Design Editor

Matthew Mead: Perfect parties await...

   

 

Stylist Matthew Mead has a wonderful new book, right in time for the holiday party season.  "Entertaining Simple"  is packed with tips and recipes to help you entertain in style. With a creative background with magazines (Country Home), retail (Pottery Barn) and television (HGTV), you've got your perfect guide for every season.

 

Matthew was kind enough to do a quick Q&A with me about his entertaining style:

What's on your party playlist?
Depends on the party... but I love Moon River and light jazz as well as 40's big band.

We all struggle with what to bring to a party. What do you think is the perfect host/hostess gift?
Besides my new book, "Entertaining Simple",  I think a hefty stack of embroidered or patterned cocktail napkins... a delicious box of chocolates from Harbor Candy in Ogunquit, Maine (not to share... just for the host)  A vintage ice bucket.

Do you have a go-to cocktail you like to serve?

Pineapple Pleaser

1 1/2 ounces pineapple juice
1-ounce vodka
1-ounce orange liqueur
1 ounce pomegranate juice
1/2-ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
Turbinado sugar, for the rim (optional) 
 
Chill a martini glass in the freezer. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the pineapple juice, vodka, orange liqueur, pomegranate and lime juice. Cover and shake vigorously, until combined and chilled, about 30 seconds. Strain and garnish with chilled orange slices.

*Checkout his website and blog for more inspiration, recipes and downloadable templates.

Amy Atlas: Sweet event planning

My friends and I have been gushing over photos from the portfolio of NYC event planner Amy Atlas this week. Her specialty is exquisitely detailed dessert tables for all occasions.  Check out her site for more images of scrumptious candies, inspirational color schemes and beautiful packaging.  (Psst..there's a Halloween table too!)

Beach Week: Cupcakes!

Kristin sent me these Martha Stewart's Shark and Beach cupcakes that she tried out for her son's birthday. Love the graham cracker sand.

My latest project: Save the Date

I just finished designing this Save the Date card for my newly engaged friend Danielle. (You go, girl!) Her fiance is in a band and she wanted something a little edgier for their New Year's Eve wedding. We're pairing the card with black envelopes from Paper Source.  I'll keep you updated on the invitation design in the fall...

A bride's dream: Wonderful Graffiti Wedding

Wonderful Graffiti has pulled out all the stops with their latest wedding line, The Chocolate™ collection. The typography transfers company has developed a one-stop shopping destination for all of your event design needs. You'll find invitations, monogrammed chocolate lollipops, hanging luminaries and more. Fabulous!

I spoke with Founder/Creative Director Mary McPhail--I'm so inspired by her enthusiasm. The company  prides themselves on creating beautiful things and being a happy business. She also added, "I am so crazy about this collection. We introduced our first coordinated collection last year. It was called Black Tie™; classic black and white and silver. The Chocolate™ collection is meant to be contemporary and warm and fun. I woke up one morning and decided that I wanted to hang stuff from the Chocolate collection on a "wedding tree." That's why we developed the hanging luminaries, treat baskets, place cards and suckers."

I wouldn't limit the possibilities to just weddings either. I'm thinking baby shower favors and birthday cupcake toppers here. Plus, you could accent the chocolate so nicely with robin's egg blue, lime or hot pink.

Photography: Michael Barber
Collection design: Jessie Shea and Adrian Ng
Florist and Stylist: Caitlin Foley

Kids birthday party: Aidyn turns 35...in dog years

My friend Carla throws the best parties. Her daughter Aidyn benefits the most from her creativity. Every year, she has a fun birthday party theme: Hawaiian Two-au, Mexican Three-esta, you get the idea. This year she knew what she wanted: A dog themed bash. You're going to love it!

-The invitation: Guests were asked to "Join us for puppy chow and a howlin' good time!" The who, what, when, where turned into Come! Stay! Rollover! and best of all, "ARF" SVP.

-The food: Kids snacked on bone-shaped graham crackers, dog cookies, paw print cheese crackers and bone candies. Carla created a dog bowl cake using Cocoa Puffs as the dog food. How amazing are the "pupcakes"?

-The favors: "Doggie bags" were set out for the kids to decorate on their own with stickers and why yes, there are bone shaped crayons!

-Entertainment: The kids enjoyed a bouncy house and took swings at a bone shaped piñata.

Carla has turned her passion for food and parties into two businesses: The Dinner Belle, offers personal chef services, and PB&J Gourmet offers kids cooking parties.  Stay tuned for more of her creations. Have a photos of one of your parties you'd like to share? Send them to me!

All you need is a little tissue paper

Just saw these dreamy Pom-Poms by Martha Stewart  on Cookie Magazine's  Nesting Blog. The Pom-Pom's come as a kit in green, blue or pale yellow. A $19.99 kit makes seven pom-poms in two different sizes. Beautiful for any type of party. Let me know if you buy some!

Party: Paige turns 2!

My very talented friend Lisa just celebrated her daughter's 2nd birthday with a precious "Tutu" party. Get it? I had to share some of her photos and tips for such an adorable theme.

 

-The invitation: Lisa is wonderful designer and does amazing things with paper. She is my sister's best friend and our entire family has counted on her for countless wedding invitations, baby announcements, Christmas cards and more. Note the floral embellishments on the tutu--that is a lot of precise gluing.

 

-The favors: It took two days for Lisa and her mother-in-law hand make ten gorgeous tutus in shades of pink and yellow, accented with ribbons and flowers. Lisa included personalized tags for each tutu with glitter accents on each name. At all of her parties for kids, she prints out food labels for allergy consideration.

 

-The cake: Lisa can't write on cakes very well, so she always prints out the cake message and displays it with a wooden skewer. The cake is three layers of golden vanilla and chocolate with simple butter cream icing. Artsy squiggle decorating masks any mistakes. Whimsy hides A LOT of imperfections for those of us too cheap to buy a cake.

 

-Entertainment: Pin the tutu on the Pookie (Paige's nickname). Lisa created tutu stickers with each guest's name for the game.

 

Have a photos of one of your parties you'd like to share? Send them to me!