Tag Archives: parties

Pinwheel Birthday Party

Our darling daughter, Isla, turned one last week and I knew I wanted to do something special for her first birthday party. Our neighbor has pinwheels in his yard and she loves to watch them spin around, so I decided a pinwheel themed birthday party would be perfect for our little girl!

first

The birthday girl wore a onesie created by sticheroos and a pinwheel headband from Kylala Boutique who also made her adorable birthday hat.

isla

I found these simply stated and adorable invitations from Jack and Izzy which set the tone of the party

pinwheel

As party gifts, guest received small pink bags filled with candy. The bags were adorned with a small “thank you” tag created by fellow HAP blogger, Katie, and fastened with a mini clothes pin.

Guests were greeted by a Happy Birthday banner when they entered the house. Pinwheels were also put on the front door and scattered throughout the house in glass vases filled with orange Jelly Bellies. The banner and pinwheels were created by the amazing shana from crossroads cottage.

sign

For lunch we snacked on sun dried tomato pasta salad, spinach salad with strawberries, blueberries and walnuts, sliced apples with homemade caramel dip, tea sandwiches, hot dogs and brats. The food was labeled with lovely orange name tags and pink handmade pinwheels.

food

Guests sipped peach slush, pink lemonade and soda from pink cups decorated with a pink pinwheel sticker from Jack and Izzy.

For dessert we had a 2 tiered pink cake that was created by Aly from Sweetness by Alice. It not only looked amazing, but tasted out of this world! The bottom layer was vanilla cake with cookies and cream filling and the top layer was lemon cake with lemon and raspberry filling. Isla also had her very own cake to dig into!

cake

All in all, Isla’s first birthday party was a success! She played, opened lots of wonderful gifts, ate tons of cake and then took a long nap!

balloonsHappy birthday baby girl!

anne

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Filed under Birthday, Entertain, Family

Old, New, Borrowed, Blue

These days, it seems there is always a wedding related activity to attend. So for any of you bridesmaids, mothers of the bride, Maids of Honor or friend or family member that will be in charge of throwing such an affair, this blog is for you.

My sister recently got married and I was lucky enough to be the Matron of Honor. This was my first stint as MOH and I wanted to make sure I did everything with a personal touch. I didn’t really have the “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue” items at my wedding, so I decided Lindsay should get them in an unique way. With the help of my mom, family and other bridesmaids, Lindsay received her four bridal functions in the form of Old, New, Borrowed and Blue.

 Something New

 something newThe first party was Something New, an engagement party for the happy couple and family at my house. An Evite was sent to the invitees with the following wording:

Come and celebrate with the NEWly engaged couple, Lindsay and Doug! Lindsay can show off her brand NEW shiny ring at the NEW house of her sister and brother-in-law, the NEWly Wades. So let us all toast the couple as they start this NEW journey together and with each NEW day may there be infinitely happy memories!

As an engagement gift I focused on my sister’s soon to be new last name and gave her stationary with her new initial.

Something Blue

blueLindsay’s bachelorette party was Something Blue and blue it was. The party was held at “Blue’s Bar” with blue decorations and candy dishes filled with blue candy around the room. Smoking blue martinis were served along with blue cupcakes. All guests were asked to dress in blue, with the bride clad in all white.

Something Borrowed

borrowedThe Something Blue party was followed the next day by the Something Borrowed shower, where guests submitted “borrowed” recipes on recipe cards sent out with the invitations. The cooking theme was brought throughout with wooden spoons as name cards and “Love Beyond Measure” measuring spoons as gifts. Prior to the party, I collected “borrowed advice” from all the women in Lindsay’s life and put together a digital book using MyPublisher with letters and advice to Lindsay on life and love. This brought a tear or two to the room!

Something Old

oldThe final party was the bridal luncheon at my parent’s house the morning of the wedding. Sandwiches and desserts were placed on family china, with old wedding pictures of family members on display. My mom pulled her wedding dress out of storage and it was placed neatly out on display.

Creating a theme that lasted throughout the wedding planning process was fun and added an extra element and personal touch to each party. Lindsay had a great time at each event and was a beautiful bride!

If you have any creative wedding party ideas, please share with our Haute Apple Readers!

stef

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Filed under Entertain, Weddings