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Tuesday, October 28, 2008

How to Throw a Last Minute Halloween Party

Halloween Halloween is approaching and every year is a chance to top last year's costume.
I've seen everything from people dressed as garbage cans to credit cards. Wearing a costume is the most fun if you are attending a party. Here are 5 tips on how to throw a last minute Halloween shindig (and on a budget).


1. Serve colored drinks. For example, fruit punch comes in many colors (red, green, etc.) Drop in shaped ice cubes that look like eyeballs. One year at the office Katrina filled a washed latex glove with ice, so it would float in the fruit punch. Be creative with your drinks!


2. Serve food that looks disgusting but tastes great. One year Tammy in the office made pudding with gummy worms to resemble kitty litter. Other ideas are, meatballs decorated as eyes, ribs drenched in red bbq sauce and salad with creepy crawlies inside like raisins dressed up as spiders.


3. Let the music play. Haunt your guests with any spooky music you can find. Research soundtracks of scary movies for surely screeching music.


4. Decorate efficiently but effectively. Have plenty of plastic spiders on hand where your guests would never expect them like on the bathroom sink. Dress pumpkins as ghosts with a white sheet. Put red playdo in places to look like blood.


Check out our Halloween invitations for other hauntingly good ideas. Halloween parties can be pulled together on a budget and quickly, all you have to do is be creative.

Invitation shown: Goblins and Ghosts

Monday, October 27, 2008

A Magic Monday Morning to you

Disneyblog2 Happy Monday Morning! Start this week off with a little magic with a giveway! IC is excited to sponser a custom stamper giveaway on the popular wedding blog, A Disney Wedding. Carly at A Disney Wedding offers tips for throwing a budget wedding with a Disney spin. Even if you're not a Disney bride, her blog is a great read! If you are a Disney bride, check out our Disney themed wedding invitations. Visit her blog and leave a comment to enter the giveaway.

Good Luck!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

the color blue

Blogcollage It has become apparent that someone in our office has an issue with the color blue. So I asked her, "What did blue ever do to you"?

Blue isn't so bad really. Blue never meant to hurt anyones feelings. I tried to dig into her childhood to find out where things went wrong. Still nothing. Maybe she just grew to not like blue. Or maybe she realized that blue was always out of fashion for her. I don't know. Whatever it may be, I have been doing my best to try and change her opinion. I'd show her some really cool design that is all BLUE and even though she said she didn't like it because of the color, I knew she was lying. Deep down inside this person was thinking, "hmmm, you know this isn't so bad after all". It's only a matter of time before she admits defeat and opens up to the color she most despises.

I need to find the one thing this person is passionate about and expose the color within. A little taste of her own medicine maybe. And I know just what that is ---> Invitations! Which is probably a little obvious but I think it will work. So what I've done is I've tried to find the style of invitations she likes the best and pick the ones that area mainly blue. I'll have her cornered and surrounded with so much damn blue that she'll be forced to say she likes them! I'm confident this will work.

I've created this fabulous collage of blue invitations to see if my theory will work. My advice is to not judge a color (like blue) just because of it's color. Be open to the color (like blue). Instead, maybe a color (like blue) should be judged on how it's used and maybe that will change some peoples minds.

from left to right starting with the top row: Hampton Cocoa, Dashing Reindeer, New Life New Love & Tree of Wishes

Having a Wicked Time

Wicked Ever wonder what happened to the Wicked Witch of the West to make her so mean... and so green? Get some answers by reading the book Wicked by Gregory McGuire or try to nab some tickets to Wicked the musical. Last week I went to see Wicked at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, GA. The music was fabulous and the story was touching. I never expected to feel so much sympathy for the woman who vowed to hurt poor little Toto. As expected, the play gave me the idea for a couple of great parties:

A good vs. evil shindig: Encourage your guests to wear costumes of their favorite heroes or villains. Some great partner costumes would be Cruela de Ville and a dalmation, Glinda and Elphie from Wicked, a devil and an angel, or a cop and a robber. Decorate with two contrasting colors such as black and white or red and silver. For the food choose devil dogs and angel food cake for dessert and mix two cuisines for the appetizers and main course. For example, mexican quesadillas for an appetizer and italian for the main dish.

A modern broadway soiree:Your guests should dress the part and wear theatre attire. You can choose to specify on the invitation to dress as their favorite character or just a glamorous audience member. The soundtrack would be the easiest (and most fun!) part- play tracks from all of the favorites- Rent, Le Mis, Moving Out, CATS (my fave!), and Wicked. Make sure the food is colorful and petite so guests can mingle while they dine. After dinner, play a broadway trivia game. You are sure to find tons of material on wikipedia! For invites, consider using some of your favorite lyrics as a mini-verse above your main wording. If you go with a wicked theme, I recommend Black Vine which is reminiscent of Elphaba's (the Wicked Witch) green skin and black attire or Stiletto Night which is Glinda's (the Good Witch) signature style. 

For more broadway appropriate invitations check out our evening galla invitations! Let me know in a comment below-- do you have a favorite play?  

