Party Pretty Design

It's Derby Time!

2013-04-15T12:50:00.002-04:00

Get your bets on! It's almost time for the 139th Kentucky Derby! It help inspire your Derby event, take a look at this party I designed last year. This client and her husband host their close friends annually for this famous horse race. She asked me to combine her existing decor elements with some fresh, new designs to style up a fun and festive event. If you recall, the argyle pattern and the royal blue, red and kelly green color palette were iconic for the 138th Kentucky Derby. Utilizing that theme and a free printable from hwtm.com, I styled up this simple, budget-friendly party.

I created oversized jockey jerseys for table centerpieces. Adding a simple rose bouquet in mint julep cups kept the design classic and spoke to the Kentucky Derby design.

The front doors welcomed guests with oversized horseshoes embellished with more iconic Kentucky Derby symbols...horses, roses, and "Run for the Roses" banners (again, from hwtm.com)

I love how the food buffet turned out. I recreated the argyle pattern to emphasize the theme for the 138th event. Spray painting horse cut-outs to match the color scheme made for such a fun garland across the front of the table.

The betting table!

Start planning your Derby party now... it's such a fun reason to get your friends to get dressed up and celebrate. Get your bets in!

Vendor credits:

Event design/styling, photography: Party Pretty Design

"Run for the Roses" printable: hwtm.com

Casino Royale Party Decorations {Pretty Tier}

2012-10-22T22:16:00.001-04:00

Party Pretty Design's Pretty Tier of Service offers clients the option of custom party decor elements of their choice to decorate their event as they choose. For this client, I created these casino murder mystery themed decorations. Centerpieces adorned with playing cards were created for her food buffet, while a custom "Lucky 7's" banner was made for her mantle. She also ordered a hanging sign for her front door to welcome her guests and set the tone for her event. Custom decorations are a good answer when the party store just doesn't have what you're looking for or what they do have just isn't the look you're going for. Click here to read more about Party Pretty's tiers of service.
PS Excuse the grainy Instagram shots…note to self: take pictures with your real camera for your website:)

Lanie's THREE-ki Party!

2012-10-02T10:30:00.000-04:00

There's beginning to be a chill in the air, so let's rewind to hot and steamy July when I styled up Lanie's THREE-ki Party! This lovely little lady had a special request for a hula girl party with lots of birds "like the Tiki Room in Disney". And that is exactly what I served up.

A special seat was reserved for all the little guests with our new tables and chairs (read all about them here and learn how to rent them here), dressed with leis for all to wear. The focal table made for an eye-catching background with lots of bright colors, and Lanie's special request of tropical birds sure weren't to be missed.

Party Mom had some simple, healthy spreads to add to the focal table and wowza, didn't she do an amazing job making them PRETTY? I filled the gaps with lots of tropical birds and dressed anything and everything in tiki attire.

For the kids tables, I went with a basic white tablecloth, but added a subtle splash of color with a striped runner. I created some tent signs and tropical birds (yes, I handmade those) for a simple, yet bold centerpiece. I love to mix patterns and I did this again for each place setting. By alternating the setting, I was able to add lots of color and visual interest to the small space.

Lanie's friends each had a luau sipper cup filled with chocolate candies as a take home favor along with their leis. I added a simple coordinating tag to each cup to help carry the hula girl theme through.

By the end of the night, everyone had a little spring in their step singing Disney's "Tiki Room" while they celebrated at Lanie's THREE-ki party!

Vendor Credits:

Event Styling, Photography: Party Pretty Design

Digital Graphics: Luau Party by BabyStar Design via MyGrafico

Digital Papers: Funky Dot Papers by Cupcake Cutiees via MyGrafico

Now renting children's tables and chairs!

2012-09-13T10:10:00.001-04:00

It's even easier to host kids at your home! Party Pretty Design is pleased to add these adorable kids tables and chairs to our menu of items. If you recognize the name TableTops for Tots, then you recognize the quality of these products. And now, Party Pretty is offering them to you to rent for your next event. Renting the tables/chairs is easy and simple! They can be delivered to your doorstep or you can pick them up in store! And while you're at it, why not dress them up with some custom party decor or have them styled up to the nines! Birthday parties, Thanksgiving dinner, play dates....the events are endless!

