Socializing and opening presents are at the center of bridal showers, but when games are planned, guests will have a more memorable and enjoyable time. The best activities are ones that the guest of honor will appreciate: a funny multiple-choice quiz about her childhood, or a lively true-or-false game. Don’t forget to award prizes to the winners; soaps, fancy chocolates, or scented candles would all do nicely.
Whether you’re hosting a group for cocktails or a formal sit-down dinner, the preparation stages for all parties tend to be similar. These time-tested suggestions will help you manage all of the details beautifully.
An awkward pause can open like a sinkhole in the middle of party patter, sending you and your conversation partner scrambling for safety. Here are some suggestions next time you need help reaching for the right words.
There are many upsides to throwing a really great party — the rush of self-satisfaction, the guaranteed invites to your guests’ future bashes, the matchmaking/networking/stand-up-routine-honing that you facilitate. The downside? It’s 2 a.m. and your college roommate and your husband’s golf buddy are still rooted to the couch, while your best friend is happily holding court in the kitchen with your dog walker.
There’s no question that a good theme, a cute cake, and clever favors help make a birthday memorable. But games and activities are at the heart of any happy celebration. A little foresight and some creativity will ensure that your next party goes smoothly and the guests remain cheerful and entertained.
A birthday party is magical. You don’t need to host an extravaganza, pay a fortune for entertainment and decorations, or rent the most opulent venue to thrill your child. Kids simply want to feel special, and know that the day will be filled with friends and surprises.
To ensure an easygoing atmosphere, set a drink menu in the same spirit. In other words, have a few good wines on hand in addition to nonalcoholic options and a standout cocktail or two, such as a specialty martini or sangria.
What makes a modern shower work is the same thing that makes any party great: inventiveness, thoughtful touches, a sense of humor, and good organizational skills.
A gift for your hostess need not be extravagant, but a little creativity does go a long way toward making this present surprising and special.
There’s an unforgettable moment on the road to your wedding: It’s when you walk into an event at which people from every corner of your life are gathered together for the first time — parents mingling with friends mingling with other relatives. And though you may feel a moment of alarm as you consider the stories they could exchange about you, there is something wonderful about this first glimpse of your family life as a married couple. For many couples, that moment occurs at their engagement party.
Instead of gift-boxing a tie for Dad this year, why not tie a gift box? Bow ties fit around many small gifts, and both the traditional and pre-tied kinds will work.
While your future in-laws traditionally plan and host the rehearsal dinner, you’re the best candidate to organize the actual rehearsal, since you’ll be the most familiar with all the details of the ceremony. Make certain that all who need to be there have been instructed about time, location, and logistics, including the order in which people walk down the aisle and where everyone stands at the altar.
Cook up a jar of this sauce and give it to the host of this year’s Memorial Day barbecue. For information on how to can, visit the National Center for Home Food Preservation.
Try these tips courtesy of Chef Akasha, the organic caterer to the stars. If you don’t have enough dishes for everyone use products from Recycline, which makes plastic plates from old yogurt containers, rather than going with the usual disposable dinnerware.
Each place should be set with all the glasses that will be used during dinner (except dessert-wine glasses, which may be brought out when the dessert is served). The water glass belongs to the right of the plate, just above the knife. Wineglasses should be set to the right of the water glasses in the order in which they will be used.
Each culture and religion marks the New Year differently. The Chinese lunar year, for example, commences in January or February; the Jewish New Year, which usually falls in September, commemorates what the Jews believe to be the anniversary of the world’s creation. But even where January 1 is the accepted date, customary observances vary.
This homespun stocking is a wonderful way to mark a first Christmas — as well as his second, third, and fourth. Every year, add a new felt shape representing some favorite memory or object that your little one loves.
A coating of fine glitter turns plain wooden dreidels into a display-worthy centerpiece, or string them together to create a shimmering garland.
Yes, location is everything. And, when planning a birthday party knowing where your party will be is half the battle. The beauty of having a party out of your home is you’ll have less to clean before and after, AND many locations provide the food, invitations, and party favors too.
It can be tricky finding the right birthday present for children under the age of five (5). There is so much to choose from, and it’s sometimes hard to justify spending a lot of money on a toy they’ll grow out of quickly.
