I spy….

What a great take on a classic kids game.  I love this idea from Martha Stewart, you can even download the card here for a wedding. Or you could easily change the wording to incorporate it into any party.

Moving Week

It seems that summer is the time for moving.  I’ve been seeing lots of other bloggers who have recently moved (in real life), or are in the process of doing so….maybe it’s just Obama’s first time home buyer rebate. Well, count us in.  We just closed on our first home, and should be moving in to the new place by Friday of this week.

Even though our apartment is filled to the brim with cardboard boxes and piles of stuff to throw out or give away, my mind is really on all the fun stuff that comes with moving, like housewarming parties, moving announcements, and return address stamps.  Here are a few finds:

Lovely key inspiration from Brooklyn Bride 

An awesome custom return address stamp resource from Swanky Tables

and lots of ideas for moving announcements over at Inspired Goodness

A Day at the Races

When my sister said she wanted a Kentucky Derby themed bridal shower, it seemed obvious that we would have it at a race course. 

We originally wanted to do something in the traditional red like this  from Inspired Goodness, maybe featuring the red roses associated with the Derby.  Instead we ended up going with something more fun, playful, and entirely girly, just like the bride-to-be.

I love how she matches the party, and I can’t get over how perfect the lucky horseshoe necklace  turned out. We kept with the derby theme with these derby/horse award inspired medallions on each of the place settings made by a local vendor, the Hair Wrangler.  That gorgeous pink striped grosgrain is removable, so that the medallions can be used as a pin or bow.

Since we were already over-budget, we decided to tackle the flowers on our own.  We special ordered a few bright pink peonies to make sure they would match the color scheme, along with some lisianthus as filler.  We got the rest of the spray roses, peonies, and china mums from Trader Joe’s at a very low cost. We only made arrangements for half of the tables, and alternated every other table with bud vases and horseshoes to tie in the theme.

Since the ladies had dressed up, we wanted to feature all their lovely hats. So we had people vote on a few categories such as favorite hat and most outrageous hat, this gave family and friends a nice opportunity to mingle.

After the “showery” part of the bridal shower, the guys joined us to watch the races.  The race track had someone to come and explain how to bet, and he gave us his picks for all the races.  They named one of the races in honour of the bride which was in the program and announced it over the speakers. She also got to take a picture with the winner of the race. 

 We weren’t sure if people would really get into the betting and the races….but they really did.

I loved having the bridal shower at an alternative place, it really was a fun experience, especially since none of us had ever been to a race track before.

continue for hat photos

Beau & Stella

I love the simple elegance of Beau & Stella’s designs.  She has a great line of necklaces and fun laser cut felt earrings.  I was happy to find this little Lucky Horseshoe necklace- it was perfect for my sister at her Kentucky Derby Bridal Shower. 

 

Lucky Horseshoe Necklace  from Beau & Stella