One of the most versatile and stunning wedding and special occasion decorations available now is the glass hanging votive candle holder.  They make a stylish wedding and event decoration for both inside and outdoors.  Simply place a tea light candle into the holder and string from the ceiling, a marquee or a tree for a stunning effect.  Alternatively, you could fill the bottom of the vases with sand or coloured water and arrange miniature flowers inside for a stunning decoration.  Stringing them couldn’t be easier!  Simply loop fishing line or ribbon through the top of the holder and voila!  You’re ready to decorate.

I just adore the way the globe votive holders are used at this stylish wedding featured on Brides.com.  They work so well in this contemporary setting, but equally look beautiful used in an oriental or vintage style theme.

The clear glass hanging candle holders are in a globe shape and can be strung from just about anywhere.  Available in two sizes – 10cm and 8cm diameter, so you can mix and match and hang the spheres in clusters to draw your guest’s eyes to focal points around your wedding or event venue.

These glass vases and candle holders also make a beautiful bomboniere favour for your wedding guests.  Fill the vase with a bulb, a small flower, a scented candle or personalised candy for a unique and spectacular gift for guests.

Sold in sets of six.  Choose from two sizes:  10cm and 8cm diam.  Both sets are $35.00 each at Australia’s number one online wedding shop, Pink Frosting.

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

I am always inspired by unique ideas for traditional parties, and a Christening celebration is one special occasion that is becoming an opportunity for parents and party planners alike to express their creativity.  Although a Christening celebrated in traditional white is simply stunning, there is something to be said for mixing traditional with new themes and ideas that represent the personality of the child, the parents and the extended family and friends.

Niki from Candy Soiree’s (0409 965 914) is one of Pink Frosting’s party planner customers and she sent me these stunning photos of a combined Christening and First Birthday party reception she styled recently for baby Sundae.  Photos are all by Ba Ba Bambini Photography.  I hope they inspire you as much as they delighted me!

The contrasting colours of yellow and black really work for this Christening.  Although I love this colour combination for weddings, I had never before contemplated the hues for a Christening or children’s party – but don’t they look sensational?  Because of the whimsical polka dots and feminine use of butterfly motifs, the stark colours look sweet.  I love the way Niki and her team have used the budget-conscious Pink Frosting paper lanterns and made them really unique by embellishing them with butterfly cutouts – genius.

The candy bar is a delectable display of bananas, jelly beans, personalised chocolate bars and traditional lemon sweets.  Perfect for a Christening and first birthday celebration.

The Christening bombonieres were silver butterfly bookmark favours from Pink Frosting’s online bomboniere shop.  Niki personalised the bonbonieres by decorating simple white favour boxes with polka dot paper, white satin ribbon and the silver butterflies tied on top.

I think we’ll all be inspired to decorate Christenings with unique and personal themes.  Thank you Niki!

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

Ooh, la la! Destination Paris! The enchanting City of Light is one of the most romantic places on earth and its most famous icon, the Eiffel Tower is a stunning inspiration for a bridal shower, wedding or party theme.

Whether you love to travel to Paris, your fiance proposed on the Eiffel Tower (my best friend’s now husband did and I drooled with jealousy) or your eventsimply has a distinctly French flavour, wow your guests with a theme that’s truly magnifique!

My favourite colour combination for a French themed shower or wedding is black, white and light pink.  Stripes and polka dots are perfectly pretty and suit the theme beautifully.  Now, it’s just a matter of getting all Frenchy!

This stunning bridal shower set up is by the amazing Hostess with the Mostess.  The cameo motifs, polka dots and sweet hearts are absolutely spot on (excuse the pun) for a Parisian shower.

Serve French champagne, sweet pink lolly treats in a candy buffet, decorate with the prettiest striped black and white table cloths, spotted napkins and pink-hued roses.  Ooh la la!

Pink Frosting adores a Parisian themed wedding or shower.  We have a range of Eiffel Tower and Paris inspired wedding and party decorations to help you bring the theme to life at your own event.  Here are four of my favourites:

From left:  Evening in Paris Eiffel Tower place card holder decorations and favours; Le Parti de Paris party invitations by Alannah Rose at Pink Frosting; Clear Printed Cube Favour Boxes with a gorgeous cupcake printed on the front (also available with an Eiffel Tower icon); and our Just Married pink paper lanterns (coming soon).

You can of course adapt this gorgeous theme for a wedding, bridal shower, baby shower, dinner party, Valentine’s Day or even Mother’s Day.  Magnifique!

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

A wedding held in the heat of the Australian summer demands vibrant colours, wild decorations and marquees filled with breezy cloth, and the perfect wedding theme for the mid-Summer heat is An Indian Summer. 

