Happy Monday! This week we have a Beach Wedding Party Plan for you. There are many ways you can go with this plan including a blue and white palette, palm tree motif, lei motif...it goes on and on. We chose the sand as our foundation color and the pink hibiscus as our accent color.

 These invitations cover both colors and the feel of the modern beach wedding. It takes the neutral sand color and makes it look elegant.

 "Beach" hair is a challenge. Anything too formal wouldn't fit the theme and anything too loose could end up flying all over the place due to the beach breezes. This half up half down version with teeny orchids and diamond pins is perfection.

 There is also a few ways you can go for your girls. Chiffon makes for a flirty fabric choice that does very well in that beach breeze. You can go with a long version or the short version like this wedding party. Either way, consider flats for your girls. 

 In fact, consider flats for you too! These gorgeous beaded ballet flats would be perfect for walking in the sand.

Flowers also offer a lot of choices. We love the plumeria accented by the hibiscus blooms in this bridal bouquet.

 You can also use the sand color for your girls dresses and then accent that color with pink in the bouquets. Keep the pink as an accent or it will be a little too harsh in the photos.

 You can even fit some pink in for your groom. If he's not the "pink" tie kind of guy then just a simple pink bloom on his lapel will work very well.

 Even the Ring Bearer can fit into the plan. Tan shorts, suspenders are topped of perfectly with a little pink bow tie. Simply adorable!

 The old "Bride's Side" "Groom's Side" has pretty much gone away. Chances are the happy couple has known each other for a very long time and has lots of mutual friends. So more and more often you will find signs like this one that encourage guest to sit where they like. 

 A simple and inexpensive way to decorate your aisle is tulle. Sold for about $1 a yard , you can buy 40 yards and then just drape it over the chair, tie with a simple bow and tuck in a few wild grasses or flowers for a lovely beach look.

 If you don't want to get married on the sand then overlooking the water is a lovely option. Along the seashore there are plenty of hotels that have balconies with gorgeous water and beach views. The same type of feel but with solid ground under your feet instead of sand. A big plus if you are girl who loves heels!

 Welcome your guests into the reception with an adorable sign like this one that you can then hang in your home long after the wedding day has passed. 

 As they walk in have someone waiting with something to drink. If it's warm enough to have an outdoor wedding then it's plenty warm enough to need a drink after the ceremony. Just make sure that if your signature drink is alcoholic to have a nonalcoholic version available on the same tray.

 The beauty of a beach wedding is that you can go as simple as you like with your tables. A simple pink and white centerpiece on a light tan tablecloth fits perfectly.

 Or make the flowers your "tan" and the candles your "pink" on a white or off white tablecloth. Beautiful.

 A simple tropical bloom at each place setting would work wonderfully as well. If your flower budget is tight then use sand and shells for your centerpieces with a couple of candles and then place a single bloom on each napkin. Simple, yet lovely.

 Over the tables, or maybe just the food tables, you can easily create a bit of drama with paper lanterns and tissue paper balls. A beautiful way to make a statement.

 You don't need to dress up each chair, which can get to be very expensive, but you can add a touch of beauty for you and your Groom's chairs. This is just chiffon fabric that has been woven in and out of the chair rungs to make a beautiful soft pattern for the back of the chair.

 And with such beauty your guests will want to take photos! If you are ok with them posting them before you get a chance to even get back from your honeymoon...or even done with your first dance with your new husband...then have one of your groomsmen pass out these little cards, either before the ceremony, or as guests enter the reception or just place one or two on each table.

There are, literally, hundreds of beach favor options out there from cookies, to candy tins, to bottle stoppers to frames. We love these bottle openers that look like starfish! 

And then it's time for Cake! This hibiscus wedding cake from Cat's Cakes would be perfect for a lovely pink accented wedding. With the fondant flowers and the sugar shells it would fit into the color palette and the beach theme wonderfully!

Next week we'll bring you another sand and shore party...a Surfer's Birthday Party Plan! In the meantime it's Father's Day over at our Facebook fan site so stop on by and get a few ideas to make your Father's Day celebration even better!

Cat

 Happy Monday! I got to work on this wonderful cake this weekend for a wedding that had a beautiful yellow and grey color palette. Now, the first time I heard of that combination I couldn't imagine it being beautiful...until I saw it in person. Gorgeous!

While I had never even heard of this color combo before apparently the invitation companies sure have! These are the type of invites for the wedding I attended so I thought I'd share them with all of you.

Most Bridal Stores will carry sashes you can add to your dress if yours doesn't already have one. Just pick out a bright yellow or, in this case, a silver sash to add a bit more of your color to your day.

And don't forget to add texture as well. This wedding is very whimsical so, of course, so was the bouquet. Who needs roses when you have flirty daisies and pom pom mums!

