Tin Parade is the inspiration of two women with a similar love of great design, fun events and good, old-fashioned attention to detail. Kristen and Ryan met at the mom’s version of a single’s club—the local park. They soon realized they had a lot in common, not least of which being children of about the same age. Besides being devoted moms and avid runners, they both had jobs in creative fields. Kristen was an accomplished advertising art director, where she produced print and television ads for high-profile clients. Ryan is a celebrated wedding and event designer, and owner of Savoir Flair Weddings in Los Angeles. With plenty of birthday parties and baby showers on the horizon, they found themselves commiserating on the lack of beautiful, stylish, cartoon-character-free party décor on the market. 

They started slowly, putting together a vintage train party when Ryan’s son turned two. When it was Kristen’s son’s birthday, it was time to try out a classic baseball party. And finally, when Kristen’s daughter turned five, they pulled out the stops and created a tea party fit for a princess. (The European kind, not the cartoon kind.)

Along the way, they realized that their mutual love of vintage style and detail came with a fabulous side benefit: a lot less of the paper products that pervade modern-day parties. All of Tin Parade’s plates and party decorations are reusable and many of the details are hand-crafted of cloth.

Tin Parade has become a perfect blend of Kristen and Ryan’s mutual expertise. Ryan loves to create parties and Kristen has a talent for designing paper goods and graphics. And they both have a passion for all things vintage. Together, they want to capture the special feeling of the homemade parties of days gone by. And, perhaps most importantly of all, Tin Parade allows Kristen and Ryan to be their own bosses so they can spend more time with their kids. At the park, of course.