If you missed these events, here they are for your inspiration and viewing pleasure:

Donna Hay Styles Up Sydney!
 

Catherine’s Surprise Baby Shower Photos

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

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

I must admit that I’m a pretty late bloomer when it comes to Halloween.  Being such an American tradition, we didn’t celebrate it in Australia when I was growing up.  Watching Halloween specials of the Cosby Show, Roseanne (yes, I confess), the Simpsons and Beverly Hills 90210 was about as spooky as it got around the 31st October in my very Aussie neighbourhood.

Now, I am loving Halloween.  There isn’t a more fun, strictly for celebration purposes only, party time during the year than the end of October.  You know we’re on the downhill run to Christmas when we start planning spooky parties.  You know its Spring time and the flowers are blooming and our gardens are happy when we’re looking to replace our real spider webs (god-forbid) with massive fake ones.  You know that it’s Halloween when Big W, Coles and Woolies are packed to the rafters with plastic pumpkins, lollies in all hideous shapes, colours and sizes, and we’re looking for the best costumes around to wear to the best Halloween party we’ve been invited to.

So, as a Halloween convert and the owner of Australia’s leading online celebration and party shop, Pink Frosting, here are my best places to gather inspiration for celebrating Halloween in Australia. 

For the Best Halloween Theme Ideas and Inspirations, look no further than the incredible Hostess with the Mostess.  Featuring gorgeous images (the two images above are from this site) and ideas ranging from childish to feminine, this is the go-to website for great ideas for planning a seriously styling Halloween bash.   I particularly love the Ghouls Night Halloween Bash featuring hot pink and bling as the central theme.

Now, when Martha Stewart calls her website Halloween Central, you know you’ve found the right place for great do-it-yourself tips, craft ideas, menu planning and inspiration to create a truly special Halloween celebration.  While we are unlikely to bake a pumpkin pie here in Australia, the ghoulish menus, fantastic cupcakes, decorating ideas and crafts are just spectacular.  Don’t forget to sign up for the Halloween Workshop which will give you free ideas and planning tips in a newsletter format straight to your inbox daily.  Brilliant.

For spectacular kids costumes for Halloween, the girls at My Make Believe have the most incredible selection you can imagine.  Is your little one a miniature jack-o-lantern?  Maybe more a black cat?  Or a not-so-traditional type such as a feminine flamingo?  These costumes really do make me want to go trick-or-treating with the kids!  And this Aussie company is stocked up ready for your Halloween orders.

For cheap adult costumes, visit online stores such as Party Costumes or your local party hire shop.  In my mind, it’s much more fun to make your own with an unlimited imagination and plenty of late nights with a bottle of vino, your sewing kit and re-runs of 90210 Halloween specials!

And, to decorate your Halloween bash, there’s no better place than Australia’s number one online celebration and party shop, Pink Frosting.  We’ve got some amazingly spooky and fun Halloween decorations, invitations, accessories, favours, games and cupcake decorations to help you bring your Halloween dreams to life! 

Now, I’m not sure what your local area is like but I know many buildings host their own Trick-Or-Treat schedule where a kind volunteer organises which apartments are happy to see trick-or-treating children and provide them with yummy Halloween candy.  If you’re one of the lucky ones where it’s safe and organised to let your kids trick-or-treat, the best places online to buy lollies are Goody Goody Gumdrops and Wallies Lollies. 

Go on, have some fun at work, with your friends and family this Halloween.  For no other reason than to have fun!

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

If you’re anything like me, you know a party needs three things – delicious wine, great decorations, and cake. Being the fashionista that I am, there’s never going to be a plain cake at my parties! I want my cake to be memorable, especially if it’s for a special occasion.  And not that I have anything against iced flowers, but I want decorations that reflect my personal style.

I want whimsy.  I want glamour.  I want GLITZ!

I am so excited about the new range of cake decorations and cake bling from famous Los Angeles cake decorators, Very Different Cakes, now stocked at Pink Frosting for Australian and New Zealand brides and entertainers. 

Now, I definitely can’t afford their cakes (and, given we live in Australia not in Los Angeles, I can’t get them anyway), but I can easily afford their Swarovski crystal cake jewels. You can customise a monogram or have hearts, flowers, and assorted “garden friends,” starting from just five dollars.

Now, that’s fashionable food we can all afford!

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

Pink Frosting is getting some Japanese influence!  And, no don’t worry, Pink Frosting is still Australia’s number one online wedding shop and will continue to be so!

Personally, however, I’m making a huge journey as my husband has been posted to live in Tokyo for three years.  We’ve packed up our house in Canberra and we’re now settled down in the middle of this enormous and beautiful metropolis, Tokyo Japan. 

I anticipate being inspired by so many beautiful, alluring and new decorations, tables, taste experiences and traditions from Tokyo and our travels around Japan, as well as some personally moving and touching experiences with my family. 

Although nothing changes with my businesses, Pink Frosting and Australia Entertains, I wanted to create a blog where I could capture anything that I find inspiring about Japan.  If you want to read up on what the Porritt’s are up to over in Tokyo, you can visit us at www.MyJapaneseTable.com for some interesting yarns!  And you can still email me at kathryn@pinkfrosting.com.au with any great wedding, entertaining or celebration stories, ideas and inspiration.

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

Wedgewood Jasperware is one of those classic looks that just about every entertainer in the world adores.  I just had to share these gorgeous Jasperware inspired decorated cookie favours by Sweetambs on Etsy. 

Sweetambs cookies are made from a basic sugar cookie recipe, which is then flavoured with fresh orange zest, vanilla beans, and a hint of cardamom. The royal icing has a dash of vanilla extract to bring together the wonderful flavors of the cookie.   If you’re a reader from the US you will be able to order from SweetAmbs for your wedding or special occasion favors.   If you’re not from the US, then get out your sugar decorating kit and start practising!  I am determined to learn how to decorate at least half as well as this!

And these stunning little cameo inspired cookies!  Who could possibly eat them?

What a divine wedding or christening bomboniere idea.

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

Crystal and pink are such a stunning combination.  This beautiful wedding is a textbook example of lavishing over the top style on tables - the wedding decorator did not listen to Coco Chanel’s advice about minimalism and taking one final piece off – instead they went completely over the top with ravishing decorations, crystals, floral detailing and linen.  Simply stunning.

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

I think this might be the most beautifully decorated aisle I have ever seen – better than any celebrity wedding, more stunning than any wedding I have attended.  The chandeliers over the aisle are simply divine, the coastline in the background, the floristry and the flower studded chair covers all combine to make a truly breathtaking ceremony site.  I just had to share…

These stunning images from Megan and Kyle’s wedding at Pelican Hill in Newport Coast, California USA by photographer Victor Sizemore are so beautiful, I’m hoping it inspires one of our gorgeous Aussie brides to create an equally magnificent aisle for their wedding day – at the Whitsundays perhaps? 

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn

Bachelorette parties are one of our favourite parties to decorate and host here at Pink Frosting.  You can be frothy, fun, and really girly because it really is a celebration of girliness, love and friendship.  And the best way to express all of these sentiments is with the girliest pink, feathery fluff and kitchiest decor you can imagine.  This is our Pinkalicious Bachelorette Party (No Boys Allowed)!

The Hens Party in a Box is the perfect start for any Bachelorette Party.  We took so many elements from this fantastic box of tricks and used them as stationery, decorations, labels, tags and favors.  The invitations included in the box are a great headliner for your Pinkalicious Bachelorette Party.

From top to toe, our Pinkalicious Bachelorette Party is fluffy and pink.  Starting with budget conscious hot pink paper lanterns strung from the ceiling with a satin ribbon.  Hanging from the base of the lantern is one of the small paper doilies which come in the fabulous pink Sweetheart Paper Doily packets of 72 pieces (can you believe that?  These are one of our favourite new decorations at Pink Frosting).

We’ve created some fun pink flowers for the table using the LollyPop Pink Party Plates by Paper Eskimo.   Super-easy for even the non-craftiest hostess, simply stick two paper plates back to back against a piece of dowel and stick the base into a clump of blutak covered with some fabulous feathers (to cover any nastiness).

We’ve filled two large vases on either side of the plate flowers.  One with water pearls and one with conversation hearts. 

For each place setting, we have placed the other paper doilies from the Sweetheart Paper Doily sets under each simply white plate.  It adds a pop of colour to the setting.  On top, we’ve used the fun stickers from the Hens Party in a Box which includes some fun nicknames for the guests and guest of honour.  Each place setting includes a glitzy antique acrylic place card holder   which is another of our favourite new products at Pink Frosting.

Finally, we’ve used the Bachelorette Party sign from our Hens Party in a Box and the Bridal Bouquet Table Centrepiece to give a little more kitch to the table.

Our fun toasting flutes are so fun, aren’t they?  With giant diamond rings in the centre, they are truly a bachelorette party must-have.

Finally, our gorgeous favors are the very popular With This Ring engagement ring keychain favors by Kate Aspen.  As we wanted a Pinkalicious look, we removed the thank you tag which comes with the favor, and placed on our own pink circle tags which make the favor really work for the party theme.

If you want to see our gorgeous set-up in person, come on down to see us at the Pink Frosting showroom at 35 Whyalla Street, Fyshwick in Canberra.

Happy Celebrating!

Kathryn