Prisoners of Love Bridal Shower

I recently had the honor of hosting a bridal shower for my friend.  She works as a Victim Advocate and is marrying an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney.  So, these are two people who have dedicated their careers to catching criminals and getting justice for victims of crime.  I thought a law enforcement themed bridal shower would be pretty fun, especially since almost everyone attending the shower would be their co-workers.  The official theme of the shower was "Prisoners of Love".  We had a blast!

The Invitation-  As the followers of this blog know, I am a big fan of creating a PDF or image file and emailing the invitation to guests.  This saves paper and maintains the integrity of your design.  If this had been a more formal shower, I would have printed out the invitations and mailed them, but as we all work in the same office, email was the perfect way to get the word out.  The benefit of the image file was that I could also print a couple color copies to hang in the office as a reminder.

 

The Decor - To go along with the theme - basically a mix of love and crime - I incorporated the colors from the invite, turquoise and red, to come up with a centerpiece.  All the tables had red roses in a turquoise vase surrounded by handcuffs or shackles (that the probation department kindly let me borrow for the afternoon!) 

 

The Activity - The guest of honor wanted NO GAMES.  And, of course, I listened to the bride-to-be!  But we had to have something fun to pass the time and make this more than just a luncheon with presents.   It was decided to have a photo booth.  I'd seen photo booths at weddings, run by professionals, but as this was a lower-budget affair, the co-host and I created our own photo booth with a twist.  We made a WANTED poster out of a cardboard display board.  I found a bunch of crimes - some from the Ohio Revised Code that were actual crimes, and some that we just made up for fun.  The "crimes" people could choose from were: Assaulting a Police Horse, Running an Illegal Gambling Ring, Hoarding Fabulous Shoes, Doing the "Footloose" Dance in a Public Place, Swearing in Front of Women and Children, Public Intoxication, Misuse of a Public Transportation System, Driving Too Slowly, Stealing Doug's (the groom's) Heart, etc.  Actually, at the shower, the bride-to-be started looking through the crimes and assigned them to different people, which in itself was pretty funny.  Plenty of props were around so people could be as silly as they wanted to be.

 

The Bonus - I edited all the photos from the shower and put them in an album for the bride as a keepsake of the day.  I also posted all the photos on an online site so that all the guests could laugh at the photos.  I filtered some photos in sepia tone or black and white so they would look more old-timey. 

A Party at the End of the World

There has been a lot of speculation that the world will end on December 21, 2012.  This belief is based on the calculation that a calendar made by the Mayans literally ENDS on that date. 

So, what better way to spend the last day of our existence than to have a rocking party, surrounded by our friends?  It's the last day to confess our transgressions, tell our friends how much we love them, and drink one last glass of scotch before God knows what disaster will happen on the morrow.  

Note that December 21, 2012 is a Thursday, but most people probably won't mind attending a mid-week party.  Just start a little earlier than usual.  I mean, it's the LAST DAY OF THE WORLD, so it's not like anyone will have to go to work in the morning anyways. 

HOSTESS IDEAS

ATTIRE - If this really is the last day of your life, what do you want to wear?  I say, tell the guests to wear whatever clothes they want to wear once more before the END OF TIME.  For me, this is going to be a fabulous floor-length gown, probably a boa, and definitely my wedding tiara.  For my husband, it is going to be his jammies. 

FOOD - Well, for once in our lives, calories REALLY don't count.  So you might as well indulge.  I'm thinking cheesecake, and sausages wrapped in bacon, and caviar.  NO veggie trays in sight.  Is there a food you always thought you should try before you die?  Order some of that for the party.

BEVERAGES - You might as well drink whatever you want because the best thing about the world ending is that you don't have to worry about a hangover.  Yay!

ACTIVITIES - Maybe you could play the old party game "I Never".  It seems really poignant now doesn't it?  Thinking that if you have to drink because you "never" did something, you really will never get a chance to do it now?   (To think my life is over and I never got a tattoo in a naughty place.  Sigh.)  Or maybe everyone has to make an end of the world confession.  They can have the chance to get some secret off their chest before the earthquakes, meteor, floods, and/or lava destroy the earth tomorrow. 

PLAY LIST - Okay.   I worked a long time on this.  I think I have most of the Apocolypse-related music here.  Let me know if I missed any songs we should play before the world ends.