Indian styled weddings use an exuberant display of colour, finery and kitsch – think rich fabrics, shamiana (tents) with wild colours, saris used as drapes and table coverings, cushions and bolsters on bright rugs as seating, hanging tea light candles and abundant marigolds which have a special significance in Indian weddings.   Colours are all bright and rich, including turquoise blue, orange, bright pink, plum, red, mustard and gold.  Table centrepieces could include wooden elephants, lanterns, wine goblets, bejewelled miniature jewellery boxes, and shimmering Indian bangles as your napkin rings.

Western traditions such as cakes and favours can be transformed with this theme:  henna patterns on your wedding cake and lucky elephants as your wedding favours.

We adore the bright colours in these Indian Summer inspired wedding invitations, swirling fuchsia paper parasols and paper daisies which add contrast to the marigold strings of flowers we love using with this theme.

Many of these gorgeous Indian Summer wedding theme decorations can be purchased online at Australia’s number one online wedding shop, Pink Frosting.  We adore the gorgeous images to inspire you from An Indian Summer blog. 

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

While a personal wedding website isn’t a new thing, having a really stylish personalised website for your wedding day combined with your own gift registry is new and utterly fabulous.

The team at Whatwewishfor have created a Personal Wedding Website with Gift Registry for Australia’s number one online wedding shop, Pink Frosting.  The personal wedding websites allow you to create your own wedding website featuring wedding details, photo albums, bridal registry, wedding RSVP, Google Maps and even Youtube video.   The Gift Registry function isn’t just your normal online gift registry either – you get to put on anything your heart desires – from a new puppy dog, a honeymoon in Thailand, or even your wedding decorations from Pink Frosting! 

Once you’re done, send guests a link to your site and let them securely contribute money online to the gifts you wish for.  Once your guests have contributed, you simply withdraw the money you’ve received and purchased the items you wished for.

Just what we have been wishing for!  Get building your personal wedding website and gift registry today at Pink Frosting.

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

Your table decorations and centrepieces are the most important decorative element you need to decide on when organising your wedding, party or other celebration. Whether your party is a full-scale formal affair, a children’s party or an intimate candlelit dinner, the centrepiece table decorations will add drama, personality and scale to your event.

The Pink Frosting team are expert table decoration and centrepiece stylists, and the Pink Frosting online wedding and party shop is brimming with gorgeous and inexpensive table decorations, wedding centrepieces and more to help you create a stylish table setting.  Take inspiration from some of the newest ideas in table centrepieces from the Pink Frosting team.

Eclectic tables

Create a ‘one of a kind’ feel for your event, by dressing each table differently. Use different flowers, different candles, different elements from the one theme to create a real sense of personality. For example, this design works wonderfully with a vintage theme; combine mismatched crockery, jugs and candles with plenty of vintage-style blossoms to fill tables. Visit an antiques fair, your local flea market or (with permission!) your grandma’s cupboards to pick up plenty of vases and trinkets to add personality to your tables.

Monochromatic tables

The classic, crisp design of the monochromatic look is still the most modern tablepiece theme you can choose.  If the mod look appeals to you, choose a black and white backdrop and add splashes of colour for contrast, such as buttercup yellow or flashy pink.  Think about height, drama, the whitest of white blooms and plenty of black crockery on crisp white linen.  This look is never out of style.

Centrepieces from your own backyard

Take inspiration from your own backyard!  Do you have twigs, greens, flowers and bark that could be used in a creative centrepiece? Take come gorgeous gumnuts and wattle and lay them on the tables in a very natural display with a few ivory and chocolate candles.

Casting a glow

The warm glow of candlelight has always added romance to a room.  Floral artists take this a step further by incorporating candles into centrepiece decorations themselves.  Think tall, full arrangements of cherry blossom branches, hung with votives on ribbon or wire-like hangers. Or imagine tall cylinders filled with coloured water to match the party colour palette, and small floating candles flickering in each. 

Christmas decorations all year round

Forgetting Santa, his reindeer, sleds and sleighbells, many gorgeous Christmas decorations are very appropriate out of season for parties. Christmas baubles, wreaths and sprays make fabulous table and room decorations.  And the traditional Christmas colours of red, green and gold needn’t limit you.  Contemporary Christmas colours of teal, peacock, pearl and diamonds are instant winners out of the Christmas season. And you can pick them up cheaply at the after-Christmas sales!

Paper lanterns – budget with big impact

The simple rice paper lantern packs an enormous decorating punch.  Whether you’re decorating a dinner table or a dance floor, the rice paper lantern will dazzle and delight your guests. Rice paper lanterns come in so many sizes, colours and styles, and all are great value for money.  Big ball lanterns start from as low as $6 a piece, so they won’t break the bank, even if you purchase them in bulk.  And the best part?  Paper lanterns can be packed down, stored and re-used for your next big shindig.