Email us at partyprettydesign@gmail.com for rental information and more details, or click here!

Sophisticated High School Graduation

2012-08-06T15:29:00.002-04:00

A sophisticated and preppy style is what young Jalen exudes. His respected attitude and fine manners are much to be admired by people his age. I had the honor of styling Jalen's graduation this summer and while most of you are thinking "we're just getting BACK to school"...this party exemplifies planning early to get the finer details together. Jalen's mom and I went to high school together and I'm honored to know her. She is a stellar single, working mom AND an entrepreneur (see her awesome business here). We crossed paths again at a vendor show late fall last year and she booked me right then and there. And lucky for her, because by the time spring rolled around, I was booked for graduation season (HINT, HINT).

Guests were welcomed with a poster print "movie release"of Jalen's graduation done by kieraphoto. This set the tone of the party with a sophisticated, stylish picture of Jalen. For the party room, I created three focal areas to highlight different aspects of the event and of Jalen's career. I used old books, chemistry beakers, other "big boy" school supplies to create a look that spoke to Jalen.

For starters the seating area and dessert table spoke of his high school career. Styled around the black, old gold, and white colors of his high school, the dessert table had a big pop with the mod fabric back drop. The finer detail of the "Class of 2012" ribbon in gold really brought the old gold into play. In the seating area, Jalen's collection of honors were pulled together to create centerpieces.

The food buffet and mantle area focused on his college choice. I created a simple design incorporating the college colors and collegiate letters to emphasize the university. The food menu was written on a chalkboard to give the "school" effect and all the food items were named for places on campus.

Finally, the favor and gift table pulled all the concepts together. Photo collages made a nice backdrop for the gift table and I carried decor concepts from the rest of the party onto this table to keep the room flowing. For the favor table, Jalen chose a great quote about the journey of life and had them printed on luggage tags (see the connection...journey...luggage? CLEVER!) as a token of his appreciation. I displayed the tags in a briefcase to tie in the school, college, job theme and wrote the quote on another chalkboard to pull the whole look together. Guests signed a copy of "OH! The Places You'll Go!" as a keepsake for Jalen.

P
Planning early always allows the finer details that speak volumes to shine through. Jalen's senior pictures were taken by the very, talented and dear friend Kiera of kieraphoto. We all worked together to come with great ways to incorporate Jalen's beautiful pictures into the party. The glittery cake bunting detail was handmade by The Purple Pug who closed up shop late spring because she was BOOKED. So, while you're gearing up your kids for back to school, gear up for the end of the year and start thinking about graduation. I only book three graduation parties and one spot is already stolen:)

Vendor Credits:

Event styling, photography, paperie: Party Pretty Design

Poster Prints/Photobooks and respective photography: kieraphoto

Cake Bunting: The Purple Pug

Custom Graduation Decor {Pretty Tier}

2012-08-01T12:13:00.000-04:00

Here is a great example of my Pretty Tier of service. This party mom is uber-talented in design and had all the skills to pull together a beautiful graduation party for her daughter. What she needed help with were the finishing touches and that's where Party Pretty Design came in to play. She hired me to create some paperie to complete the look of her event. Take a look at what we came up with together.

Whether your as talented as this mom, or your budget just calls for some simple decor elements, be sure to contact us for your party details. Why go to the party store and buy generic when you can have custom, unique designs?!

Mod Safari Birthday

2012-07-26T14:33:00.001-04:00

Jungle Man Tristan celebrated his 6th Birthday safari style last month. I pulled color inspiration from the invitation we used by Life Events Handmade Design (seen here) and styled up this modern safari. Lots of bright blue and lime greens combined with the neutral tone of burlap really made this party shine. Each child had a special seat with a safari hat and binoculars waiting for them. Games included "Monkey Tail" where each child had a streamer attached to them and the last one with it still attached was winner, "Safari Scavenger Hunt" and Animal Freeze Tag.

Take a look at all the style that this small party served up!

