Pinterest vs Real Life- Bridal Shower Edition

Given the amount of weddings we’ve been to (17 including ours), I haven’t been to many bridal showers (3 including my own). I recently had one of my best friend’s bridal showers and wanted to show how Pinterest can translate to real life, and how a few little things can make a big impact.

1. Choose a theme and or color story

The biggest thing that helps me when planning a party are parameters to stay within, because there are almost too many ideas out there now!

We decided the theme would be BBQ chic, so I bought kraft paper plates and wooden utensils. We also stuck to the colors from the invitations which were grey and yellow. Napkins, tablecloths and striped straws are an easy way to infuse color to any table.

top image: pinterest, bottom image: real life

 Minted invitation

 Favors

Tins, stickers, bbq rub

2. Use items you already have

Last year when my florist created my trial center piece, she had to use some fake flowers, which looked really nice. I kept them and bought some tulle to recreate this wedding door ornament.

                                                                                                   

                          pinterest                                                          real life

3. Little things can go a long way

I was probably most excited to try to recreate this rice krispy cake idea as one of the desserts for our BBQ themed shower. Thanks to Smitten Kitchen, I already knew I had a great recipe and I had previously purchased a set of 3 nesting pans from Crate and Barrel. I found a shop on Etsy called Better Off Wed which had gorgeous cake toppers. I decided to go with ‘love’ in grey so I can reuse it in the future, and it’s much too pretty not to!

                          pinterest                                                      real life

 Our other dessert, mini apple pies

mini apple pie prep the day before the shower

 pinterest                                                                    real life

I was really happy with how great these drink tags looked when they arrived, but adding each person’s name made them even more cute. I bought disposable wine glasses for the sangria, which made it easy for everyone to put their drinks down without worrying if they were stealing someone else’s glass.

beverage and dessert table

food table

Storm King

During our anniversary weekend upstate we visisted Storm King. It’s a 500 acre gorgeous sculpture park located in New Windsor. We saw some great things and we luckily arrived just in time for the last tram tour, which began just before it started raining and were able to see the majority of the park under dry conditions!

Saturday

 This Saturday New York felt like it came alive. The weather was too beautiful not to walk to the park with a cute blanket and my Kindle (currently reading The Goldfinch).

Bensimon Sneakers

Ralph Lauren Tote

New (and Old) Favorite Beauty Products

 I recently discovered some new-to-me products that I love, and I’ve also included some old ones I swear by. Here are some of my favorites:

 

MAKE EYE MAKE-UP REMOVER

The most effective yet gentle one I’ve found

BITE AGAVE LIP MASK

This completely changed the texture of my lips, which was much needed after this winter

DIOR LASH PLUMPING SERUM

The best thing to put on before your mascara, makes any brand go on smoother and look better

ZOYA NAILPOLISH REMOVER

I love everything from the smell to the way it dispenses the remover, and it conditions nails

LULU ORGANICS HAIR POWDER

A natural and great smelling way to extend the life of your blow out

BENEFIT THE PORE-FESSIONAL

An easy to use balm that minimizes the appearance of pores, and really works

HOURGLASS VEIL MINERAL PRIMER

The perfect thing to prep your skin before putting on make-up for a night out

BENEFIT STAY DON’T STRAY

Put this on before your concealer and eye shadow to ensure they don’t move, all day or all night long

 

Elevated Envelopes

One of my best friends is getting married this year and I had the pleasure of sending out the invitations for her bridal shower. I decided to use Minted for the invitations and envelopes. I love Minted’s designs and their customer service is outstanding.

I have some serious issues trying to write in a straight line and center things properly without assistance. I decided to buy a frame stamp for the front and a cute party stamp to add to the back of each envelope from Paper Source. I also made sure to buy the ink that dries instantly (some can take up to 10 minutes).

   

I found a free font thanks to pinterest and practiced my script before addressing the final envelopes.

 

Miami

We planned a little get-away to Miami last weekend and it was exactly what both of us needed. It was so nice to be in the sunshine, read my book (The Luminaries), see some friends and have some terrific fried chicken.

Hotel: Fountaine Bleau

Dinners: Vida & Yard Bird

 

 

  

Michael Kors, similar here

Jacket Express, Dress Anthropologie

 

Kaftan Anthropologie

Top Madewell, Heels Steve Madden

 

Stamping 1.0 Primer Workshop at Paper Source

This was my second workshop at Paper Source (you can see the first one here) and it was another great night. Last week’s workshop was all about stamping techniques. The Paper Source workshops are great because you learn so many ways to use the products without having to buy everything up front yourself, and if you’re like me, would have no idea what you’re doing beforehand!

<we were able to put our own creative spin on each technique>

<the cover of our books>

Daisy- Marc Jacobs

I usually buy a new fragrance once a year. Right before our wedding I bought Daisy by Marc Jacobs. Almost a year later, I still love it and I’m not quite ready to wear something else everyday. Luckily, there are also other options within the Daisy family to choose from. I love these shots our wedding photographer captured while I was getting ready with the bottle!

Persnickety Prints- Instagram Poster

I saw the above image on Pinterest and thought the clean collage format in an all white frame looked really chic. Another bonus is that it instantly showcases a lot of pictures, which is perfect for New York apartments that don’t have much wall space.

I made my own for a friend and can definitely see myself using this site again. The poster was glossy and the printing quality was great.  Although the frames are square-shaped like Instagram, I used some non-Instagrammed photos as well. After receiving the poster I bought a frame and wrapped it.

You can visit the Persnickety Print shop here to make your own.

Hiking in Upstate NY

We spent Saturday hiking in Upstate NY. Obviously, we love it up there. We got engaged and had our wedding in the Hudson River Valley. My friend used to live in Tarrytown and we’ve spent many weekends apple picking and wine tasting. The Hudson River Valley is only 1-3 hours from New York City, depending on which town you’re going to and it’s the perfect weekend or day escape.