Your girls can easily fit right into this palette too! Have your Maid of Honor pick out either yellow or grey for her color dress and dress your other girls in the color she didn't pick.

And don't forget fun flirty flowers for your girls too! A mixed arrangement like this one tied with a big silver bow helps to add to the fun of the day.

Now yellow is a bit much for a guy but a nice tie matched with a gorgeous grey tuxedo would be divine! Top off your Groom's look with a Pom Pom Mum Boutonniere.

Or let his guys sport the yellow ties while he sticks to dark grey. Just make sure that his boutonniere is different from his groomsmen.

Simple but fun is the way of this day. Grey tablecloths with white milk glass vases and yellow flowers are perfection. Add in yellow napkins and your place settings are complete.

Make sure to have a pretty "Cards" box available to your guests. In this day and age when gift cards, as well as cash, are often given you don't want to end up with a stack of cards that somehow got pushed behind a banquet table. This one is super easy to DIY but there are lots of places to buy one already made online.

I love these favors. The boxes are from Martha Stewart and you just use scrapbook paper, two regular square paper punches and one frilly square paper punch to create the tag. Finish it off with a silver scrapbook pen and you have the perfect favor box for this wedding plan!

A "Viennese" dessert table is in style this season in a big way. This means that you don't just have wedding cake but lots of other desserts there to delight your guests. Easy enough to do with purchased rosettes for the wall, pretty fabric and a banner made from paper doilies, round punched paper and sticker letters. Just glue to a satin ribbon and string along the front of the table. 

But, of course, there was cake! This fun and flirty pinwheel cake from Cat's Cakes really makes a great centerpiece. It is even lemon cake inside so when it was cut into there was the Brides' color! Handmade paper pinwheels in the wedding colors was perfect for this theme and this palette. 

Next week we'll head to the islands with a whole new wedding cake and color palette! In the meantime find out what sort of extra fun we had this week over at Cat's Cakes and see what we are up to every day on our  Facebook!

See you next Monday!

Cat

Happy Monday and Happy Memorial Day for those of us in America. Today is the day we honor those who have served our country, and are currently serving, in the Military. There will be lots of family gatherings today. Barbeques and picnics all across the nation and more than one red, white and blue birthday party I'm sure! Today we give you the party plan for a very special First Birthday!

                                                           

First off the invitation by Zazzle.com but there are hundreds of different invitations you can use including those that use the photo of your baby! So cute!

Speaking of cute...you can always dress your birthday boy or girl up in a sailor suit or just this adorable hat from yoyo.com for under $5!

 I have been that young mother with a baby and no budget so when I found OrientalTrading.com I was immediately hooked. These multicolor nets that can be draped across your backyard fence, tables and used as curtains across doorways are only $4 each. Even one would add beautifully to your theme when draped across your food or cake table!

 Speaking of easy, this nautical banner is under $10 for 100 feet of decoration...this would go around your whole backyard or decorate every table for very little budget!

 Not everyone has these fancy decanters but I wanted to show you how you can use just a little of the banner mentioned above to add decor to your plain white tablecloth! Set up the drinks in pitchers or cans/bottles for the same look. Stripped paper straws are available almost anywhere but, with this colorful party, regular striped straws would work as well.

 I love simple DIY. These labels from Etsy are under 50 cents each and so easy to just stick onto grocery store clear plastic cups.

 Your food table can be really easy to tie into the theme as well. Just get a yard of striped or starred fabric and drape it right over the center of the table. If you have one of those nets handy, drape that over the entire table. Then just set your food and drinks onto it.

These little popcorn buckets would be perfect for a DIY centerpiece. Fill with popcorn, stick in a Nautical Flag made from scrapbook paper and glued to a skewer and you have the perfect decoration for your table.

 Favors don't need to be complicated at this age. Ask your friends if their kids eat fruit snacks before giving them these or candy but don't be tempted to buy those huge bags of kid trinkets either...most of those are a choking hazard for this age.

Since a first birthday party is usually a family affair you could make up these really cute Bon Voyage bags by using brown paper lunch bags and scrapbook paper that you have printed on your home printer. Attach the tag to the bag with double stick tape and fill the bag with something fun like kettle corn or cotton candy!

 Finally there is dessert. Cupcakes are really the easiest thing for a Mom on the go to make. They take just about 20 minutes are easy to frost and you can just pop in cupcake picks like these from Etsy.com .

You can, however, make a bigger deal out of them with this 1st Birthday Sailor cupcake holder! From Orientaltrading.com it will set you back only $8. What a great way to decorate the center of your food table for just a little of your budget!

Next week we are going to be spotlighting summer picnics! How to make your family picnic a bit more special!