Vendor Credits:

Photography and Event Styling: Party Pretty Design

Invitations: Event123

Fruits of the Future

2012-07-05T12:32:00.002-04:00

It's hard to believe that some kids are starting school already within the month. A great way to get kids excited about school and to allow them to meet classmates is to have a "Back to School" party. The party I'm featuring today is actually a Kindergarten graduation party I had the honor of styling for my son's kindergarten class back in the spring. Wonderful Mrs. Berry and Mrs. Sales were his teachers so to play on their names and the "Fruits of the Spirit" unit they ended the school year with, I went with "Fruits of the Future" as the theme and styled up a fruit stand. I loved this design a lot because I love, love, love bright colors and this party offered up lots of them. The menu was simple....lots of fruit, some marshmallows...and chocolate fondue!

Along with the "Berry" Stand, I styled up a special seating area for the graduating "Berry-ies". Beautiful cupcakes were made by the talented Kelly Lewark. I custom designed all the signage and it's available for purchase, just email me for details.

Fruit for "Sales" was a play on words for Mrs. Sales. It was $20/12 lbs.....get it? 2012!

Vendor Credits:

Paperie, photography, and event styling: Party Pretty Design

Cupcakes: Kelly Lewark

Graphics: Fruit Time by Revi Devi via MyGrafico

Berry boxes: Garnish

A Girly Owl Baby Shower

2012-06-26T10:19:00.000-04:00

Today, I bring you this bright and cheery owl-themed baby shower thrown in honor of two lovely parents-to-be. Mom-to-be Melissa knew she wanted a owl themed shower and when the family found out a girl was on the way it was all PINK from there. Bright pink, light pink, lime green and white were requested to make this a super girly shower. An amazing diaper cake was designed and created by the talented Kay of Blue River Baby Shoppe. The amount of detail to this cake was crazy!!!

The shower was open house style to allow lots of friends and family come visit and shower the out-of-town parents-to-be. Delicious cupcake, cake pops, and a beautiful cake by Heavenly Sweets rounded out the dessert table.

I was honored to have the very amazingly talented Jennifer Driscoll do photography of the event.

Paperie and event styling: Party Pretty Design

Photography: Photos by Jennifer

Graphics: Hoot! Hoot! by JW Illustrations via MyGrafico

Cake, cake pops, cupcakes: Heavenly Sweets

A Cowgirl Birthday

2012-06-14T18:31:00.001-04:00

Giddy Up Pardner! Back in April (yes, I'm behind, very behind) Cowgirl Emma celebrated her 6th birthday Ranch style with this girly cowgirl party. Her grandparents barn made the perfect backdrop for this party. For weeks we had gorgeous weather and as luck would have the cool weather rolled in with lots of rain. Lucky for us, the wet stuff held off during the party. For this event, I went with pale pink, navy and cream to tie together boys and girls in attendance. Take a look at the details that made everyone in attendance say "YEEHAW!"

Vendor Credits:

Paperie, photography and event styling: Party Pretty Design

Kids Tables : Tabletops for Tots

Rustic First Holy Communion

2012-05-01T22:43:00.001-04:00

Anthony celebrated his First Holy Communion early last month and mom took advantage of my Prettier tier of service and ordered up some custom decor to pull together the design she had in mind. We pulled inspiration from an Evite that she sent out and it worked beautifully....boyish, yet very bright, sophisticated and fun. I made a custom welcome sign, front entry welcome setup, along with centerpieces and a banner to go along with the fun decor that Anthony's mom had setup. Beautiful coordinating cupcakes were done by the talented Kelly Lewark. Take a look at how some simple custom decor items can help make a party Party Pretty!

Vintage Bridal Shower

2012-05-01T21:49:00.002-04:00

Vintage met beauty at this beautiful bridal shower. A lovely bride that has a love for all things vintage was showered with lots of love and blessings from friends and family early last month. For this event, I took her a couple of her favorite loves, crosswords and postcards, along with vintage style to create a design special and unique to just her.

Emily loves crosswords so guest were greeted with a custom mini crossword where the clues revealed the answers "Welcome", "Emily", "Bridal" and "Shower". I added some vintage lace to dress the sign up along with a custom crossword florette.