"Until the End of the World"- U2

"It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"- REM

"1999"- Prince

“Learn to Fly” - Foo Fighters

"Until the World Ends"- Britney Spears

"The End" - The Doors

"Five Feet High and Risin'” - Johnny Cash

"When the Levee Breaks" - Memphis Minnie/Led Zeppelin

"So Long It's Been Good to Know You" - Woody Guthrie

"Black Diamond Bay" - Bob Dylan

“Flirtin’ with Disaster” - Molly Hatchet

“Apocalypse Please” – Muse

“The Day the Whole World Went Away” – Nine Inch Nails

“London Calling” - The Clash

“99 Red Balloons” – Nena

“Bad Moon Rising” - Credence Clearwater Revival

“King of the World” - Steely Dan

“1812 Overture (Finale)” - Tchaikovsky

 “I Don’t Want to Wait (For our lives to be over)” - Paula Cole

“The Final Countdown” - Europe

“Death is Not the End” - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (by Bob Dylan)

“I Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing” – Aerosmith

“Highway to Hell” - AC/DC

“End of the Road” - Boyz 2 Men

“The End of the World” – Skeeter Davis

“Nothin’ But Flowers” – Talking Heads

“When the World Ends” - Dave Matthews Band

“Rapture” – Blondie

“Black Hole Sun” - Soundgarden

“Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” – Bob Dylan (but love the Edie Brickell version)

“Gimme Shelter” - Rolling Stones

“O Fortuna” – from Carmina Burana (Carl Orff)

 

These songs are more on the funny/ironic side -

“Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” – Eric Idle

“Get Happy” – Judy Garland

“Come Sail Away” – Styx

“Apocolypso” – Jimmy Buffett

“Tomorrow” – from Annie

“Let it Be” – the Beatles

“Adios and Vaya Con Dios” – Zac Brown Band

“I’ll Fly Away” – O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack

“Last Dance” - Donna Summer

“People Get Ready” – I love the Ziggy Marley version

“Wastin’ Time” – Kid Rock

“The End” – The Beatles

Olympics Party Ideas

So, it's party time again.  This time, it's a London Olympics themed birthday party for yours truly.  My birthday is during the Olympics!!!!!  That's too fun to miss.  But you can have a London Olympics party at your house, whether it's your birthday or not.  Here are some ideas.

1.  English food - I'm thinking Cornish pasties (made ahead of time and frozen for easy party prep), Welsh rarebit (look it up - it's not rabbit, it's basically cheese fondue), and Pan Haggerty (potatoes, cheese, and onions - the perfect side dish!).  You could always serve some English cheese with chutney and table water crackers as an extra appetizer.  Add some scones or shortbread if you need something sweet!  English beer (Boddington's, Newcastle) would be a nice addition.  Or maybe go with an "around the world" approach to beer and get a six pack from imports of several different countries.

2.  The GAMES - Have your own mini Olympics.  Here are some event ideas to get you started:

Beerathalon – Contestants will drink a 12 oz beer and then run approximately 1/10 mile to the finish line.  First person to cross the finish line gets the gold.

Pistol – Competitors will use Super Soaker water guns to try to knock a ball off of a traffic cone from a distance.  To add a challenge, the competitors will simultaneously be shot with water guns from spectators as they try to hit their target.  First one to knock the ball off the cone wins.  May require several elimination rounds to determine the gold medalist.  (Competitors may want to bring an extra shirt to the party.)

Greco-Roman Arm Wrestling – Men and Women will have separate competitions.  Opponents will face off across a table at the ancient sport of arm-wrestling.  All competitors may be given a toga to wear during competition. May require several elimination rounds to determine the gold medalist.

Rhythmic gymnastics – Athletes will be given a ribbon on a stick and must make up and perform a short rhythmic gymnastics routine to music that may be chosen ahead of time by the competitor (or will be chosen by the host on the day of the party).  Routines may contain various gymnastic moves and ribbon tricks.  Points for creativity, form, choreography, and use of the ribbon. Points will be deducted for dropping the ribbon, cursing, and stepping out of bounds.  Highest score wins.  

3. Judges/Refs - Some people at the party need to be judges and referees.  Recruit people if they won't volunteer. 

4. The Awards - So, the winners have to get something, right?  Make gold medals or give out some other gold prize to the winners (Gold Tequila?)  You might choose a "national anthem" for each contestant and play it if they win.  My personal anthem would be "Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News.  (Don't you dare judge me.)

5.  The Actual Olympics - You've gotta have the Games playing on a couple TVs.  NBC promises great coverage this year.  Maybe even get a projector to have them play on the side of your garage for some fabulous outdoor viewing. Leave out some rules for Olympic drinking games.  (Examples: every time they play the Olympic theme song you drink, every time a commentator makes a really obvious observation you drink, every time you pick the winner all the other people in the room have to drink.)

