How to Plan a Disney Themed Party

Whenever I thought about my wedding day, I imagined myself stepping out of a carriage in front of Cinderella's castle. I'd be wearing my big poofy wedding gown, and walk up to my prince charming, who waited for me in front of the castle. And then, just as he leaned in to kiss me, reality came and slapped me in the face. It costs TONS of money to get married in front of Cinderella's castle. And although it would be AH-MA-ZING, there's no way I have that kind of money for my dream Disney World wedding. So, what's a girl to do? Well, clearly, it's to regroup and plan an amazing Disney-themed engagement party.

Psst- If you want to see all the photos from the party, be sure to check out this post!

The Plan

To prep, I created a Pinterest board and pinned any Disney ideas I liked. I decided that since I wanted to do several different movies, I needed something to tie them all together. I decided to focus on one color scheme for all the elements and centerpieces. I picked mint and peach/coral since they are some of my favorite colors, and also because my mom had those on her wedding day, so they were important to me. I also added pink (my favorite!) and metallics to give the party a little sparkle.

The first thing I did was I sat down and listed out all the Disney movies I wanted to incorporate and noted the elements from each. At this point, you're just taking notes, so write down anything you wish. The more the better! I had things like Snow White- wishing well, jewels, birds, apples. Just a simple list of word association for each move.

The next step was to list out all the things I needed to collect to add these elements to the party. My list included things like vintage books (Beauty and the Beast), seashells (The Little Mermaid) and a globe (Up). Step 2 was to collect everything. I started by searching around my house, and then going to my parent's office. They had a globe and a few winter decorations that were perfect for Frozen. I also was able to utilize their huge collection of picture frames for the quotes! The more you can borrow for the party, the better. Any money saved on decor can be allocated to something else ;)

Once I collected all my freebies, I went shopping!

1. Magic Lamp 2. Clock 3. Cloche 4. Ariel’s Candelabra 5. Frog Prince 6. Glass Slipper 7. Moss 8. Pumpkin Jar 9. Coral 10. Rapunzel’s Lantern 11. Mrs. Potts 12. Flamingo Lawn Ornament 13. Enchanted Rose 14. Cinderella’s Carriage 15. Lumiere

Thrift Store

A lot of my stuff came from the thrift store. I was able to repurpose some items, like turning a mail holder into a wishing well. I spray painted a flounder kids' cup into a gold statue for the Little Mermaid table. And, all a tarnished teapot needed was a little elbow grease to become a wonderful Mrs. Potts.

Christmas Tree Shops

If you're looking for affordable decor that seems high end, look no further than Christmas Tree Shops! I purchased all my votive holders, the seashells, and the Beauty and the Beast cloche from there.

1. Gold Frames 2. Be Our Guest Napkins 3. Love Stirrers 4. Beverage Cups 5. Coral and Mint Dinner Plates 6. Folding Cocktail Table 7. Tablecloth Clips 8. Striped Lanterns 9. Sequin Table Runner 10. White Tent 11. Bottle Opener 12. Shell Garland 13. Pink and Aqua Best Day Ever Tags 14. Beverage Dispenser 15. Gold Dinner and Coral Dessert Plates

Oriental Trading and Party City

Almost all the tableware, decor, and barware came from Oriental Trading and Party City. Oriental trading had these great seashell garlands, and paper lanterns in any color you can imagine. Party City had these Be Our Guest napkins (perfect!), colored cups, and engagement napkins. If you mix and match all the items, you can create a unique mix that can incorporate all the elements of the party.

Amazon

Oh, Amazing Amazon. How did we ever survive without thee?! I was able to find all the obscure things I needed on Amazon- a Cinderella carriage, glass slippers, a tiny magic lamp, and a cute frog prince. I also found some of the barware, like these cute bottle openers and these cute drink stirrers. I added these sequin table runners in all sorts of colors to each table for a little extra sparkle. My favorite thing was probably these pumpkin candle holders that I spray painted gold. I'm using them in my fall decor right now, and they are just soo cute! Ditto for these cheap little pumpkins that I spray painted gold and silver. 

