Happy Monday! Yesterday we spotlighted how you could use discounted Easter items to make adorable Garden Party Cupcakes on our Cake Blog and today we put together a party plan to help you throw a Garden Party of your own!

 Did you just get engaged? Well, a Springtime Garden Party Wedding would be simply gorgeous! Filled with color and texture your guests would be delighted! These beautiful wedding invitations from Elum Designs would be perfection for your party!

And Springtime seems to be a perfect fit for many Baby Showers too! With so many baby animals around every year and Spring being about new beginnings, a Garden Party Baby Shower would be lovely for your celebrated Mom-to-Be. These adorable invitations from LilDuckDuck are just so cute!

We have a bunch of Spring Birthday's in our family and, of course, there is Mother's Day each Spring and wonderful Mom's to celebrate then as well. These invitations from zazzle would be a wonderful way to let your guests know your theme and get ready for your Garden Party!

 Now that you have set the mood with your invitation it's time to open the party! These ribbon hung wooden letters are often used for weddings but if you are not celebrating a wedding why not hang the initials of the Guest of Honor instead? Whether on the front door or the garden gate, these are a simple, inexpensive way of adding a lovely bit of personalization to your party!

However, if it IS a wedding you could carry a "Presentation Bouquet" of Calla Lilies like these gorgeous orange blooms. This time of year all colors of Calla's are available, from white to pink to yellow to orange, they are just gorgeous. And, don't forget, even if this party isn't a wedding, I bet your Guest of Honor would love a bouquet like this when she arrives!

 Inside or outside paper lanterns are a wonderful way to decorate the space above your heads. If you have a more limited budget then just get a few and bunch them up over the food or drink tables. These were decorated with little butterflies. An easy touch but with such impact!

 If you are having a buffet, this trick of using painted pots to hold your flatware is a cute way to add another detail to your party theme! If you want to save a bit either buy these at the Dollar Store or get plain terra cotta pots at your local craft store.

 Inside on a wall or outside on a fence, these pinwheels make a BIG statement for your party and they are SO easy to make! Set them up behind the buffet table or gift table as a gorgeous focal point to your party!

 Sit down decor doesn't have to be expensive. Plain rectangular planters or containers filled 3/4 of the way with an oasis block and then topped with moss, tangerines and a few gerbera daisies are a very inexpensive way to have a gorgeous centerpiece! Also keep in mind that little touches like the orange ribbon around the tealight holders and white napkins, the orange labels on the Aqua Panna water bottles and even the square containers filled with orange candy all add inexpensive touches to pull more color onto your table.

 Place cards are always fun at any party. They add a level of elegance to even the most casual of gatherings. To make these is SO easy. Save your opened canned goods cans (my favorite is the small coffee cans because they have smooth edges), use double stick tape to wrap the can with party coordinating scrapbook paper and then add a stick on label with the guests names to the front. Tuck in the napkins, flatware and bottled water and place that at the top or even in the middle of each plate on the table.

 Do you have a lot of place cards to make for, say, a wedding? We love this idea of taking wooden hearts (about 30 cents each at the craft store) and spray painting them with chalkboard paint and then writing the guest name on each one and placing that on the napkin in the center of each plate!

 Small family events like Mother's Day can be easily decorated in the Garden Party theme by adding a few yards of garden themed fabric (this was just 3 yards of gingham over a white tablecloth). Set with colored place settings and accent with whatever garden flowers you may have around. We used a juice pitcher that matched our theme and filled mason jars with water to hold our garden grown yellow roses. 

 Now for the food! Many hosts want to add in some sort of signature drink and this Mimosa Bar is a perfect way of letting your guests choose their favorites to go into the glass! Do you have guests who don't drink? Just make sure that there is also sparkling grape or apple juice as well as mineral water for them to mix with. Prosecco is usually used to make Mimosa's but you can always use your favorite champagne or sparkling wine. You can find the fruit puree's at your local Bev-Mo. What a fun way to start off your party!

 What is a garden party without a beautiful presentation of veggies? We loved how they used these gorgeous parchment lined baskets to make individual servings for their guests!

Living in the world of the limited budget, like we do, you can also present the flavor of the basket of veggies using clear plastic cups filled with sticks of colorful carrots, zucchini and jicama set into a base of Ranch dressing. You can add in some yellow, orange and red pepper strips as well for even more color! 

 However on a buffet table it would be fun to use all types of different containers to present the veggies! I love how they presented the radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes and asparagus spears in all different shapes for this party!

Skewers work really well for this type of party. Just make sure that, if this is a sit down dinner, to have your waiter remove the pieces of meat and vegetables from the skewers before presenting it to the guest. This can be done table side and makes for a wonderful presentation!

If your party requires favors remember that ribbon and double stick tape are your best friends! These plain white boxes are always available at Michael's Craft Stores in their wedding section. Dress them up by using different colors of ribbon outside, different colors of tissue paper inside and fill with candy, cookies or your garden themed trinket!

Finally there is cake! I explained yesterday on the Cake Blog how you can use half priced Easter decorations to save money for your garden party. By using the garden themed cupcake liners, brightly colored frosting and the floral picks that came in the kit we were able to make these adorable Garden Party Cupcakes for our party. Is your celebration a wedding? Make a cupcake tier of these fun goodies and top it with a small "rose" covered cake for you and your Groom to slice into for the Cutting Of The Cake Ceremony. Save the cute little bunny couple for the top of the "cutting cake". Simply adorable!

Whatever you are celebrating with your Garden Party just make sure to use lots and lots of color! By using the colors and textures of your blooming environment you can save lots of money and have a fun, as well as beautiful, party for your guests!

See you next week with a very Mickey themed birthday party! For more tips and tricks make sure to visit our Facebook Fan Site each day!

Cat