6. Decorations - Clearly, you've gotta have Olympics rings on everything.  Also, flags of other countries would be great decor.  I like DIY water bottle labels to bring your theme to the people.  And be sure to label the bar the "Official Bar of the 2012 Olympic Games"  and the bathroom "The Official Bathroom of the 2012 Olympic Games." 

Party like an Olympian!!

Wedding Colors - Tips, Trends, and Choices

Picking your wedding colors?  It's kind of a big thing, isn't it?  Color has to be decided for the bridesmaid dresses, the flowers, the napkins, cake, and the invitations, among other things.  Much has changed since your mother made your father wear a powder blue tuxedo to their 1976 wedding.  Read on.

The Basics of Wedding Color

Pick a color scheme and stick with it.  Receptions look amazing when things are coordinated.  (Note, coordinated is not the same as "matchy-matchy."  Don't go totally overboard making things match.)

There are NO rules on how many colors you can have for your wedding.  Go monochromatic, or have the whole rainbow.  It’s entirely up to you.  Also, color can be a focal point, or it can be completely understated.  Either option can be totally beautiful. 

The elusive "Understated Multi-color Look".  So beautiful!

I would advise that you keep some white or ivory or some muted color in the decoration scheme.  Some brides have brightly colored or black tablecloths and it ends up looking like a prom instead of a wedding. (Unless "Enchantment Under the Sea" is the wedding theme you are shooting for.) 

So, how to choose your wedding colors?  

Some brides just KNOW what colors they want, and others have a really difficult time making a decision.  I've come up with several ways to choose wedding colors.  Which one works for you?

1. Consider my post on choosing two wedding words and how your two words can impact your color choice.  Your color can really help the mood you are trying to create for your wedding.

2. Consult your bridesmaids on what color dress they would like, or alternatively, what they would HATE.  Or at least think about their skin tone/hair color when choosing a dress color.  With their preferences in mind, choose a dress.  Then use that dress color as the main color for the wedding, or pick one or more colors that coordinate with that color.  Those colors are your official wedding colors.  Good to Note: all the dresses don't have to be the same color.  I saw a stunning bridal store display with alternating bridesmaid dresses in green and yellow, surrounding a white clad bride.  Talk about a striking combination!  

3. Look at your venue for the ceremony or reception.  If the entire church is salmon colored, don’t pick bright orange for your flowers and bridesmaid dresses.  Talk about clashing!  Gross.  If your reception is at a college, and school colors dominate the room, choose colors that are the same as those, OR that coordinate with those, OR at least don’t clash with those.  The colors of your reception space could really help with the overall design of your reception, IF you work with it and not against it.  For example, if your reception site has navy chairs, go with a color scheme that incorporates navy.  Then there is zero need to buy chair covers and your decorations will really coordinate with the space.  Also, if you are having a destination wedding, such as at the beach, go with “beachy” colors like blue, white, and tan.  Or if your destination is New Orleans, think about the traditional Mardi Gras hues of purple and gold.

4. Consider the season.  Great choices for particular seasons are:

·         Winter 

o       Navy and silver

o       Icy blue and white

o       Crimson and green

o       Green and ivory

o       White and silver and ivory

o       Gold and red

o       Purple

o       Black and white

·         Spring

o       Yellow and green

o       Yellow and red – think tulips, not McDonald's

o       Green – different shades

o       Light blue and green

o       Pastels – think charming English garden bouquet

o       Pink

o       Light blue, yellow, white

·         Summer

o       Bright multi-color – all the brightest summer flowers

o       Red, orange, yellow, green

o       Blue

o       Pink and green

o       Yellow and ivory

o       Grey and any bright accent color

·         Fall

o       Brown and lime green

o       Brown, orange, red/yellow

o       Your football team’s colors

o       Wheat and green/cream/orange/brown

o       Sky blue

o       Purple

o       Red

If you have any more ideas on favorite color combos for a particular season, please leave them in the comments!

Good to Note - the Two-Color-Combo trend is kind of over.  When you want two dominant colors, like say, yellow and blue, don't stick with one bright yellow and one shade of blue for everything from flowers to dresses to bows.  Consider doing a mix of lemon yellow, pale yellow, navy, baby blue, beige, and white.  This really takes your pallette to the next level in terms of sophistication. 