Dollar Store

The dollar store was great for random little items. Things like these horses that I spray painted, these cheap silver trays that looked fancy, and even a magic mirror! I also got my books for the Beauty and the Beast table from the Dollar Store. It was a pretty funny sight- me removing all the book jackets to check out the covers and make sure they were the right colors for the party. In the end, I settled on A World of Pasta, which obviously Belle reads.

Michaels

I don't think any party could be complete without a trip to Michaels. it was here that I picked up some moss for the sign-in area, the rose for my Beauty and the Beast cloche, and a stand for my signature cocktails sign. I also picked up the supplies for the Tangled Lanterns I made using the Cricut.

Misc Crafts

After I did the purchasing, I also had a few of my own crafts projects. First, I made these DIY balloon pins. I wanted something to distinguish the members of our immediate family, and I wanted it to have an Up vibe to it, like a cross between the balloons and the infamous grape soda pin.

The Wishing Well was made from some sort of hanging letter holder the thrift store. I had my fiance create posts and a roof out of scrap wood and paint stirrers to create a wishing well, and I painted it all white to match. A few vines and flowers from my craft hoard completed the look. 

I had my fiance make these adorable croquet mallets from Damask Love. They were the perfect Disney-themed activity and created an awesome photo op! They were one of my favorite elements of the party. My fiancé thought I was crazy when I told him to make them, but everyone loved them.

For an easy project, create a game of ring toss (aka "engagement ring" toss). All you need are some empty wine bottles. If you don't have any, this is the perfect excuse to drink lots of wine and de-stress from party planning. Soak the bottles to remove the labels, and let them dry fully. Spray paint them in fun colors, arrange them in a box, and toss on some colorful rings. 

If you want to learn more about planning a Pinterest worthy party, be sure to sign up to get your FREE Anatomy of a Pinterest Worthy Party guide! It's full of helpful hints on how to pick a theme, the little details that will make your event unique, and tips to take great photos of your event. And, there's even a checklist so you don't forget anything! So what are you waiting for? Get yours now!

If you want to see all the photos from the party, be sure to check out this post!

Are you going to try and plan your own Disney-themed party? What's something you MUST have? Let me know in the comments below!

Disney Themed Backyard Engagement Party

Ok guys. Let's take it WAY back to last June and talk about my amazing engagement party. I honestly can't believe I haven't posted it sooner, but I really wanted to get this post just right. It was GORGEOUS, but also a lot of work. Just showing pretty pictures isn't my thing, so I really wanted to talk about how to use my engagement party as inspiration for your own. I want to talk about how I got it done, where stuff came from, and how to replicate the look for yourselves. This post will showcase the photos, and the next post will be chock full of tips, links, and DIY projects!

It was truly a magical day, with perfect weather. Since it was an outdoor party, and we had about 50 people coming, we were REALLY counting on a warm and sunny day. Luckily, we got that! We used a combination of our own tables/chairs, borrowed ones, and "rented" ones that a family member borrowed from his job. We also had a few small tents set up to block out the sun. We hired a photographer friend to capture the event, Ken Camara. He did an AMAZING job with our photos. I highly recommend having a photographer at your event if you can swing it. If you find an up-and-coming photographer or photo student, you can have gorgeous and affordable photos that you'll always cherish. It's worth the investment!

Fun fact about me- I LOVE DISNEY. No really... I'm pretty obsessed. I watch the movies over and over, I'm listening to a Disney Spotify playlist as I type this, and I'm probably going to Disney World for my honeymoon... Truly a Disney-loving girl over here. Anyway, I love so many of the movies that I don't think I could ever pick just one to focus on for the party, so I decided to have as many Disney-inspired elements as I could. To keep the party cohesive, I decided to have designated zones for each movie. This prevented a yard sale effect and helped people recognize all the elements, especially since some were obscure. I also had my sister make graphics with romantic quotes from Disney movies for each table. The day before the party, I went to the supermarket and purchased a bunch of flowers and created my own arrangements on the day of the party.  This helped me save a lot of money!

