for the past several months i have been envisioning a "mercer's first sugar high" theme for her first birthday party: think marie antoinette-worthy desserts, pastels and florals.  this will be her first good-old-fashioned-chock-full-of-refined-sugar dessert experience, so why not just go all out with a wedding-worthy dessert table and skip the savory food altogether?  planning for this sweets-laden event was already underway prior to seeing my most anticipated film of the year, The Grand Budapest Hotel, but after seeing this visual confection of a masterpiece i have upped the ante.  oh yes, one way or another i WILL be recreating mendl's patisserie.  i might even try my hand at making the decadent courtesan au chocolate.  stay tuned for more mercer's patisserie planning posts, recipes and DIY.  in the meantime, check out my dessert table inspiration below and then get to the theater ASAP to see the most stunning wes anderson film yet.       

and some cake table design inspiration from 100 layer cakelet: