Real Party: Fall Wedding in Wine Country

I have some great pictures of an absolutely beautiful fall wedding to show you!

My friend Lisa was married last fall in California's Wine Country.  (I shared her bachelorette party on the blog last year!) I think you will agree, the season was captured perfectly in every detail of this gorgeous event!

 The wedding was held at Vintage Estates in Yountville, CA.

 A cocktail hour was held on the lawn, which included passed appetizers and beverages. 

Don't you love the pillars of fruit & candles?

Charming hand-stamped escort cards and beautifully printed menus set the stage for the meal.  

Lisa & Jeremy celebrated with family and friends at the reception, which was held in the barrel room of the winery.  An additional area was also set up on the lawn. 

How beautiful is this cake by Branching Out? It was as tasty as it was gorgeous. There was of chocolate cake with passion fruit curd, and white cake with lemon curd and berries.  Yum!
The cake was designed after the bride's dress.

I love the clever party favor Lisa & Jeremy gave their guests. Lisa is a total foodie (please check out her new blog for great recipes!), so they gave little bottles of Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  Made locally, of course! 

I love the simple "Merci" tags. 

Congrats to Lisa & Jeremy!  Happy (almost) Anniversary!

Thanks Lisa for sharing your pictures with me!

Vendor Details: 

Photography by Donna Kopol Bonick

Cake by Branching Out

Flowers by Lush Floral

Happy Birthday to Me!

This past weekend was my birthday weekend.

Friday night we had a little party with friends at a local brewery.  I had such a great time that I didn't take a single picture.  I carried my camera around the entire night and completely forgot to use it! Ugh! 

I didn't even get a picture of the delicious (and adorable) Whoopie Pies that my friend Lindsay made & snuck into the brewery.  

I guess its just a testament to how much fun I was having.

Sunday I spent the day on the coast near my house and enjoyed beautiful weather, yummy food, good company, and (more) good beer! Perfection! 

Hope you all had great weekends too!

My Favorite Halloween Party Games

Of course my two favorite Halloween games as a child are featured on Martha's site in the activity ideas. She's even more of a genius in my book now!

I love both of these...classic fall/Halloween party games that are easy to set up and lend themselves to amazing photos every time! 

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Donuts on a String (or, even better -- a pretty ribbon)

Cake donuts are tied just above mouth-level. It's a race to see who can eat their donut first without using their hands. 

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Bobbing for Apples

I've found several different versions of the rules for this one.  I think when I was little we played by going one at a time and being timed for who grabs an apple first. 

Martha has other ideas on her site as well.  

And see Martha for other fun fall games for kids (or adults) as well! 

I'm finally starting to get into fall mode... :)

I am Loving: White Pumpkins for Fall

Most of my favorite blogs have been full of Halloween-inspired posts lately.  And most stores are covered with Halloween decorations. Eek!  I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that its fall already. 

With the slightly cooler weather we had this weekend, I'm starting to get ready to think about decorating for fall.  I'm loving white pumpkins this year!  They might have to be incorporated into my decor. 

Here's some of my favorite white pumpkin inspiration from around the web: 

Images via here, here, and here

images via here

Images via here

Bridal Shower Gift Idea

I've been talking about the great bridal shower I attended all week. 

One more thing to share though!

My friend Leslie is great at coming up with creative gift ideas. 

She gave Drea a gift basket full of wine-related items. 

One of the items included was a product I have never heard of before, a Travel Wine Protector. 

This allows you to safely pack a bottle of wine in your suitcase without fear of it breaking and staining all your clothing. 

Perfect for a couple going on their honeymoon, don't you think? They can bring a bottle with them, or bring one back from the trip as a souvenir! 

I just love this idea! It would be really great if you had a friend going to a wine country for their honeymoon ~ Italy, Spain, California, etc!

I was not compensated to write about this product.

Bridal Shower Games

Earlier I shared pictures from the bridal shower I attended over the weekend. Make sure and check them out here if you haven't already. 

Lindsay and I were in charge of the games for the shower.  Shower games can often be a drag, so we really wanted something fun.  

We settled on two things that all of our friends, including the bride-to-be, love: wine & celebrity gossip. :)

The first game was a wine trivia/tasting game.  

(click to enlarge)

The game was half wine trivia, half wine tasting.
I am not offering a printable because the game is personalized to the couple. This would be easy to recreate though! 

For the questions that required a taste, Lindsay sewed navy bags to go over the wine bottles.

The bottles were lined up along the bar in the corner of the backyard. 

The winner received a bottle of champagne, in another of Lindsay's cute navy bags.

The second game was a quiz regarding celebrity couples. 

The rules are easy: fill in the celebrity's most current significant other.   We said correct spelling wasn't required, unless it was needed to break a tie. 

You can download this game here.
Celebrity Bridal Shower Quiz

And here's the answer key.

Celebrity Quiz Answers

 The winner received 3 gossip magazines.

People seemed to really enjoy these games!  Mission accomplished.

Thanks to Lindsay for the pictures!

Real Party: Something {Navy} Blue Bridal Shower

Remember this bachelorette party that I told you about a few months ago?

Well, this past weekend was the bridal shower. The shower was INCREDIBLE! The host & hostess did an amazing job!

This long table made us stop in our tracks as we approached the house. 

Galvanized pails of babies breath, yellow gerber daisies on the plates, crisp navy tablecloths ~ simple, yet stunning. 

The party started on the back deck. Guests and the bride-to-be lounged on white cushioned furniture with cute navy polka dotted pillows. 

Passed appetizers and drinks were served on the deck.

Then it was time for lunch, which was as beautiful as it was tasty. 

Salad after salad was brought out. We couldn't believe that Drea's good friend Will had made all of these beautiful salads himself. 

 Cobb Salad

 Caprese Salad

 Nicoise Salad

Duck & Raspberry Salad with Walnuts

After lunch, we were all in for a treat (literally)! 

We were told to go to the front of the house -- dessert had arrived! 

The bride-to-be when she saw what was waiting at the curb! 

Our very own ice cream truck!

Sooooooo fun! 

(and so appropriate for every different kind of party: showers, kids party, parties for kids-at-heart, etc!) 

Party favors were adorable as well. 

Canvas bags with navy handles. 

Inside the bag? 

Chocolate chip cookies in a mason jar...courtesy of Drea. A perfect thank you from a bride-to-be who is an amazing baker! 

(the recipe is on the back of the tag) 

I can't wait to make them!

One thing is for sure! I CANNOT wait for this wedding!

My friend Lindsay and I were in charge of the games for the shower.  Come back tomorrow and I'll share the games we played.  (There's a printable game that you can use too!)

Sneak Peak: "Something {Navy} Blue" Bridal Shower

I went to the most amazing bridal shower today, and I can't wait to share all the details with you!

Here's a sneak peak of the table decor to hold you over.  

I'll be back soon with all kinds of pictures & fun ideas from this incredible shower! 

A Helpful Video for Candy Buffets

Lately I've shared a couple dessert tables with you that I've helped to put together. 

{See my San Francisco Retirement Party here, and my Six-Tea Birthday Party here!} 

They have both included some bulk candy.  One of the biggest challenges with ordering bulk candy online is knowing how much you need for the containers you have.

I came across this video today on the website at Candy Warehouse, and found it quite helpful. 

You'll still have to do some calculations with your own containers, but it seems like a helpful place to start.  

By the way, Candy Warehouse a great selection of bulk candies for your next party!

I was not compensated to recommend any company for this post. 

DIY Idea: Custom Baby Shower Onsies

I love this idea!  Guests design onsies with custom pre-made iron-ons. 

It doubles as a fun activity to occupy guests at a baby shower, and leaves the mom-to-be with lots of cute onsies to take home. 

My friends Jeani & Molly recently threw a baby shower for their sister.  They had lots of iron-ons ready to go.  The result was lots of new custom duds for the little one. 

The mom-to-be's favorite sports teams were featured.

Baby Ga-Ga! LOL! 

My friend Megan (whose parties I've featured on this blog lots of times!) did this a few years ago at a baby shower also.   

 A nod to Dad and his favorite team..."cute as a button"...

Happy Hour! LOL!

This is an easy activity to plan for your next shower...there are lots of places to get transfer paper. You can just make a few designs with fun fonts and print them out with a laser jet printer.  And you can find plain white onsies anywhere where baby items are sold.  

Inspiration for a Yellow Bridal Shower

I had a interesting request for help this week.

A friend of mine is throwing a bridal shower for a friend. The shower is soon, and she wanted ideas on decor/styling.

What makes this such an interesting request? This friend of mine lives in another state, so I won't have time to send her any crafty paper items. She's also not particularly crafty herself, so even DIY suggestions are out. I usually make some kind of food suggestion for a party favor, but this friend isn't a huge baker either.  And of course, things need to be kept to a reasonable budget.

Most inspiration I put together is full of fun projects or printables, but now...eek!

I sent her a long email earlier today with suggestions, but I decided to do a post about it too, to give her visuals & a shopping guide of things I mentioned in the email.  

Disclaimer: I have not been compensated to suggest any of these shopping outlets.

Her theme/color scheme directions were, "Either yellow or green, and kind of whimsical style".

So...here's how I advised her:

Invitations

 I thought these invites from Tiny Prints fit the bill: yellow & whimsical. 

Centerpieces

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Yellow and white daisies can always be found in the grocery store floral department.  Easy centerpieces -- done!

Table & Lunch Items

Ikea has very affordable yellow napkins. 

I love these from Crate and Barrel also. 

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I suggested she use all-white serving ware, over white or yellow linens, for the food items.

I suggested a simple lunch of easy to prepare ahead of time foods: sandwiches or roll-ups, pasta salad, veggies & dip. 

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 Lemonade, spiked and virgin, would be perfect to serve. 

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I suggested that lemons be used to label food and drink items.  She can either write directly on them with a sharpie, or stick a little toothpick with a paper label. 

 Yellow cupcakes with white daisies are a must.  I suggested that my friend take a picture of some that she likes to a local bakery and have them recreate the look.  Aren't these from Buttercup Cupcakes adorable?

Party Favors 

I think these cookies would be adorable in a glassine bag, tied with a yellow ribbon. 

They are from Gianna's Baking Company. I've seen them at the Whole Foods bakery, or they can be ordered directly from Gianna's Baking Company or from Amazon. 

Old Navy flip flops in yellow would be fun too. 

Anything you would add? 

I'll share pictures after the party!