Welcome Table

For my welcome table, I used a Snow White and Fairy Tale theme. The Wishing Well was made from some sort of hanging letter holder I found at the thrift store. Using scrap wood and paint stirrers, I had my fiance create posts and a roof, and I painted it all white to match. A few vines and flowers from my craft hoard completed the look. Next to the Wishing Well, I placed some Best Day Ever tags (a Rapunzel reference!) so that people could give us some advice for our wedding, marriage, or life in general. I added some inexpensive accessories to enhance the look, like a spray painted dollar store toy horse, a dollar store mirror, and some moss from Michaels. 

I made these cute Up-themed pins for our parents and siblings. Since not everyone had met, it was a nice way to distinguish our immediate families so that everyone could meet them. If there's any interest in how to craft these, I can definitely make a blog post about it!

Up

Since I figured some people would want to stand, I purchased a folding bar-height table for our deck. I wanted to keep the decor on this table simple since it's pretty small, so I put a globe and a helmet with goggles for UP. I also created a really cute picture frame that was house shaped with balloons for this table, but sadly forgot to put it out! It's hard to remember every little thing when it comes to a party this big, but you've just gotta accept that things get forgotten sometimes.

Peter Pan

When I went thrift store shopping, I added "gold pirate ship" to my list, fairly certain that I wouldn't be able to find anything. Lo and behold, I found this amazing gold ship at the first store I went to! I hung it up on my front door using clear fishing line, and it was such a statement piece. I loved it so much that I left it out for nearly the whole summer!

Tangled

For Rapunzel's table, I decided to go with lots of lanterns and flowers. The gold sequin runner was symbolic of her long golden hair, and the tallest lantern was symbolic of her tower, complete with the "magic golden flower" on top! The small paper lanterns were a pattern from Designs by Miss Mandee. As soon as I saw these lanterns, I knew I had to make them for my party! I went out and purchased a Cricut specifically for this, even though I had put off buying one for years. The smaller lanterns are inexpensive ones from Ikea, filled with dollar store flowers.

Cinderella

Since I ended up ordering a lot of Cinderella items, I was able to use it both indoors and out. Most of the pumpkins were borrowed from my Fall decor, since it was really hard to find pumpkin items in the summer. I took about half my cheap pumpkins and spray painted them gold and silver so they would match better. The horse was from the dollar store and was spray painted silver. Nice and cheap!

The Little Mermaid

This was one of my favorite tables. I added lots of seashells and nautical elements to this table, along with a gold sequin table runner to be the "sand" at the bottom of the ocean. I found this funny Flounder cup at the thrift store (score!) and spray painted him rose gold to match, since his usual yellow and blue color was a bit much for the decor. I added a candelabra since it's one of Ariel's items from her collection, which gave the table some nice height.

I added a half fan garland, which looked like seashells to me! It was way smaller than I thought and the fence kinda make it look even smaller, but whatevs. You win some, you lose some.

Cinderella

Here's the outdoor Cinderella table! This one had a similar feel as the one inside, except it had a few more pumpkins and these awesome pumpkin candle holders I spray painted gold. They're one of my favorite decor items for Thanksgiving now! It's amazing what a can of spraypaint can do.

Frozen

Since this table had an umbrella on it, there was less room for centerpieces. I kept it simple by adding a bouquet of flowers, some wintry candle holders and lots of sparkle. The frozen table was probably the hardest, because how do you prevent it from looking like a winter table?! For this reason, I only used sparkly snowflake items. It reminded me of the scene where they first meet Olaf in Elsa's wintry wonderland. The gold sequin runner (instead of silver) also prevented it from looking too much like winter, and kept the whole thing glam.

Beauty and the Beast

This was my other favorite table. Since this table had larger elements than the others, I kept the rest of the decorations minimal. I had an enchanted rose on a stack of books, a candleholder for Lumiere, and a thrifted teapot for Mrs. Potts. Then, all I did was add some fake roses and voila! You can be our guest.

The rose was a fake one from Michael's that actually looked incredibly real. Funny story about the books- I bought them from the Dollar Store! They have tons of books at the Dollar Tree, but most have a book jacket on them. However, when you peel it off, the hardcover book underneath might be a cool color. So I went around peeling off all the jackets to find the prettiest books, and putting back the ones that weren't. 

Bar Cart

The bar cart didn't have a specific theme, so it was mostly fairytale and engagement/love themed. Since our special sangria ran out before I could find the chalk, our talented photographer, Ken Camara, created this really cute sign using our hashtag. The Pop Fizz Clink sign added some sparkle, and it came from my New Year's Eve decor.

Alice in Wonderland

There's a rabbit hiding in the bushes who's late for a very important date! (Just kidding, there's no rabbits in there!) This was a really easy decoration, since all I had to do was grab our kitchen clock and put it in the bushes.

I also had my fiance make these ADORABLE flamingo croquet mallets as an activity for the guests and kiddos. They were a hit (hah! no pun intended) and made an awesome photo op. The tutorial was by Damask Love, and honestly it was one of my favorite parts!

Oh hey, here I am (on the left) with my super cool sister, posing with our croquet mallets.

Misc

I saved up some wine bottles, which we spray painted to create a ring toss game. I figured this was a cute play on the whole "he put a ring on it" thing. It was really easy and cheap to do! We used an old planter box we had to house the bottles. It was practically free and so much fun!

And, lastly, we had some Disney themed coloring books for the kids! I found the Disney Princess Brides one at the Christmas Tree Shop and there was nothing more perfect! There was a lot of stuff going on so the kids didn't need the coloring books at the party, but they made for a nice favor. It would be cute to scribble a note inside so that maybe the kids could read it one day when they grow up and have an engagement party of their own!

The engagement party was so much fun to plan, and it was an amazing day! I have to thank my family and friends that came and helped out before and after the party. Plus, my fiancé was a HUGE help by finishing up some of the projects I couldn't do, like ring toss and the flamingo croquet mallets. It was definitely a stressful few days leading up to it, but the reward was so much greater than the struggle.

If you want to learn more about planning a Pinterest worthy party, be sure to sign up to get your FREE Anatomy of a Pinterest Worthy Party guide! It's full of helpful hints on how to pick a theme, the little details that will make your event unique, and tips to take great photos of your event. And, there's even a checklist so you don't forget anything! So what are you waiting for? Get yours now!

So what do you think about this Disney themed engagement? Would you do anything differently? Let me know in the comments below!

Wedding Planning Update: Just 6 More Months!

Ahhh! Somehow my wedding went from "so far away" to "holy cookies, that's close". Time really does fly, and now I feel like I'm going to be scrambling to get things done. Exactly what I didn't want to happen! Oh well, I thrive under pressure so I guess it's meant to be. I'm in my element now haha.  I haven't done an update in almost 6 months, so here's one to fill you in. 

Let's get real- the past few months were rough. It all started with fracturing my toe on my wedding date (ugh #truestory) and wondering if the date is cursed. Then there's the fact that I get easily overwhelmed when faced with decisions. We almost eloped in Disney World, I almost wanted to call everything off, and I almost settled for an ok wedding dress. Somehow everything worked out, so none of that happened. But I was pretty dang close to an emotional breakdown to avoid the stress of things. Wedding planning is hard, you guys! 

Anyway, on a brighter note, here's what went well:

Wedding Dress- Ordered!!

The best news is that I FOUND A DRESS!! Holy crap you guys, this is the biggest deal. I tried on over 80 dresses. I didn't think I was going to be this picky about it, but somehow I was. I started at David's Bridal and really loved a dress, but it didn't go over well with some people. Since I already had my doubts, I took it out of the running. I spent the next year trying to find a replacement. I'd go dress shopping 2-3 weeks in a row, take a few months off, then go shopping again. I went in my walking cast too! That was fun. Gam Gam goes wedding dress shopping. I'm happy to say that I finally found a dress that I love, and I honestly can't wait to wear it and for John to see me in it! 

Photographer- Chosen

One of the first things we did, way back in November, was book our photographer. We looked for someone that knows how to take good photos (duh) but also is able to capture the emotions of the day. When we contacted our photographer, Lora, we had a phone call to discuss our expectations for the day, as well as get to know each other. Lora was super friendly and personable. She was able to keep the conversation flowing, got John to open up, and made him SMILE. That, to me, meant she was the one. John is like a stoic puzzle, so the fact that she was able to get him to open up and be comfortable meant we could avoid an album full of awkwardly posed, stuffy photos. I can't wait to see our photos of the special day! 

DJ/Videographer/Lighting- Done

When we went to our wedding venue for their annual bridal show, we met a married couple that had their own business doing rentals. They were so friendly and I loved their setup, so we decided to go with them for our DJ, uplighting, and videography. Their wedding was held in our venue, so we were able to see the room transformed from a nice hall to a gorgeous wedding venue. Plus we discovered an awesome thing we could add to make the room pop- starlight floors! This girl loves sparkles, so as soon as I saw it, I had to have it. 

From our Disney-themed engagement party. Photos coming soon!

Florist- Chosen!

We picked our florist! We met her, you guessed it, at the bridal show! For this overwhelmed and procrastinating couple, the bridal show was a great place to meet vendors. We picked almost everyone we are using for our wedding from this bridal show! I met Sue at her table and she was giving out roses to all the brides. Fun fact about me: I hate long stem roses. So when Sue handed me one, I politely said "no thanks, I don't like roses". She asked what kind of flowers I liked and picked one out of her arrangement to give to me! It was a really small but sweet gesture, so I knew she was the right one to help us. 

Chair Rentals- Done!

We are renting Chiavari chairs for our wedding, since the venue has these dark and uninteresting chairs that look less formal. We are also meeting with a rental company about renting vs buying the items for the centerpieces and decor. In case you didn't realize, decorations are my favorite part of any party, so I'm so excited to see what we do for the wedding. I've got some awesome ideas to transform the room and I can't wait to get started on that! 

Can you tell I'm getting excited?! 

Here's a picture from 2012. Look how young we were!

Needs to get done:

Meeting with vendors- we have a meeting this month with some of our vendors to discuss options and I'm really excited to see what we cook up. 

Tasting- yay! So excited for the tasting. Our venue is making our cake, so I'm super excited to try everything. Cake tasting seems like the best part of wedding planning, besides dress shopping! 

Working on invitations- we really want to send our invites early since our wedding is on a holiday weekend. 

Getting people to book their rooms- pretty much no one has booked their rooms and no one knows you can book them yet, so we need to get on that. 

Accessories- now that I have the dress, I need some accessories to compliment it. 

Wow guys, it's crunch time. Really feeling the pressure right about now! Let's talk about wedding planning. What's the most important part of planning? Let me know in the comments.

Be sure to follow my colorful wedding ideas Pinterest board for gorgeous bouquets, amazing centerpieces, and more!

Wedding Planning Update- Just 12 More Months!

One year. Just one year, less than 365 days, until we become husband and wife. I've been pretty cool, calm and collected for most of this, but on my wedding date, it finally hit me. And I instantly started to cry happy tears. And of course, when you cry happy tears, you have to call your mom.

When my fiance and I got engaged last October, we were about to buy a house. Since this was our #1 priority, it was pretty much decided that all wedding planning would be on hold until after we were able to purchase the house and were settled in. We didn't pick a venue right away, I still don't have a dress, and the "little details" are just ideas in my mind. I spent a week thinking about how Friday would be one year until my wedding date. And then Friday came...

