The Party Press

Eat Your {Heart} Out

Meredith — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:42:57 +0000

Valentine’s Day might be one of my favorite holidays for kids. The crafty ideas are endless and let’s be honest… I’d use any excuse to steal a few more kisses from my little ones. We’ve spent the past few weeks doing all sorts of heart-filled activities and making treats to bring to today’s pre-school Valentine’s party (above.) Brownies on a stick? That’s it. So easy. Throw a little icing (or in this case melted pink candy melts with sprinkles) on top and you have yourself one cute treat that will literally have the kids “eating their hearts out!” I hope your day is filled with TONS of love and kisses. XOXO

Johnny’s {Toy Story 4} Birthday Party

Meredith — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 03:28:59 +0000

On December 8th, we packed up the toy boxes and went to “Infinity and Beyond” for (my little guy) Johnny’s 4th Birthday. He just now took an interest in the Toy Story series, so with his turning 4 it was only appropriate to premier “Toy Story 4!” And no worries… batteries (well, cookie batteries that is) were definitely included in this bash!

For the food, we chose a mexican theme from a local mexican joint (Buzz Spanish-mode Style) and did all sorts of goodies for dessert (pistachio cakes, sugar cookies, an awesome two-tiered cake and mini banana puddings.) As for the decor scheme, I chose the red gingham and went more in the direction of Woody’s western feel than any of the other characters. We tied Woody’s cow-print vest into the flatware wraps and table runners and of course, used “Johnny’s Toys” and “Sunnyside” boxes for added fun! I have never seen him so excited over toys in my life as he was when he opened all of the Toy Story goods, so if you have a little one who can recite the movie start to finish, I have loads of fun to share!

{CREDITS}
Photography/Hemmerlein Photography (excluding photos 4-middle, 5 and 7-Johnny), Styling + Paper Goods/MJ Paperie, Cake/Sahara Katz, Favor Cookies/The Cookie Jar

Merry Memory-Making {Our Christmas Cards}

Meredith — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 11:37:53 +0000

Well, they are wrapped up and out the door! I had to share our Christmas Card this year, which was a ball for me to do (especially the photo shoot…whew!) We chose a “Grinchy” theme this year since we A) love that book and B) love to goof around in my house and C) adore Dr. Seuss. I thought photo booth props would be the perfect way to capture the kiddos (and keep the focus FAR away from my already-incredibly-large belly!) I hope your holidays are full of fun, silliness and laughter and hope you find that ”Christmas, perhaps means a little bit more!” MERRY CHRISTMAS!

CREDITS
Photography, Card Design + Printing/MJ Paperie

Happy Thanksgiving

Meredith — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 21:07:54 +0000

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, party friends! I want to take this opportunity to thank you so much for your sweet comments, likes, follows, retweets and overwhelming support this year! What a fun year it’s been for me to meet all of you and your incredibly awe-inspiring talents. I learn something new and valuable from you everyday, so thank you for inspiring ME to inspire YOU! I hope you have a fun, relaxing day with bellies full of pure deliciousness and hearts full of extreme happiness. XOXOXO

CREDITS
Photography/Hemmerlein Photography

Thanksgiving {Place Setting} Inspiration

Meredith — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 12:56:16 +0000

Eeeeee!! Thanksgiving week is actually here. This is honestly one of my top three holidays (if not my absolute favorite!) Just good family time with great food and a lot of relaxation (well… toddlers bring a new meaning to that word, but you know what I mean!) Last year, before I launched The Party Press, I created a few place setting ideas for last minute inspiration through my paper store and thought I’d share them here with you this year. Your table doesn’t have to be a huge project, especially if you have dozens of other things to focus on (food, family, grocery shopping, etc.) so here are a few tips to help you glam your table up in no time!

{#1} If you’re into more of a natural look, this is super simples to replicate. All it takes is a strip of burlap for your table covering (you don’t even have to use one at all, if you’d rather skip it.) Next, round, brown place mats (these are from Bed, Bath and Beyond), pine cones and a strip of nice, fall fabric. In this case, I just took a brown damask and cut the fabric into pieces, creating cloth napkins. If you don’t know how to sew, no big deal. There are plenty of fabric glues out there, or you can choose not to reuse them. All you need is about a yard or two of fabric at MOST! CHEAP!

