and raised in Texas and never thought I would leave. But my husband had the opportunity to take a promotion in another state. So, I left my family and friends, and we moved to Tulsa, OK in the spring of 2006.

I graduated from The University of North Texas with a BS in Accounting. I always wanted to be an interior designer but life happened, and somehow I ended up becoming an accountant. But I never stopped loving interior decorating. I even started a business selling home decor and making custom florals. It was short lived since we moved to Tulsa not long after. I went back to work in the accounting industry where I stayed until the summer of 2017 when I finally decided to leave for good. I am determined to make a career using the creative side of my brain, and The Party Darling has given me the chance to do just that. 

A "little" background on The Party Darling...

I started The Party Darling in July 2013 after friends and family encouraged me to use my love for decorating and throwing parties to become a party planner. I also wanted to create custom invitations and party printables to sell online as well as party supplies for those who didn’t want or need the party planning services. However, I spent the first three years solely planning and styling parties for clients (mostly kids). All the while working full time as an accountant.

In 2016, I opened an Etsy shop to sell the custom printables and then two years later added the party supplies. Once the party supplies started taking off on Etsy, I began to feel the stress of working full time, designing invitations, styling parties (almost every weekend, sometimes three parties a weekend) and fulfilling orders. It was just too much. So, in July of 2017, I had to make the hard decision to quit my full-time steady income job with amazing benefits to take a gamble on this little side business. And then somehow I got even busier.

The end of 2017, I started selling party supplies locally at The Market at Walnut Creek in Tulsa, OK. And then shortly after I launched a new website and online shop. So, now I have three separate shops to maintain. Yikes! You could say that it has been quite busy for The Party Darling. So much so that I had to make another hard decision about the future of the business. With money tied up in inventory and the constant daily interaction with customers and fulfilling orders, it only made sense that it was time to focus solely on the retail side of the business and unfortunately the party planning services are no longer part of the business structure.

With the retail shops becoming the focus of the business, I knew I needed a marketing and social media plan, and that meant starting a blog. So here I am. A creative mind who hates to write. While I am not the best writer, I am passionate about decorating and throwing parties, and I love finding the cutest, stylish and on-trend themed party goods and decorations to bring to you. 

So, join the party and follow along with me.