A light lunch was served with surprise catering by the bride-to-be's best friend. He served up a delectable meal that left everyone wanting more. I always feel that traditional food tags get lost in admidst all the platters so I designed a unique menu board that tied all the design concepts together well. I really think it was my favorite part of the whole design!

The dessert bar offered up several desserts from Red Velvet Cupcakes to Three Berry Bars and Raspberry Chocolate Mousse. I topped the cupcakes with custom toppers I created out of crosswords. I kept variety going by topping some with crosswords paper spheres and some with just simple crossword flags. I left quite a few undressed so as to show off the beauty of the cupcakes themselves!

The gift table featured more simple vintage elements. I fell in love with the display board made of wire heart as soon as I laid eyes on it. I decided to make wish tags so that guests could write a personal message to Emily. Postcard collecting is another pastime of Emily's so I found a vintage postcard design here which I customized into tags. I tied jute twine on them to keep the vintage feel while at the same time allowing the guests to hang up their message.

The favor area displayed a custom bunting made of crosswords letters and a vintage suitcase filled with an electric mix of glass jars. I sprayed these jar with "looking glass" spray that the bride's sister had (since discontinued as we found) that made ordinary glass jars look "vintage". We dressed some up with lace and added a votive to each to finish the look.

Credits:

Event Styling and Photography: Party Pretty Design

Stripey Straws: Pick Fair

Bicycle Bridal Shower

2012-04-11T21:52:00.003-04:00

Spring is the season for bridal showers and it is a beautiful time of year to have them. With the sun shining and flowers starting to bloom, everyone gets in the mood for a good time. This bridal shower was no different and the design I styled up was all about spring and love in bloom. The bride-to -be and her fiancé have a love for biking and coupling that with the idea that marriage is a "bicycle built for two" I styled up a shower that had a good mix of pattern and color.

Vendor Credits:

Event Styling, Photography, and Paperie: Party Pretty Design

Digital Papers: Solo Digital Papers by Shery K via MyGrafico

Clip Art: Goodness&Fun via MyGrafico

A Little Lady's Luau

2012-03-14T12:23:00.000-04:00

Looks like this little lady's wishes for warm weather are coming true! Last month, when party girl Lauren decided to have a luau for her birthday, we only thought about breaking out the flip flops.
Still in love with cheeseburgers, party mom was desperate for another party idea since all her daughter wanted was a "cheeseburger" party again. If you remember last year, we styled up Lou's Diner for her (see here). So this year, we served up Cheeseburgers in Paradise and went with Lauren's Luau! I styled up this birthday party with lots of bright colors and Luau love. The menu included Cheeseburgers in Paradise (of course!), "Hula" Hoop (aka donuts), Tater Tot Totem Poles, Fruit Kabobs, and Luau Lemonade.
The little ladies enjoyed games like Luau Limbo, a "Hula" Hoop marathon, and a Totem Pole toss. At the end of night, everyone took home a pair of flip flops to enjoy when warmer weather arrived.

Phineas and Ferb Inspired Birthday

2012-02-29T13:26:00.000-05:00

Last month, my little guy celebrated his 6th birthday. And of course, he is the king of character parties. I think he knows his sister does parties like rocks, and buttons, so he goes the complete opposite direction of unique and different. So, what I do I do, attempt to make it unique and different:) Phineas and Ferb and all the gang were the characters of choice for this year's celebration. I put a spin on them by dressing them up in lots of orange, turquoise and black. Add in lots of pattern and you've got quite the celebration on your hands!

The little guests were greeted with a tattoo bar until everyone arrived. And then it was party on, with fun games like "Candace's You're so Busted Balloon Pop"(all the kids had a balloon tied around their ankle and the object was to pop everyone else balloon, but save their own), "Pin the Tail on Perry the Platypus" (you know, the classic), Baljeet's Blindman's Buff and "Where's Agent P? (we had lots of little Agent P images hidden in the room and each child had to find five).

A sundae bar and cupcakes rounded out the party, with each of the little guests going home with a Phineas pez dispenser, themed notebook, and puzzle.

He's doesn't ham it up...at all. And don't mind Perry's discoloration in the background..nothing like running out of colored ink the day of the party.