{#2} The second option is equally as easy to create, and you’ll notice that the kicker is in the cloth napkin. Again, I just took a fun napkin ring and a cute striped fabric and rolled it into a cloth napkin. The placemat (also from Bed, Bath and Beyond) is a nice way to bring a woodland look to your table with no extra fuss (and easy to clean, too!) I then headed out back, picked some leaves and we were good to go!
{#3} Option #3 is just another variation of the above (with a different napkin fold). Here I ran lovely fall garland down the center of the table and then took brown houndstooth fabric and cinched it in the center with a big satin bow. LOVE the bow and this literally takes as long as it does to tie a bow. If you have cloth napkins you’d like to use, no problem! Just tie a nice fall-colored bow to them in the center and you’re good to go!

And if you’re looking for some last minute Thanksgiving printables, you can find them HERE through MJ Paperie’s Custom Etsy shop!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, sweet friends!! xoxo

A {Boot Scootin’} Cowboy Birthday Bash

Meredith — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 14:03:59 +0000

Giddy Up, Partners! This Cowboy Birthday Bash is DOUBLE the fun! One of my greatest friends of all time threw the most adorable, boot-scootin’ birthday party for her two boys Brooks (4) and Sutton (1) back in September and when she asked me to do the invites for them, I jumped on the horse! So much fun, this project, and I couldn’t wait to share it with you. Tiffanie didn’t miss one beat, especially with the DARLING cardboard box village (jail, outhouse, general store!) BOY HOWDY! From the stick horse favors, to the incredible two-tiered cake to the pony rides and cute fabric, this party was full of fun for the little ones. (You want to know my VERY FAVORITE detail of it all? The “This Ain’t My First Rodeo” signage!) Pinch me now! Thanks, Tiffanie for letting me be such a big part of your birthday bash!

{CREDITS}
Photography/Micah Folsom Photography, Styling & Design/Tiffanie Seefeldt, Invitations/MJ Paperie on Etsy, Straws, Candy Cups/MJ Paperie, Cake/Cake Filley

Avery’s {Powder Puff Football} 2nd Birthday

Meredith — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 19:23:14 +0000

I believe I’m ready to do BIG CHEERS for the fact that “post first trimester” life in my house has drastically improved! Woo hoo! We made it through a rough few months, just in time for the fun and festivities of my kids’ fall and winter birthdays. A couple of weeks ago we celebrated Avery’s second birthday, “Powder Puff Football” style and had such a blast. Santucci Field (aka, our home) was full of family, sweet neighbors and cute kids who did exactly what we wanted them to do on a brisk, sunny, Saturday afternoon… play a game of backyard football! That was really the inspiration for the theme at the end of the day. We knew that there would be several great games on and that people would want to watch them so this was just a glorified, ruffled-up football-watching party that allowed us the chance to celebrate Avery’s birthday all at the same time!

The dessert table was (and always is) the highlight of the “game!” We called all guests to “Support the Avery High Powder Puff Football Team” with “concession stand” pricing attached to each item. From ruffled football cookies by the amazing gals at The Cookie Jar, to chocolate covered pretzels to a gorgeous ruffled football cake, there were plenty of things for grubby paws to feast on!

For munchies, we had the “Concession Stand” packed with pure goodness! My sweet friend, Carrie from Chic Eats Catering brought the most amazing spread from Ham & Gruyere Sliders to 4 cheese Mac n Cheese to Sun-dried Tomato BBQ Chicken Sliders to Beef Tenderloin Sliders. She topped the beef sliders off with a pesto or blue cheese butter sauce and they were DELISH!

And I can’t forget about the hot cocoa bar! I don’t remember a high school football game without hot chocolate, so we piled on the toppings (marshmallow stirring sticks, chocolate-dipped spoons, vanilla whipped cream, rolos, sauces and more) and stayed warm! On the day of the party, the high was 48, so it was just chilly enough for hot chocolate to make perfect sense! A great time was had by all as we cheered Avery on to another sweet year!

{CREDITS}
Photography/Hemmerlein Photography, Styling, Signage & Paper Goods/MJ Paperie, Cake/Sahara Katz, Catering/Chic Eats Catering, Striped Backdrop Fabric/JoAnn Fabric, Football Leg Warmers/My TuTu Boutique

Blue or Pink?

Meredith — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 11:31:01 +0000

I don’t normally dedicate posts solely to my personal life, but perhaps this will give you a glimpse into my absence over the past few weeks. My little family of four is GROWING (eek!!) and will welcome a new addition in mid April! I’d be fibbing if I said I felt like a million bucks (wish I could say that!) but unfortunately over the past two months, my “working hours” have turned into “resting hours” amidst the nausea and chasing two little ones around! Thank you for continuing to follow and for all of your precious submissions! It may take me a little bit longer to get to them, but rest assured I love ALL of your work and can’t wait to share it with my readers!

