Pretty in Pink

Looking back I realized that the times i remember best about my wedding are the events that led to it. The few days just before the actual events when all family and friends came together to stay over. And they came just for me. It was crazy, crazy fun. And we can still laugh for hours in reminiscence.

That's why, I absolutely needed to do something for my darling sister in law before hers. She's a gem of a person, and i felt awful, that because she works, and because most of her side of the family, including her elder brother and sister live quite far away. And I'm happy to say, that through a plan executed never matches the plan blueprint in my mind, it did turn out quite wonderful indeed.

It was meant to be a surprise, so i contacted all her friends and such as best as i could without letting her know. Thanks to facebook, and other mutual relations. Practically everything was homemade, and i had a lot of fun adding little touches of origami, craft, personalized presents and cake decoration to the ensemble.

I have the internet to thank for all the marvellous ideas. Here's just a few of the party ideas to inspire your own.

Candlelight:
...can make anything go from simple to special! I heartily believe this. Which is why I try to get as many tea candles, Scented Candles, big fat ones, small squat ones, tall thin ones. it does matter. All you need to do is turn off the lights, and turn on a couple of lamps and light up your treasury! Yellow light works wonders! Trust me!

Balloons:
Balloons are the easiest most convenient filler for any room. If you go for a single colour or a themed tone, it can add to the elegance. I don't believe any party should do without them. I think its a nice detail to hand something from the balloon string. You require large, gas filled balloons for this purpose. For this event, I strung heart shaped decorative cards which i meant to get signed by all the guests for the bride to be. but i forgot about the signing part in all the rush. lol. But you could try handing origami items from it. Gauzy Butterflies or any other custom light-weight item. For my husband's birthday, I got balloons his age's amount and hung origami jet planes from it, since he's a pilot. See, its just all about improvisation!

Hot Chocolate and 'Heart' straws:
I learnt to make origami hearts a while ago. And I put them together with bendy straws to make a neat customized straw for our hot chocolate goblets. All you need to do is add a tiny cross in the center of the heart before its final fold. and voila! there's space to slip the tube through. The best part is, they can easily be slipped off and reused elsewhere!

Curler Units:
Though these are time consuming, they are rather worth it. I dangled them from stings against the ceiling, for a starry effect. They would also make lovely pot pourri parts. I also tried the Sonobe. I'm still playing with the idea to use the holes in the apexes as flower stem holders.

Originally taken from here.


Towel Cake:
I got the idea for this from here. There are also many videos available on youtube for a variety of styles. As you can see, i took a relatively simpler approach. Another little detail i added, was that instead of filling the outer rims of the towels with tea and hand towels, i opted to hide goodies and presents. Like Circular chocolate assortment tins, etc. Or even small bath accessory batches. It becomes a lovely and unique gift wrapping method this way.



Actual Cake:
The actual cake was a lot fun to play with. it had on the inside a chocolate layer sandwiched between two dyed pink french vanilla layers. My cousin was an incredible help with finishing this and making it look pretty. We used butter creme icing on the inside. The outside is coloured fondant. All the little articles were especially made in context. :) Edible eyecandy.

You can order your own personalized cake at Saddy's Cakeworks!


Crepe Roses:
I fell in love with these when I first saw them and I made them for home first and mixed them up with store bought artificial flowers and you really cant tell the difference at first glance. The theme for the shower was pink and chocolate, and while I bought a lot of crepe in those two colours, I was pretty much the only (wo)manpower available, so i did not get to make as many as i would have liked. I got spherical oasis and pushed each stem in to form a ball of crepe flora. I think I might hang it up somehow someday.

Party Favours:
What's a party without favours? :) First you need this tutorial for the bags! I almost found myself spending more time on these than the actual party items! lol. But here's the few nick nacks that i threw in them.

• Origami Booklets : Tutorial.
  

Chickchik bookmarks by jinjerup : These were too adorable to pass out on. I used them for the play of words for "hen's party" and also in the "new beginnings" context.

• Felt Fortune cookies that had candy in them and a strip of paper that read: "You are lucky to have a friend like ABC. Thanks for attending!
• There was also pink gum packets and chocolates.
• I wanted to throw in these Japanese paperdoll bookmarks, but i never got to make the amount i needed. ^^;
  

The table linens and backdrops are pink bed sheets snagged from wherever i could find them. So overall, while it took time and effort, it was fun and economical! Hope these resources inspire you like they inspired me!