Bridal Shower :: French Theme

Ooh la la! My friend Kasey is set to walk down the aisle in a few more weeks and to celebrate we brought Paris to California. The invites (available in the shop soon!) included a French bulldog since the bride has the cutest Frenchie named Olive and she’s mildly obsessed with the little thing! We had to have Olive represent!Come on in! (Crafty Jan gussy-upped this welcome sign, of course!)She has also previously hosted French-themed parties and I was lucky enough to borrow just about all the decor for the party… from the toile tablecloths……to the bustier purses we used to put Trader Joe’s peonies in……and all the other French knick-knacks.We strung black and pink lingerie from the ceiling (even though it was not a lingerie shower… It just screamed OOH LA LA!) and put Eiffel Towers here and there and everywhere. The mantle was draped with a feather boa & printable that said “Kasey Said Oui!”But I think everyone’s favorite part of the shower was “La Confiserie” … The candy shop!Serving all black and pink candy – and of course fresh macaroons – it was a hit. This is normally where my computer sits. I used toile fabric to line the back of the shelves, then used pink and white striped material as an awning. I threaded fishing line through wrapping paper tubes and thumbtacked the lines to the ceiling in order to create it. (A little disheveled in these pics but you get the idea.)How cute are those lollipops? They were 50 cents each from Walmart and had an ugly wrapper on them. Rewrapped in saran wrap, they got a fancy new look. Here’s another shot of the candy shop.The favors were placed in a three-tiered basket and placed so that guests would remember to take them.I made a label to place on the back of individual French Manicure sets from the dollar store. I’m sure they went straight to the daughters of the ladies at the party, but they were so on-theme, we couldn’t resist.(That’s what the front looked like!)More signs for purses and the ladies room.My couches happen to go fabulously with a theme like this! Ha! We added some pink pillows and hid the turquoise ones that are normally there to keep with the theme.I hosted this shower with 4 other lovely ladies but we don’t all live close to each other. Since decorating was taken care of on my end, all the hostesses just brought an appetizer and a bottle or two of champagne and we were set. From fondue to french fries, we were feeling tres stuffed.My mom made these french fry containers using her cricut machine. Unreal right? So cute. “Ooh la la” hung above our big mirror and “Tu est tres jolie!” was a nice pick me up in the restroom!In searching for a fun/not-painful bridal shower game, I came across Make Merry Event’s blog post with FREE Wedding Vow Mad Libs. Hilarious. Easy. Quick. My kind of game. I wanted these Mad Libs to match the party, so I took her wording and redesigned it for this party. We had everyone group off into sets of two and they had to fill them out blind. (One girl wrote and asked “adjective.” while the other one came up with funny answers.) We had Kasey read them once everyone was finished and choose the vows she liked best. She chose the one that said something like “I promise to (present tense verb) lick your (noun) cottonballs for (period of time) 5 minutes.” It was hysterical.The winners got to take home these pretty frames scored from Home Goods.It was a fun day with some fabulous ladies. Ooh la la! Now all we have to do is wait for the wedding! 

Bridal Shower :: Love Boat Theme

Remember when I did this invite for a Love Boat themed bridal shower? Well, I am finally getting around to putting up the photos of the fabulous party that creative geniuses Barb, Kate & Colleen put on for their friend Jamie. I have to start with this cake! Could you die 800 times please? Wow! It’s just fabulous! And it looks exactly like the invite. Amazing.They got totally nautical-by-nature and turned their home into a virtual cruise ship. One of my favorite details was the life preserver around the wine glass. They printed these on thick cardstock and had a different number on each one. Basically think of it as an updated “this wine is mine” charm type of thing. Super great idea to copy! Brilliant!Another way they blew my mind was by creating boat planters out of… milk cartons! Can you believe that? Totally adorable, totally high impact, and all for the cost of a half gallon of milk! Darling!They made the bride-to-be a captain’s hat with a veil attached and used life preservers as life-sized frames. How festive! And who would book a cruise without those fun ship games? They had a few different stations where you could golf and play other fun cruise games. How clever! I am ready to book my cruise on this party ship! Who’s coming with me? Thanks for letting me share your party, ladies! It is truly beyond fabulous.

Bridal Shower Invitation :: Love Boat Theme

I apologize in advance if this post puts The Love Boat theme in your head for the rest of the day… however this theme was too cute to pass up! This is an invite I did for a flient (friend+client=flient) who is hosting a Love Boat themed bridal shower next month. I always love getting ‘orders’ from this particular flient because she always has such fun parties! When she said “think Love Boat! Think cruise!” my head went straight to vintage cruise-liner posters. In addition to adding a heart and putting this bride-to-be’s new last name on the boat……the wording was super nauti-cool as well.  Join us for a voyage on The Love Boat as we celebrate ___________’s cruise into marriage.
Setting sail on _________ at _______
The (host’s) dock (then address)
Hosted by cruise directors _____________
RSVP & Registry
Add a “Ship to:” (hee hee) on the envelope and you’re all set! I design on a Mac using the Adobe CS4 programs and print all the invites I make on a HP Deskjet 9800. This particular invite was size A9. My favorite paper in the world is from a place in New York called Paper Presentation. I buy their Dutch Felt in bulk and use it for just about everything! I think it makes homemade invites look just a little bit more professional. There’s a great tooth to the paper and if I could, I might just marry it I love it so much. (It doesn’t really print so well with laser printers though.)I printed the back of the invite in big red & white stripes and lined the envelope, which was from Paper Source,with wrapping paper. I’m not sure where this red & white wrapping paper was from but if you’re looking for cute liners, check out Container Store’s selection. They always have great (and tons) of wrapping paper!
The gals hosting this shower always do such an insane job of throwing parties. Maybe I’ll convince them to share their pictures with me so I can share them with you next month! Stay tuned! I don’t think this Love Boat’s voyage is over quite yet!