Ask any kid. The cake is the most important part of any party, especially blowing out the candles. And, while we love traditional cake, it’s fun to pair it with other desserts that fit into the theme of the day.
Having a plan going into the end-of-year holiday season makes it possible to juggle all of the celebrations, decorating, shopping, parties, mailings, gift giving, vacations and so on.
When celebrating a birthday at a party place isn’t an option, having it at home doesn’t have to be stressful or any less fun.
There is so much to do during the holiday season, and it seems crazy to add a party on top of it all. But, it sure is fun to entertain, so that’s why we created this handy checklist to help you keep it together and enjoy the good times with loved ones.
As far as kids are concerned, before the age of four, a memorable birthday party is about cake and presents. Parents, on the other hand, see an occasion for a memorable party.
Michele Adams and Gia Russo took their passion for style, design, entertaining, parenting and family life in general, and fused it into the successful MiGi brand.
Many of life’s big moments are marked by a great bottle of wine (or two).
For the nostalgic, you can now cherish the memory even further by sending
those special bottles to Wine Punts who will transform them into unique
drinking glasses.
Sweater weather is on its way! As we tuck indoors during this chilly season, our thoughts on home entertaining turn to cozy fires and comfort food like hearty pastas, oven roasted vegetables and grilled meat.
With cooler days ahead and tougher financial times to come, it’s no surprise that potluck dinners are making a swift comeback.
Whether you are attending a game or concert it is necessary to remember the importance of a quality tailgate. Done right the tailgate can end up being the best part of the day! To ensure everyone’s tailgating experience is a success, here are five key tips to the perfect tailgate.
Going to a wedding without a plus-one can seem a bit daunting, but it also provides a wealth of opportunities to meet and mingle with other singles!
When you announced your engagement, the first response you probably got was, “Have you set a date?” There’s more weight to this question than excited friends and family realize: your wedding day has a Sun sign and can say a lot about your how your big day will go…
If a wedding is a couple’s public statement of commitment to each other, a honeymoon is their reward for months of planning, organizing and smoothing over family feuds!
Aside from deciding on the right location (and spouse!), picking out a floral arrangement is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make about your big day.
A wedding is the celebration of the loving union between two people — but the bride undoubtedly pulls the focus! However traditional or non-traditional your tastes might be, you’ll be putting extra thought into the ensemble you wear to say your vows.
It’s wedding season! You’ve got your designated plus-one, you’ve bought the gifts off the registry — now you just need to decide what to wear.
The official kick-off to a woman’s personal wedding season is the bridal shower. It’s a great time for the bride’s friends and family to celebrate the lover’s leap she’s about to make — and to shower her with gifts and encouragement!
It’s no surprise: planning that fairytale wedding can be less like a dream, and more of a drain! That’s why so many women find themselves taken over by a Dr. Hyde-esque persona: the wedding prep period can bring out the ugly and unleash anyone’s inner diva!
No other drink seems better suited to a celebration than Champagne, but when those special moments arrive, you’ll want to make sure that the Champagne is chilled to just the right temperature and, when the bottle is opened, there’s no overflow.
To make these handsome place-card gobblers, download the templates; print and cut out. Trace templates onto colored card stock; cut out (use scallop scissors for the base), and snip a small triangle for the beak.
Highlights of dark candles and orange-patterned accent plates add surprising contrast to a formally set dining table. Large resin turkeys that were gilded with faux gold leaf create a centerpiece, while smaller plastic ones, similarly treated, preen around the table with molded beeswax turkey candles.
Create a serene winter tableau with this simple arrangement: birch bark wrapped around glass cylinders filled with plants found easily at this time of year.
Given the economic climate these days, opting to stay home more versus going out to restaurants seems to be the norm. There are still some really fun and creative ways to learn about and enjoy wine, nonetheless.
Tired of attending the same-old bridal or baby showers? Where you sit around, drinking tea, eating crumpets, and watch someone open gifts? So were we. :)
One of the many silver linings of this macro-economic climate is that it’s inspiring many of us to spend more time at home. And re-engage old hobbies or pick up new ones
Man oh man are these economic times harrowing- talk about inspiration for a glass of wine. But the doozy of the economic climate shouldn’t but a damper on your wedding planning if you’re moving forward with your awesome celebration this year.