Eco-chic tables

If you’re really serious about going green, choose beautiful little wheatgrass pots (which can also be used as placecard holders), packets of seeds, or spring-time bulbs to decorate your table.  You’ll be offering your guests a living and breathing reminder of the party without hurting the planet.

Back to your childhood

Lolly buffets aren’t just for children’s parties!  The oh-so-divine lolly table is becoming a huge hit for the young-at-heart too.  Guests can fill up their own container with a selection of themed sweets, little gumball machines for each guest, or grandma’s favourite recipe cookies.

Balloons – the new chic

The hippest party planners from around the world are taking the humble balloon and making it the chicest decorating accessory of the moment.  Take giant bulbous balloons (at least 60cm) filled with helium and use them to decorate your room and each table.  Secure with your floral centrepiece or in a vase of lollies for a truly whimsical look.  Cheap, beautiful and fun!

See more beautiful table centrepiece and wedding decoration ideas at Australia’s number one online wedding and party shop, Pink Frosting.

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

With New Year’s Eve just around the corner, we bet you’re in the mood to party!  For a group of friends on New Year’s Eve, roll in 2010 with a fun Viva Las Vegas party, perfect for even the smallest soiree.  Australia’s number one online celebration shop, Pink Frosting, is brimming with party decorations and supplies for your New Year’s party this year, but if you decide on a themed party, this might be the one for you!  Here’s our best tips to create a fun Viva Las Vegas New Year’s Eve Party!

Invitations

Set the scene for the party by sending handmade invitations – simply glue a playing card onto a piece of folded red cardboard.  Inside try, some fun words like:

Look out, Las Vegas
Move over, Monte Carlo
This New Year’s Eve
Casino [your surname] is open for business!
Play your cards right
and Lady Luck will be on your side
at [address]
RSVP to [host details]
Feeling lucky?

And what’s a casino party without cold, hard cash?  Buy lots of play money and slip in a couple of bills into your invitations for your guests’ first round of drinks.

Decorating and styling

The trick to make this theme classy rather than brassy is to stick with your colour theme.  Think black, white and red – just like a deck of cards – with splashes of green felt fabric on the tables to evoke those casino card tables.  Set the scene with some large cardboard cut outs of Las Vegas lights, and then feature special card and dice themed balloons among standard red, black and white helium balloons for a cheap but classy display.  Visit your local $2 shop and buy as many decks of cards as you can carry!  Try making a card backdrop by sticking together dozens of cards to form your decorative Ace in the hole!  And don’t forget to dig out your Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin CDs for some mood music straight from the Brat Pack.

Entertainment

Here’s where the fun really starts!  If you’ve got the cash stashed, then rent casino gaming equipment from local vendors – think poker, blackjack, craps, wheel of fortune and roulette tables.  Or simply ask some of your more casino savvy guests to man some tables in shifts.  All you need are packs of cards and a dealer who knows what he’s doing!  Provide the dealer with a vest and visor, and give your guests a wad of play cash each.  If you’re lucky, you may even have found some plastic gambling chips, for an extra authentic feel.  If you play your cards right, you can deal everyone a highly coveted royal flush!

Menus, catering and cocktails

The ‘Vesper Martini’ was made famous by James Bond, when he ordered it in both the book and movie versions of Casino Royale.  Ian Fleming describes it as “Three measures of Gordon’s, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon-peel. Got it?”  So, serve martinis – shaken, not stirred of course – alongside chilled champagne and scotch on the rocks. 

When it comes to food, go all out with five star fare!  Think oysters on the half shell, caviar on wafer biscuits, foie gras and cooked lobster in shot glasses.  Remember, cocktail parties works best with finger food, but if you decide you need some plates, consider Pink Frosting’s Full House Party Plates.

Favours and thank yous

The cards are already in your favor, now it’s time for your guests to go home with a party favor to remember a fabulous night!  Hand out playful and personalised decks of cards so that each of your guests can keep dealing the winners.

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

One of my favourite wedding and party decorations is the luminaria, also known as luminaries or candle bags.  They twinkle a pathway to your party, around your pool, line the garden and create a truly special feeling for your celebration.  I am so very excited that our warehouse has just received a huge shipment of the latest luminaria to hit Australia, featuring not only sensational designs for just about every theme, but a water-filled base which means that these luminaries are safer and much more budget-conscious because they can be reused, over and over and over again.

To celebrate, here are some of my favourite uses for beautiful luminaria.

