Attempting to Answer a Reader Question: Party Ideas

“Hi Kim….love…love…love your blog.  You astound me every day with all the yummy recipes and clever ideas. I’m helping to host a shower for my daughter’s best friend. We are giving it at a friend’s beautiful home and we are all making the food. Do you have any ideas about a gift to give our guests?  We’ve all been to and given showers with the usual heart shaped things (wine stopper, measuring spoons, note pads, etc.) Do you have any good ideas for a guest gift? The bride is very arty and trendy. Can’t wait to see what you have in store for me! Any other shower related ideas would also be appreciated. -Debbie”

Debbie, I love this question! I, too, hate to give the often-tossed-immediately-after token guest gifts. It won’t surprise you that my advice is to go a different route. I think an edible gift is the way to go. Something made with love (a family favorite recipe) or from a local bakery and then packaged up in a great way. The other idea is to make the rest of the shower so personal and special that you can forgo the favors altogether.One of the most important things to know is that it’s quite difficult to reinvent the wheel, BUT you can so easily re-package it.

We’ve all been invited to the tea-party themed shower, but probably not one like this:

You’ll see here that none of these are new party ideas, they are just presented in a really fun way that makes them unique:

Bubbly Bar Source: 100 Layer Cake

Via Pinterest

 Jam Source: 100 Layer Cake

 Snack Favors Source: Jose Villa via 100 Layer Cake

 Macarons Favors Source (and printable): Green Wedding Shoes

Something as simples as cherries. Source: Ritzy Bee 

Transform a plastic plate into a personalized masterpiece. Check out this DIY on Love Them Madly 

And I just love this idea.. you could do this with the wedding date or with the first letter of the brides name. I love the idea of using black and white photos. Especially for an artsy bride.

 Source: Martha Stewart

My family threw me the most amazing shower. It was on the rooftop of a very cool NYC hotel. The views were gorgeous and they nailed every detail. Unbeknownst to me, all the guests received (with their invitation) little bookmarks asking them to bring a book to present to me. It was so perfect and I have the loveliest, most meaningful library now (and a couple hilarious, X-rated ones too). Here’s a few of the details from the day…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s the best favor you ever received at a party? Any good ideas for Debbie?