Credits:

Custom paperie and photography: Party Pretty Design

Phineas and Ferb signs, buckets, puzzles and stickers: Target

Phineas and Ferb notebooks: Wal-Mart

Phineas Pez Dispensers: Dollar Tree

Pin the Tail on Perry: DisneyFamily.com

Rustic Modern Breakfast

2012-02-16T22:26:00.002-05:00

When a friend approached me about designing a fundraising breakfast for a local philanthropy I was honored and excited all the same time. To give back to society is an important part of my life and to be able to do it through one of my designs brings me much joy. The Youth Mentoring Initiative is a local community funded program that provides mentors to high school students. This was their first fundraising breakfast and it was a successful one at that. The theme of the breakfast was a spin on the family tree, and while it is the branches of this tree that most can look up to, those without a strong family tree need a "Mentoring Tree". The Mentoring Tree, along with YMI's bright logo colors of lemon yellow, lime green and sky blue inspired this design. I took lots of rustic, natural concepts and coupled them with bright mod patterns and prints. I loved, loved, loved how it all pulled together. Thanks YMI for allowing me to be a small part of your amazing program.

A big part of the breakfast was an activity where guests had to write mentor qualities and characteristics on the leaves. These leaves were then attached to the centerpiece trees. And yes, I made them use pencils because they went so nicely with my design:)

Special thanks to ReviDevi with MyGrafico for working with me to create some of the printables for this design. Click here to buy the printable party pack inspired by this event design.

Credits:

Styling, select paperie, and photography: Party Pretty Design
Trail Mix favor tags: Green Dot Circles by Revidevi via MyGrafico
Napkin wraps, Welcome Table table scatters, menu embellishments: Oh La La Trees by Revidevi via MyGrafico

A La Carte Service - Star Wars Inspired Elements

2012-01-31T11:15:00.000-05:00

Whether it's to add a personal touch, or it's that you can't find the perfect the decor, or maybe you have a unique look you're going...sometimes you just need a few elements of party design. You can still contact Party Pretty Design for those "a la carte" needs! Here, for fun-loving Jude's 4th birthday, I designed a custom backdrop and welcome sign, as well as packaged favors and cupcake toppers.

I can entertain myself for hours with my quirky wit. Case and point...the above sign:). If you laughed, you're right there with me.

No matter how small your party need may be, Party Pretty Design is here to help make your celebration unique and special....and most importantly, easier on you!!!

Vendor Credits:

Photography and Paperie: Party Pretty Design

Stormtrooper and Darth Vader graphics: Sirrob01

Hello Kitty Inspired Design

2012-01-18T21:34:00.005-05:00

Cute Natalie turned four and wanted to celebrate Hello Kitty style. For this event, my client was having her daughter's event at a local pottery place so she just need some simple elements and favor bags to complete her event. I created some custom centerpieces and a focal table to host the cake and favors. Sometimes custom decor is just what is needed to make a simple party say "wow!"

Vendor Credits:

Custom paperies, photography and styling: Party Pretty Design

Hello Kitty stickers, cake and wrapping paper: Target

Pink and Grey Rock Birthday Party

2011-11-22T00:21:00.001-05:00

My little Mila turned four last week. Hard to believe, not just because she is growing up so fast, but also because she acts like she's 14. We're in big trouble, right?! While she has big personality, she loves her little things. At any given moment, she is playing with a pile of buttons, beads, or rocks. So it was no big surprise that she wanted to have a rock themed birthday party. Here's a glimpse of the ROCKing party I styled up for her. From fancy rocks, to chocolate rocks, to a story about a magic rock....crafts that included rock necklaces, pet rocks, and maracas (ma-ROCK-cas, get it?).....we ROCKed it at this fancy fourth birthday.

Someone told the penguins there was a party. They dressed up.

Those are chocolate rocks! Love when fate crosses my path.

Vendor Credits:

Event design, photography, custom papery, and custom favor bags: Party Pretty Design

Digital Paper: A Parisian Anthology by Blackleaf Studios via MyGrafico and Parisian Chic by Clementine Digital via MyGrafico

Straws and Cupcake Liners: Shop Sweet Lulu

Peacock-Inspired Wedding Design

2011-11-22T00:17:00.001-05:00

An amazing evening with an amazing couple! Here are shots of the peacock themed wedding I did for Gavin and Amanda. I truly enjoyed this whole experience and loved how all the designs turned out. Stay tuned for the professional pics:)

Rehearsal Dinner Design

2011-11-13T22:15:00.000-05:00

There really isn't much to say about this rehearsal dinner design I did this past weekend. It was simple, stately, and very personal. The groom is an avid, avid University of North Carolina fan so the color scheme spoke loudly to him as I made the focal color UNC blue and paired it with a simple grey. The bride, like any fine lady, hearts all things shiny and thanks to Master of Glitter, The Purple Pug, shiny was present via her handmade centerpiece signs. The Pug definitely rocks for designing those beauties just I envisioned in my crazy little head. To couple the signs, I made personalized "F" tags to hang on the mini wine bottles to create an even more personal look. I simply filled the mini wine bottles with blue dyed water to give the concrete tables a nice pop of color.

Vendor Credits:

Event Design and Photography: Party Pretty Design

Personalized Centerpiece Signs: The Purple Pug

Autumn Inspired Baby Shower

2011-11-13T21:56:00.001-05:00

I kicked off a whirlwind weekend of events with this Autumn inspired baby shower. Sweet Mandy is expecting her first baby, a boy at that, and so a very kind co-worker hosted this event for her. Party Hostess served all kinds of home cookin' from homemade baked beans to pulled pork to some really yummy cheesy potatoes. Take a look at this warm, inviting shower design that has a splash of fun in it. And then head over to MG Party Impressions for a DIY on my pumpkin back drop!

Vendor Credits:

Event Design/Paperie- Party Pretty Design

Navy Gingham Papers - Lemonade Stand Papers by Goodness & Fun via MyGrafico

Diaper Cake - Smiling Girl Designs

Cupcakes - Gigi's Cupcakes

Select Photography - Amy Chamberlain

Ladies Evening Out

2011-11-09T11:11:00.001-05:00

And finally, a long overdue post of my designs from the Ladies Evening Out event on October 15. On a sunny day in early July, I spoke with the wonderful, wonderful Jenn Kampmeier about sponsoring this event and designing the registration area, as well as a 25 woman baby shower she would be hosting as a part of the day. I look back on that day and am so thankful for the wonderful opportunity Jenn gave me and the faith she had, and continues to have in me. As a woman entrepreneur, there isn't a better person for to me have found than Jenn. She is A-MAZING. If there is someone that truly wants to see success for women out there it's her. Thanks Jenn, I'm happy to say you're a role model, business partner, and friend.

If you didn't have the opportunity to come to this event and see these designs in person, you definitely need to join us on November 17 for the Posh Pre-Holiday Event (6pm-9pm, The Monon Center, Carmel). Lots of boutique shopping in a beautiful venue and more designs by yours truly:)

Vendor Credits:

Event Design - Party Pretty Design

Photography- Lauren Schmees Photography

Sponsor Signs: 216 Arrow

Diaper Cake: Smiling Girl Designs

"B" is for Baby printable papers - Carnival Fun Papers by Goodness & Fun via MyGrafico

Colts Table - Party Tree and Tabletops for Tots Collaborative Event

2011-10-20T18:47:00.001-04:00

Our Indianapolis Colts aren't doing so hot, but game time is still a good excuse to have a party! I styled up these kid's party tables from Tabletops for Tots at Party Tree in Carmel. The two business have teamed up to bring all the Indy party people even more convenience....Party Tree is now a pick up/drop off site for Tabletops! How convenient!
Take a look at my fun design on these super cute tiny people tables! All the products seen are available at Party Tree; however the finishing touches to pull the design together are only available through yours truly:)!

Business of the Month - A Halloween Tablescape

2011-10-04T16:54:00.001-04:00

I was honored to be Carmel M&I's Business of the Month for October! It was the perfect opportunity to style this whimsy and not-so-scary Halloween table design. Stay tuned for details on how I went about creating this "monster"piece. Come on, it's funny:)

Credits:

Photography, party styling: Party Pretty Design

Digital papers: Halloween Papers by Clementine Digital via MyGrafico, Halloween by Shery K Designs via MyGrafico