Luminarias may be most well-known at Christmastime. Often communities work together to decorate their yards in festive manners, and luminarias are often part of those decorations. These little lights along a pathway or to mark a street are the perfect finishing touch. They give off a glow that will make your guests feel like they’ve found shelter in a storm.  Image:  The Lope.

I love using Luminaria at Christmas as well, but inside the home.  These stunning luminaries light the fireplace so dramatically.

Weddings and luminaries are the perfect match.  They can link two venues, line your ceremony aisle, create a pathway to your reception centre, be a dramatic table decoration or line your wedding dance floor.

And for parties, they are spectacular leading a path to your home, around your pool or at a beach or garden themed party.  Superb.

The new Lumabase Luminarias from can be used for many occasions. The die-cut LumaSleeves are created in-house and we pride ourselves on their unique and decorative look. The LumaSleeves support the bags in such a way that a gust of wind won’t blow over the luminarias or extinguish the candles. Our unique designs are stylish and fun, so party guests for every age group will enjoy the effects of the gentle lights.

Pink Frosting is proud to carry the Lumabase brand exclusively in Australia and New Zealand.  Everybody loves a party! Weddings, birthdays, Halloween, or just for fun, our luminarias will light the way to your party and lend an added touch of whimsy to any occasion.

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

A beach Christmas is a given in Australia, with most of us needing to escape the intense heat of an end of December day at the closest shoreline possible.  Whether it’s Bondi or Bells Beach, your local creek, or at home dreaming of the cool waves, I think I’ve found the ultimate beach themed Christmas table for you, by interior design goddess, Tara Dennis. 

The secret to this relaxed look is to use simple items and not overcrowd the table.  This keep things looking clean and fresh, ready for the food.  Everything Tara has used here is relatively affordable and easy to find, and the best part is, apart from the baubles, all other items can be used year ‘round. 

1. Start with a pure white cotton table cloth and napkins, plain and simple dinnerware, cutlery and glasses. Small glass baubles in silver and shell pink are perfect for adding colour, shine and a beautiful Christmas touch  

2. For a fabulous centerpiece, fill a white dish or plate to the brim with sea shells and starfish – these can be purchased from Pink Frosting’s online beach wedding decoration shop.  Scatter through a few of the baubles, leaving some aside to decorate the table
 

3. A small gift for each of your guests is a nice alternative to crackers.  For wrapping, choose plain coloured paper like this soft brown and instead of ribbon try string or cotton cord .

Simply stylish for Christmas in Australia.

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

The colours of the Christmas season are traditionally red, green and white.  Colours symbolising green fir trees, red holly berries and white snow continue to evoke a Christmas winter wonderland – even if you’re in the middle of an Australian summer!  While these colours are always popular choices, that doesn’t mean you can’t choose an unexpected colour – or combination of colours – to deck your halls!  Here are our style tips for Christmas in 2009:

• If you pick up any home magazine right now, you’ll see lots of sparse and natural decorating – natural twisted branches with single ornaments, either hand made or neutral coloured.  This Scandanavian look is perfect for Australian Christmases, but I’m afraid I still like my Christmas decorations packed with bling and lots of twinkle, so this current trend won’t be seen in my house any time soon.
• Warm up with amber and all shades of gold.  This theme is warm, inviting and very, very cosy. Think of maple syrup, autumn leaves, and amber stones in a golden nest for your inspiration.
• Peacock teal is very much in vogue for decorating. Some of the most beautiful decorations available include beautiful wreaths of peacock plumage bound tightly together to create a jewelled effect. Accent your feathers with deep sapphire and emerald tones.
• The contemporary mix of black, white and silver make it big again this Christmas. The white is stark, the black is shiny and the silver sparkles. Use silver branches or a silver tree for this colour combination to have its best effect.
• Patterns and textures are being incorporated into the trendiest Christmas decorations.  Think glitter and sparkles, shimmering beads, feathers, fringe and flowers.
• Decorating for a cause is a big trend this season.  If you have a particular charity you support, use your Christmas tree to send the message of support this Christmas.  Pink Frosting’s Breast Cancer support tree in pink ribbons shows you just how you can make this theme work.  This trend is especially great for workplace Christmas trees.  Staff can provide donations or presents which are then passed on to the charity you have in mind.
• Of course, Christmas isn’t Christmas without a nod to the traditional. Red, green and gold are back with a vengeance. Raid your grandmother’s old decoration boxes and create your very own traditional family tree with meaning and true Christmas spirit.
• By simply including a fresh colour or texture, you can completely update the look of your holiday celebration.  If you are a traditionalist, carefully choosing a few new intriguing pieces can revamp your favourite Christmas decorations. 

Pink Frosting has a beautiful range of traditional and contemporary Christmas ornaments to add oomph to your Christmas tree.

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn