Kathy Hilton Turns to The Woodlands’ Tablescape & Dessert Dynamo For Her Lavish Beverly Hills Party — Eating Cupcakes With Paris Hilton and Living the Dream

With just four days’ notice, Ashley Klaja showed up at Kathy Hilton’s “Friends and Family” Christmas party in Beverly Hills with seven dozen cookies, four dozen cupcakes, several elaborate showcase-worthy gingerbread houses, four cakes and a complete tablescape. The Woodlands dynamo behind A Sweet at The Table showed she could rise to the challenge of the matriarch of one of the most famous families in America.

But how did a do-everything entrepreneur from The Woodlands connect with Kathy Hilton and end up posing with her daughter Paris Hilton at this Beverly Hills party t0 remember?

A viral Instagram reel from Klaja’s A Sweet at The Table that amassed more than 4.5 million views, showcasing a party Klaja did, apparently got Kathy Hilton’s attention.

“I refreshed my Instagram account and saw a comment from Kathy Hilton that said ‘Check your DMs,’ ” Klaja tells PaperCity The Woodlands. “At first she asked if I FedExed and I was thinking, ‘This is a a fake account.’ But we kept up a back and forth. She said ‘Have your PR person contact my PR person.’ She thinks I’m a company and doesn’t realize it’s just me!

“I bake every cake. I don’t outsource. I had four days to do it. I worked like a dog around the clock.”

Although she’s a one person operation, Klaja did turn to her husband and her best friend, turning them into impromptu Operation Hilton helpers.

“My husband stopped what he was doing to help me and was a huge support,” Klaja says. “He looked up how to pack, and explored shipping options.”

Once the connection was made, few specifics came from Kathy Hilton’s PR person. Klaja didn’t know the size of the table, or what Hilton wanted to serve.

“I had such little information,” Klaja says. “I overpacked. I assumed she wanted the gingerbread at a minimum because that was the reel she had commented on.”

Then, with everything baked and packed the night before the trip to Los Angeles, Klaja sent a photo to Kathy Hilton, showing what she had prepared.

“I just wanted her to say ‘Yes,’ ” Klaja remembers. “She responded with ‘This is great — add more pink.’ That aged me 10 years. I didn’t eat or sleep. I looked for ways to add more pink. I looked for anything pink and whipped up pink frosting.”

On departure day, Klaja and her husband loaded her dad’s SUV to the brim with eight of the largest boxes that the airline could accommodate. Each box was packed with vacuum sealed, frozen baked goods and tubs of frozen icing.

Once arriving in Los Angeles, Klaja paired up with a friend, a former collaborator of hers from Utah, to unpack and create the dessert tablescape. Klaja’s husband texted Kathy Hilton’s PR person Sebastian to let him know they were in front of the Hilton’s home, while Ashley held her breath, hoping that she had not been the victim of an elaborate scam.

“We pull up, my husband texts Sebastian and the gate swings opens,” Klaja says. “We drive up, Sebastian comes to the door and we walk in. That was the first time I had seem the table, and I had that day to set up and plan. And that was the moment that I knew it was real.”

The trio returned to Kathy Hilton’s Beverly Hills home the next afternoon to set up the desserts.

“We got there about 4 p.m. — we wanted good light for photos,” Klaja says. “We were set up in an hour. With dessert, you get paranoid that the cakes will start sinking. And I had to do all of this in heels and full glam.”

Then the moment of truth came. Kathy Hilton came by to see the tablescape.

“When she saw everything, she loved it and said ‘Enjoy the party!’ That was when the relief hit,” Klaja says. “We are done. We are here. This is the moment.” With hours to go before the party, the trio had time to relax.

 

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“We snagged a front row seat to watch all the people come in and I would go in and say hi,” Klaja details. “I loved watching people’s reactions. They were oohing and aahing. I knew when Rachel Zoe  came — if she’s looking at my tablescape then I’m going in. We were just beaming. Paris (Hilton) came in and she grabbed a cupcake and I got to talk to her about 10 minutes. About babies, about life. She ate my whole cupcake.”

Zooey Deschanel and Jonathan Scott were at Klaja’s table as the party hit its stride, complete with a DJ set from Paris Hilton herself.

“What a unique experience,” Klaja says. “They are iconic. It was a real honor.”

Kathy Hilton gave a one-woman entrepreneur show in The Woodlands a chance. And Ashley Klaja made the whole thing more than sweet.