{a HUGE thanks, as always to Hemmerlein Photography for the sweet photos!}

A {Preppy} Blue & Green Rehearsal Dinner

Meredith — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 10:45:50 +0000

Oooooooh!! Cute rehearsal dinners make my heart sing! I’ll never forget the night before my wedding… the excitement, the antsiness, the happy tears – it was seriously magical! So, naturally when Ohio couple, Greg and Amanda’s big night came through my inbox from Black Box Photography, I jumped for joy! I’m also jumping over the darling color scheme in the navy and kelly green. The green damask runner over the navy linens is beautiful and gives this shindig a preppy, yet elegant feel. Blue and green are such a fun color combo for wedding events and I am literally melting over the darling navy candlesticks as centerpieces. From the ribbon-wrapped block vases to the white dishes and chairs to the drapery above, this party oozes with cuteness, just like the happy couple! The entire evening was designed by the bride with a degree in fashion merchandising… so fitting! Thank you so much for sharing… may you have MILLIONS of smiles throughout your life together!

CREDITS
Photography/Black Box Photography, Catering/A Taste of Excellence

Corporate Fundraisers Don’t Have to be Stuffy

Meredith — Wed, 05 Sep 2012 10:04:44 +0000

Hi! Elissa here from One Stone Events! You know those ‘rubber chicken’ dinners you are obligated to attend with your significant other for their job? Well, this is not one of those! Just because it’s a fundraiser or corporate event, doesn’t mean it has to be dull and lacking in creativity. And just because it looks beautiful, doesn’t mean we broke the bank, exceeded the budget or lost focus of the purpose: raising funds.

In my opinion, if you have an annual event with sponsors and guests who you want to continue to attend, you need to wow them a bit…make them look forward to the following year’s bash. This will also build the buzz and get you higher attendance, and in turn, help raise more money for your cause. Doesn’t it make sense?
When I was working for a non-profit organization as the Special Events Manager, this Gala raised a lot of money for Arts Education, and with a little bit of creative budget rearranging, we spent thousands less than the previous year.

While the concept and vision were mine, there was a great team of vendors who contributed to the design, the Ruth Eckerd Hall staff, a committee, event chairs and a ton of volunteers who helped pull off this fundraiser. As always, my hands were on a lot of the small details that day, in addition to running the event. For me, it’s those fine details that separate a spectacular event from the ‘rubber chicken’ dinners, which make it stand out. My design approach is always the same, whether it’s a wedding, a corporate function, a social gathering or backyard BBQ. There is no reason a party can’t be beautiful, on any budget. Creativity goes a long way.
This particular Gala was ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ inspired. There were performances from the students of the Hoffman Institute who we were raising money for, which was great entertainment for the guests (in addition to the professional entertainment). Combining my two greatest passions, event design and the arts is such a thrill for me and I continue to be blessed with opportunities to have my two worlds mesh.

While I do love the tablescapes and the gorgeous florals, my favorite detail to design at this event was the stage. I had 3 giant ‘swings’ built for guests to sit on. They weren’t functional swings, but visually, they looked amazing. We had a ‘pond’ as the dance floor and the movie ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ played on the floor as guests danced the night away. Placecards were rocks with names in calligraphy and we hand burned the edges of each of the 400 programs for the evening. Lanterns were everywhere and lighted globes hung from the trees. The road was blocked off and dinner was served under the trees. Adorable children from the institute greeted and performed for guests as they arrived. There were amazing auction items and entertainment and fabulous food and desserts, which were donated by many local restaurants. I can’t name all the details or all the vendors, but this is just a taste of a very memorable and beautifully philanthropic evening.

Elissa Stone is the Owner/Event Designer at One Stone Events. While she still does weddings and corporate functions, boutique parties are her specialty. Look for her brand new blog, coming in the next few weeks. For a full portfolio, connect with OSE on Facebook or visit www.onestoneevents.com

CREDITS
Event Concept + Styling/Elissa Stone of One Stone Events, Venue/Ruth Eckerd Hall, Photography/Captured By Galina, Florals/Dana Dineen Florals, Draping, Stage & Acrylic Furniture, lighted globes/IM Events, Spandex, cocktail florals, gobos, dance floor, linens/Concept Bait, Swings and custom cushions/Roger and Roberta Harvey, Fine Chocolates/ William Dean Chocolates