5. Speak with a florist.  Talk to your florist about what kinds of flowers she recommends, especially for the time of year of the wedding.  If she can show you a must-have, fabulous bouquet for your wedding, just go with that color scheme for everything else.  They have bridesmaid dresses in every single color of the rainbow, so I’m sure you’ll be able to coordinate.

6. Is there a color that is meaningful to you and your spouse?  For example, the colors of the school where you met, or maybe your unique engagement rings has emeralds and you want to go with an emerald color scheme.  Which color makes you HAPPY?

7. Head to the paint store with your fiancé and choose a few colors that you both like.  It’s not rocket science!  Maybe you’ll think up some amazing combinations together.  Do you want to go with pale blue, midnight blue, a swampy green, or all three? 

8. Be practical.  Your best friend got married last year and is willing to give you all of her red, black, and white centerpieces, candles, and gorgeous table runners.  The money you will save on decorations might be enough to convince you that red, black, and white are your new favorite colors!

Charming DIY paper and cloth decorations by bride Shannon Reitz Nye gave her late

summer wedding a fun burst of color.  Photo by Eileen Magno Grubb.

Progressive Party - House Pub Crawl

You may have heard of Progressive Dinner Parties – this is a variation on that. A Progressive Dinner Party is when each course of a meal is served at a different home. Kind of like a traveling potluck dinner. On Wikipedia, I read about a more complicated Progressive Party where the guests also change from house to house, so you get to party with a whole new crowd at each stop. The overly complicated directions (and pretty diagrams!) for that are at this link. Good luck explaining that one in an invitation!

My friends threw a Progressive Party/House Pub Crawl that the group still talks about today. I wanted to impart this idea to you in hopes that you will have an equally epic night.

Once upon a time, in a college town not far away, there were four friends who lived within a two block radius of each other. Each friend was given the responsibility to come up with a Drink and a Food for the progressive party that represented the country/place of his/her choice. Hosts and guests would then go from house to house together to sample the food and drink.

About twenty guests converged on the first house. There, the host provided Bailey’s shots and green jello. This was supposed to be representative of Ireland. The guests appreciated that instead of going with the obvious food choices of corned beef or potatoes, the host chose to go with green jello, the national dish of the Emerald Isle.

After eating their fill of gelatin, the mob of guests walked to the second house. The host at the location provided Sangria and Tortilla Español so the guests could explore the tastes of Spain. She also “entertained” the guests with an album of photos taken during her recent Study Abroad experience in Toledo, Spain and played some Spanish pop music.

The third host home provided some much appreciated food from the tropics. Teriyaki chicken and pineapple skewers and piña coladas were served - and by this time the tipsy guests were willing to laugh at jokes about getting lai’ed. (Drunken guests may or may not have also devoured an entire box of Samoa Girl Scout cookies that was inadvertently placed in plain sight on top of the refrigerator.)

No one needed to drink or eat any more at this point, but motivated guests gamely traipsed to the fourth and final party house. There they courageously imbibed Hurricanes and Jambalaya made by the host, a native of New Orleans. After the Hurricanes, no one can actually recall what else happened that night. Legend has it that the guests walked to a local bar to sober up and tried to remember all the places they had been to that evening.

Green jello - synonymous with Irish Pride

If you are over the age of 24, you may want to tweak this party idea so your guests don’t die of alcohol poisoning. (Our livers seemed stronger back then, didn’t they?) But I think the basic concept still works.

1. Have a theme for the party to keep it cohesive. Each host provides food from their home state or ancestral home. Each host has to serve a vegetable that they’ve grown in the garden. Each host has to pair their favorite wine with an appetizer. Each host picks an awesome scene from a movie to watch, then serves a coordinating beverage and food. (“Mystic Pizza”, anyone? Anyone?)

2. The hosts must live near to each other. Either walking distance or short driving distance. (Designated drivers!)

3. Limit the number of host houses to three or four. Three is probably better. (See above cautionary tale.)

4. Each host can invite a few guests. Decide ahead of time how many guests that will be so each host knows how much food and drink to prepare. It’s a great way for guests and hosts to meet new people!

5. Since guests are only going to be at each house for less than an hour, you don’t need to plan on table seating for every guest. Thus, appetizer type foods work better than foods that you need to sit down to eat with a knife and fork.

6. As a host, choose food that can be prepared ahead of time to reduce the wait time when everyone shows up at your house. The idea is that each party stop flows into the next. Plus, you will be at the previous homes, enjoying yourself, and won’t be at home to do the last minute things you normally would before a party. Have all the plates and cups arranged and ready on the table. Something in a crock pot or that can be served cold are great choices.