I took a look at my phone and saw the date, September 2.  And I got super excited. "That's right! Today's the day, just one year until my wedding day!" And then I repeated it again... "just one year until my wedding day..." and that's when the floodgates opened. You guys, I haven't been one to cry about my wedding so far. I thought for sure I'd cry when I got engaged, because just thinking about getting engaged made me cry. But nope, I was just in pure shock. And I figured wedding dresses might make me cry, but I didn't find any that brought a tear to my eye. And I figured somewhere along the way I'd cry about "omg I'm getting married soon!" but that never happened either. But something about knowing that in exactly one year, I'd be getting ready for my wedding made it all real. I could see that moment. With every wedding video you've seen, every movie, you imagine what that moment would be like for you. But this time, I saw my own wedding. I saw myself getting ready in a beautiful room, I saw my hair done, and I felt that anticipation of seeing my groom for the first time. It felt so real for the first time, and it was amazing.

That's the interesting thing about this journey for me. Everything up until this moment felt so theoretical. I couldn't connect the actual events to what I had imagined them to be. Shopping for wedding dresses felt like a game of dress up. Picking centerpieces felt like window shopping at a store you couldn't afford. Making a guest list felt like imagining which celebrity you'd invite to your wedding. In short- it all felt fake, like it was a make-believe ceremony we were having "someday". But today... today I understand what it's all about.

So, if you're wedding planning and you feel like it's surreal, don't worry. Your moment when it all becomes real will come. The moment when you can see it in all its colors, and you can feel the emotions you're going to feel.  And that moment is pure magic.

Wedding Wednesdays- Just 14 more months!

Welcome to Wedding Wednesdays! Once a month I'll be doing an update to show where we are in the wedding planning process and hopefully give some advice along the way. 

I have some AMAZING news this week that I can't wait to share!

Date and Location- chosen!

We have chosen a date for our wedding! Ahh! We decided on Labor Day weekend 2017, and will be getting married in Hawley, PA, just a few hours away from home. This is a huge sigh of relief. We decided to do a "weekend away" type of thing so that we could have more time to spend with our family and friends. Weddings seem to fly by, so it'll be great to be able to actually chat with everyone before and after the wedding!

Wedding Website- Started 

I chose Squarespace to create our wedding website.  It's also what I use for my blog site, and I can't recommend it enough! It's so easy to use, even for a tech challenged gal like myself.

Wedding Theme- Formulating

I have narrowed down the wedding theme I think that I want to use and have started pinning some ideas on my secret Wedding Ideas board. I'm super excited about the direction it's going, but I don't want to finalize a theme until I pick my dress.

Engagement Party "Thank You" cards- Sent

This was an outstanding task on my to-do list that I am happy to say I completed. Since my fiance writes like a child (hah!), he didn't want to hand-write any of the cards and so I had to do them all.

Needs to get done:

Save the Dates- Now that we have a date, I'd like to let everyone else know about it! I'm hoping to get these planned out so I can send them by the end of the summer so people can start saving up for the resort.

Wedding Dress- Trying on wedding dresses has been one of the most fun and most terrible things. There are so many gorgeous dresses out there, but I don't feel like any of them speak to me. I've liked 2 so far, but something holds me back from making a decision. I'm thinking that means there's an even greater one out there for me, but it doesn't make the process any less stressful! I want a fancier dress so I look like the bride, but at the same time I'm having trouble envisioning these dresses as anything other than wedding dresses. I feel like I stepped out of a catalog, and I want a dress that doesn't just look nice, but also makes me feel special.

Vendors research- We need to start researching vendors in the area so that we can make decisions on who we would like to use for our photographer, florist, DJ, etc. I'm also hoping that we can afford a videographer so that we can watch our wedding "tape" with our kids for years to come.

Well, this is a pretty short update but I'm sure as time progresses I will have WAY more to say about this stuff.

Be sure to check out my Colorful Wedding Ideas Pinterest board for more wedding ideas and party planning tips!

Are you getting married? What's the #1 thing you're focusing on?