When starting your life together as newlyweds, what better way to begin your married life with “date night” over a bottle of wine? By starting your future with a new, shared hobby: wine tasting?
Thanksgiving is a time for family and for giving thanks. Here are your wine 1-2-3’s for this year’s Thanksgiving fest.
Anyone can serve wine like a professional sommelier. Like any “home improvement,” there are simply a few steps you will need to follow.
Dinner parties. They’re fun to attend,but a pain to plan. Try these four wine mantras to make planning your next dinner party a little easier.
Tarot.com makes ancient wisdom accessible by offering daily insight to over 9 million members, making it the premier source of cosmic guidance on the web!
Bottlenotes is the premier online wine community, where wine enthusiasts come to learn about wine, share wine tasting notes, and buy great boutique and estate wines from around the world.
Invited to a baby shower and shopping for a gift? Here are some simple strategies and easy etiquette tips to take the worry out of gift giving!
Setting up a registry? Don’t sweat it! These simple tips can help you know what to expect, when to register, what to register for, and what things not to worry about.
Getting ready for a new baby? It’s an exciting time in anyone’s life, filled with lots of preparation and planning — especially when it comes to setting up your nursery!
giggle isn’t just a baby store: it’s a new parent store. We do the homework so you don’t have to, offering only the most stylish, healthy, and innovative products available. In other words, if we carry it, we love it, and we know you will, too!
Slip into something outrageous, if only for a night. You needn’t be disguised from head to toe: one mischievous piece is enough to get you in the spirit of the evening.
What better way to brighten Halloween’s gloom than by dotting your windowsills with grinning — or scowling — hurricane lanterns?
You need two lunch-size paper bags for each broomstick. Unfold one bag, and push out its base while folding in the left and right sides.
These decorations bring sparkle to tables and serving areas — and they last far longer than jack-o’-lanterns.
Tuck handfuls of candy corn into giants of their species. Use a pencil to mark stripes on pots. Brush on acrylic paints between lines to make bands, letting each color dry before moving on to the next.
You have the menu, the strategy, the guest list — the biggest variable left is your stress level, and stress has a funny way of making us morph into those beings (or other B-words) we don’t want to be.
Brides are often intimidated by the etiquette of invitation wording; in fact, the rules are fairly straightforward, and these days they are often made to be broken.
So what’s the holdup on throwing a grown-up dinner party? With our simple strategy and manageable menu, you’ll see that it’s child play.
In the afterglow of a wedding, it can be a joy to write thank-you notes expressing heartfelt gratitude for the gifts you’ve received.
Your big day is one of love and bliss, but most weddings also come with a hefty dollop of tense exchanges and awkward moments — a sibling scuffle, an unenthusiastic bridesmaid, a delicate discussion about who’s paying for what.
A real meal can be hard to come by in the early days of unpacking. Requiring no cutlery or plates, fried chicken with biscuits, served in a vintage cake tin, is delicious.
Deciding whom you invite to the wedding can seem almost as momentous as deciding whom to marry. The task should be relatively easy: You simply invite your closest family and your dearest friends.
Pile coals two or three pieces deep; they are ready when they have a red glow and two-thirds are covered in ash. Spread them in a single layer, leaving and area free of coals to create indirect heat.
This time of year, there are plenty of reasons to throw open your doors and gather friends for an outdoor party.
What would you suggest I bring as a hostess gift to a dinner party?
From Sunset Boulevard to Central Park West, Rita Hazan’s name is synonymous with color. The native New Yorker is responsible for tending to the tresses of starlets like Jessica Simpson, Jennifer Lopez and Brooke Shields.
Rafe Totengco is a NYC-based, award-winning accessories designer by way of Manila. His handbag, leather good and shoe designs have garnered him critical acclaim within the fashion industry.
Susan Feldman and Alison Gelb Pincus are the kind of entrepreneurs that any self-respecting home enthusiast envies. From arranging their own flowers, to creating home accoutrements fit for a spread on Design*Sponge seemingly out of thin air, the business partners definitely have a knack for home décor.