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

New Invitations and a 1930's Inspired Party

1930s_3 The timing couldn't haven't of been more perfect for these elegant 1930's inspired invitations to land on my desk. I love the casual elegance of Tablescapes and the Vintage Art Deco influence of Lime Zoopus.  With the economy in decline, I think a fabulous (new) depression party is a very hopeful and fun idea. Let the moviestars of the past be your guide (romantic drama) or maybe a more intimate dinner party is in order.  A casual dress up theme giving a nod to the everyday fashions of the 30's. Whatever route you decide on let the music be your guide. Despite the times, 1930's music was uplifting, jazzy and happy!

Invitations from top to bottom: Tablescapes in Black, Tablescapes in Red, Lime Zoopus, Pink Zoopus.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

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Thursday, October 16, 2008

Maroon 5: Hip Band or Cool Wedding Invitation Color

Blogcollage Friday night I went to see Maroon 5 play live (for the second time). We had 9th row, which made it for a very exciting evening. What a great name for a band! I love color and naming anything or anyone after a color is hip. However, is maroon really such a cool color anymore? When I was married 9 years ago, maroon was one of my wedding colors. It was a hot color back then. But I do not see it that often anymore. In my opinion, maroon wedding invitations should make a comeback.

Shades of red. There are so many shades of red to classify, here are the most common I come in contact with at Invitation Consultants: scarlet, burgundy, merlot, maroon, ruby, fire engine, and brick red. Red can lean towards orange, purple, or brown. Red is a color of richness, vibrance, fire, and inspiration. Red is also my favorite color. Today I want to speak of the shade of maroon.

Fast facts about the color maroon:
*Accordng to Wikipedia.org: "The first recorded use of Maroon as a color name in English was in 1789."
*Crayola crayons added maroon as a color in 1949.
*Other bloggers blog about the color maroon: see http://yourcolorcoach.wordpress.com/2007/08/19/lets-talk-about-color-maroon/

Maroon color combinations: When working with maroon as a color for either your wedding invitations, wedding colors, fashion or interior design, I recommend combining maroon with the following: periwinkle, dark orange, mocha, eggplant purple or mustard yellow.

I hope maroon makes a comeback especially in wedding invitations because it can be used in the fall to create a dramatic and elegant feel or in the summer for a chic sophisticated look. Maroon is also a great color for holiday cards and holiday party invitations because it gives people a break from the classic bright red.

My favorite song of Maroon 5's is "Sunday Morning." And the color maroon reminds me of a Sunday morning, toned down from a Saturday but with a splash of color to enjoy the day. That was my deep thought!

Holiday card shown: Swirls & Stars Tree
Wedding Invitation shown: Dressed in Red

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Magnet Madness

Magnet Save-the-dates are possibly one of my favorite inventions. Nothing gets me more excited for a friend or family member's wedding like a friendly reminder. I especially find it convenient for the events that are being held out of town so that I can prepare myself well in advance.

Since the advent of the save-the-date (or SD) there have been many other uses birthed from this genius child. Now SD's are used for anything from Bar/Bat Mitzvah's to Holiday Parties and Anniversaries. Whatever the reason for the shindig, I find it not only useful but also a treasured keepsake once the event is over.

My favorite breed of the SD is the refrigerator magnet! Looking at my refrigerator just yesterday I found 3 SD's that resurfaced the fond memories made those nights. It also gives me great ideas for SD's in my future. So next time you are planning a special event of your own, give a second thought to our friend the SD...and you may just get magnetized!

I want your feedback! What was the coolest or craziest SD that you have encountered? Feel free to post your story.

Featured invitations from left to right: Ebony Chandelier, Wedding Romance, Share This Day and Wonderful in White.   

Paper View

Paperview I think I've made it pretty clear that I am a serious fan of paper. All things that are paper make me happy. I love recycled papers, homemade papers, shimmering papers, glossy papers, fibrous papers, and more. There are very few occasions these days when we can take some time to appreciate paper. People don't even reference it in day to day life-- we text, we call, we post on facebook, but we don't pen a letter to our bff. On paper, the letters "IDK my bff Jill" look cryptic and silly, but in a text they are monumental. I've even had a friend tell me she is having a baby in a text message.

I propose a new rule:
Let's bring paper back. Show those other communication methods how to act.

We can still be eco-friendly and use recycled invitations or recycled greeting cards. OR, just use scrap paper from around the house and add some pop with custom stampers or stickers. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to hand write a note to my husband. So what if all it says is Schmoopy needs puppy food, it will still be special.

So, lovely readers, if I could hand write my blog posts to you I totally would, I care just that much.  Let me know in a comment- when's the last time you wrote a note or sent a card?

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Tangent Tuesday... Inspirational Color

Fireandice_3 Where do you look for bright color inspiration when you live up north and the dead of winter begins to set in? Three words; Fire and Ice. Always in style and always vibrant. With all the new intense jewel tone trends for this fall and winter, I am finding inspiration everyday here in Florida with the neon evening skies (fun) and the bright green frog that leaped in my car this morning (not fun). There is a kaleidoscope of wild animals and ocean hues. I digress. If you are planning a winter celebration and shun the natural sleepy hues of the past go with fire and ice! A key to keep it fresh and modern is to soften the punch by layering. Use bright reds and oranges with soft grey shimmering layers. Keep everything from floating away with rich charcoal tones. Whatever your event, fire and ice is sleek and visually impactful without the fuss.

Top Left Invitation; Black Lustre Bottom Left Invitation; Horse and Carriage Bottom Right Invitation; So Sophisticated