Cat

 Happy Monday! Recently I toured Sicily. Now, as a photographer, this is a wonderful trip because Italy is so picturesque. But as a party planner I was treated to a few really incredible venues where I could just SEE a gorgeous wedding taking place. I decided to work a party plan around one of those incredible places, Casabianca, so you can see how easy it is to plan a gorgeous wedding and let your venue do the decorating for you!

In California we have a lot of really gorgeous vineyards but they are usually considered too expensive to have as your venue for the wedding of your dreams. However, if you consider the cost of the venue as also most of your decorating budget as well then it's not so expensive! In California, as it was in Italy, Bougainvillea is in bloom everywhere this time of year. So why not let your invitations set the mood with this beautiful flowering vine! These from PaperCrave would be simple perfection for this theme!

 A venue like this one has lots of places where you can set up chairs for your ceremony. Can you imagine standing in front of this doorway...

...or this doorway for your vows? How stunning would that make as a backdrop for your ceremony and wedding photos? And, at no extra cost!

And speaking of no added cost. You can tie in your look with the bougainvilleas very easily too. They have very sturdy stems on them so it's easy to just tuck one or several away into your hairstyle. 

You can have your bouquet made of bougainvilleas too! They come in several colors so just have your florist mix them up for a beautiful textured bouquet.

Then make sure your photographer finds a wall with the flowering vine growing up it like this one and pose you in all of your beauty in front of it! 

 These places have tons of rustic touches as well. Real brick ovens that not only add a wonderful taste to your food but ambiance for your guests as they stroll the property.

 A lot of vineyards also have items that they have set out to evoke memories from how it use to be. Ready made backdrops for your wedding photos...at no extra cost!

 Wonderful rustic rooms can be set up for your reception as well. Most vineyards have tables made from wine barrels or casks that will add to your rustic touches.

 Or set up a buffet in one of the rooms and have your reception outdoors overlooking the vines. The effect is rustic and beautiful. 

 Don't be afraid to use color in your set up. Many vineyards will already have table and chairs and, because you want to keep it rustic, you won't need to provide tablecloths, just napkins. Again, saving money by using the natural decor of the venue.

 A simple set up is always best in these venues. Because they serve "family style" you don't really need centerpieces. A couple bottles of wine, or a jug of wine in this case, along with water for your guests is the perfect touch for this venue.

We started out with appetizers of Bruschetta (pronounced Broo-sket-ah) topped with olive oil, fresh tomatoes and herbs and Focaccia (pronounced Pho-Kah-Cha) bread  filled with cheeses and spinach. The perfect way to introduce your guests to the homestyle menu that awaits for them.

 Serve comfort food family style and your guests will feel like they have been invited for a wonderful family dinner. It's a very intimate and inclusive style of wedding. The Italians start off with Risotto and Pasta. If you have some vegetarians on your guest list, this will be their main meal. This risotto had mushrooms to help flavor it and the pasta is called Pasta Norma. It is made with eggplant that they, somehow, make taste like meat even though the dish is totally meat free! 

 But the rest of your guests will enjoy the main course. We were served veal scallopini as well as these incredible meat balls that required no sauce. But for your guests you could easily substitute with any type of roasted meat such as a pork roast and sausage. They paired the meat with butter potatoes and salad.

 Italians like to cleanse their palette with fresh fruit. This is a great way to include those who are trying to watch what they eat. This allows them to have dessert without the extra sugar. In this case the strawberries were macerated with limoncello liqueur but you could just serve them fresh or macerated in just a bit of sugar.

 If your venue produces a particular product, such as wine or olive oil or honey, then they make the perfect favor for your guests. Ask them what they have to offer and see if it fits into your budget. You can, however, make your own very simply. Michaels sells little bottles such as these. Fill them up with olive oil, tuck some rosemary, sage or garlic into it and then tie a simple Thank you tag to each one. Or use these for your place/seating cards and write out your guests name and/or table number on each tag. Place them on a table near the entrance of your reception area or at each place setting on the tables for an adorable and yummy favor for your guests.

And for either when you and your groom walk back down the aisle or for when you two leave your reception to head off to your honeymoon, how sweet would these little cones of bougainvillea petals be to have one of your maids hand out to guests. Showered with these gorgeous flowers would be a perfect way to end your celebration.

But, of course, first there is cake! A simple cake that fits into the rustic feel of your venue, like this lace cake from Cat's Cakes, would be perfect. Dress up the cake table with some scattered bougainvillea petals and your decorating is done!

So don't worry about the cost of the venue being high. The fact that it does most of the decorating for you is where you will even out that budget. And if you are considering a Destination Wedding then please do consider Casabianca  near Lentini Sicily. They can accommodate up to 300 guests for your wedding.

Next week we are all red, white and blue for a Patriotic Themed Birthday Party! In the meantime, remember to stop on by our Facebook for daily tips for all of your party plans!

Cat