Bridal Shower Theme: Cocktails & Cupcakes

Bridal Shower Theme:  Cocktails & Cupcakes

Cupcakes are huge right now-and for good reason! You get to eat a nice serving of cake (or 4) without feeling guilty.  Add in your favorite cocktails and this girlie party is sure to be a hit.



Invitations

Set the tone for the bridal shower with the invites. The one to the left, a  Cupcakes & Martinis Bridal Shower Invite sets the right tone.  Will anyone doubt that the desserts will be aplenty at this party?

Or this cute Cupcakes & Cocktails Bridal Shower Invitation.  The guest's mouths will be watering with anticipation. Plus, this lets guests know that it won't be a stuffy tea party.







Food


With cupcakes and cocktails you can't go wrong.  Aim for a menu that encourages noshing and mingling allowing the guests to get to know each other while the bride is opening gifts.

Sample Menu

1. Caramel Apple Cupcakes with Apple Martinis
2. Champagne Cupcakes with Mimosas or Champagne
3. Guinness and Bailey's Irish Cream Cupcakes with beer, red wine, or Chocolate Martinis

Some helpful tips:

• Chocolate cupcakes pairs well with other chocolate drinks like chocolate martinis, red wine, and beer. The lighter cupcakes pair well with white wines and champagne.
• To balance out the sweetness of the cupcakes, serve extras like mixed nuts, cheese & crackers, and pesto pinwheels along with fresh fruit like strawberries, berries, and grapes.
• Aim for 6 mini cupcakes per person or about 4 regular size per person-guests will want to munch on a variety of flavors.  When in doubt-always have more.

• Have the cocktails ready for mingling by preparing them ahead of time and placing them in mini martini glasses.

Follow the lead of Rene on Rene Takes the Cake. Her cupcakes & cocktails party featured Chocolate Espresso Martinis, Chambord and Champagne, and Stellatinis which were made from strawberry lemonade, vodka, and sprite. Each drink was then paired with it's cocktail inspired cupcake.

• Take cupcaking to the next level with cupcake fondue-yep we said Cupcake Fondue!  A truly creative, one-of-a-kind idea you basically take mini cupcakes and dip them into frosting. Easy to do too!

• Try the cupcake blog Cupcake where you can find unique cupcake recipes like Sweet Potato Cupcakes,  Coconut Lime Cupcakes,  Churros and Chocolate Cupcakes, and Sweet and Salty Honey Peanut Cupcakes as well as hundreds of other creative cupcake flavors. 

• Need to order specialty cupcakes? Try Crumbs where among the offerings you can order Cosmo, Grasshopper, and Key Lime cupcakes, all of which are kosher.  Try BabyCakes for gluten-free or spelt cupcakes.

Favors

• Have extra favor boxes on hand for guests to take the left-over cupcakes home with them. Less calories (and less clean-up) for you!

• Stick with the cupcake theme-send guests home with personalized cupcake mixes or give everyone personalized cupcakes. Or go with the cocktail theme-send guests home with personalized cosmo mixes.

• Make cupcakes in a jar for favors. Not only are they easy to make but since they're in a jar, they're easy to transport in a car (or on the subway.)

• Had enough of food? Why not do towel cupcakes or mini cocktail shakers? 

Bridal Shower for Couples who live together?

Q:The bride and groom have lived together for a few years. One of the other bridesmaids said they don't need anything and she doesn't want to throw them a bridal shower for that reason. Should we?

A: There's nothing wrong with a couple who is co-habitating or living together having a bridal shower. Of course, a practical reason for couples not to have a shower is that they don't need anything. However, there's other options: make it a themed shower like stock the bar or lingerie or make it a no-gifts party.  But don't let the fact that the bride and groom are living together stop them from having a shower.

How to Save Money on Bridal Shower Invites

1) Don't send any. While not our favorite solution, don't send traditional bridal shower invites out. Instead try making phone calls or sending e-mails. It gets the job done for free.

2) Use our printables. Scan our selection of free printable bridal shower invites and use those. There still is a cost-you do have to print them out. The other downside-you don't have creative control or sometimes a way to personalize them.

3) Get a professional to make the invite. Many graphic designers will send you a personalized custom design that you can then take to a print shop and have printed. (Tip-try the ones on Etsy like Etsy seller kottageon5th.)  The cost advantages can be nice-you get a custom invite for your friend's soirée that can often be printed for 10 cents a copy.

4) Zazzle-we're biased. We love Zazzle-it's a great publishing platform that allows you to make invites pretty much anyway you want to. Add poems and wording, upload photos, change fonts and colors, you've got plenty of options. You can also search the thousands of pre-made customizable designs they have-try searching for African-American bride or spa-themed shower to give you an idea of the many options. And the price can't be beat.  25 invites will set you back around $44.

FREE Bachelorette Party Invites: Glam Girls Night Out

Betsy White has a great downloadable DIY bachelorette party invitation-a stylish Glam Girls Night Out template available in four colors.

Popsicles with a twist-Alcohol, Tea, & Chili!?

From "Ice Pops" by Shelly Kaldunski

Orange-blackberry sangria ice pops.

Recently we wrote about booze-infused cupcakes for an alternative to traditional cupcakes for a wedding shower-well now you can have your booze and lick it too! (Okay, some have alcohol but some don't.) Apparently adult popsicles are becoming a new trend. While most of us think of popsicles we think of our childhood days with a cherry pop in the hot summer day while drinking juice outside in the backyard but today's popsicles can come in a wide variety of flavors like Coconut Curry Banana Pops With Salted Macadamia Nut with unusual ingredients like corn, chocolate, ancho chili, cinnamon, or chai tea.  Very different from the ones we find in the supermarket.

How refreshing would these be on a hot summer day-we're talking the perfect dessert for a bridal shower in Atlanta or Houston. Not to mention that with the wide variety of recipes, it's easy to find one (or three) that complement the other food you'll be serving. For example, Vietnamese Coffee Popsicles would be nice for a coffee & tea tasting or brunch.  For more recipes, go here or check out the book Pops: Icy Treats for Everyone.

Recipe:  Orange-Blackberry Sangria Ice Pops

Makes 12 to 14 servings

2 oranges

750-ml bottle light, dry,

   fruity red wine such as

   Rioja or Beaujolais

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons

   sugar

1 small tart green apple

   such as Granny Smith,

   peeled, cored, and cut

   into 1/2-inch pieces

1 cup blackberries

Pinch of salt

1. Using a vegetable peeler, remove 5 wide strips of zest from 1 orange. Juice the fruit and strain into a measuring cup. You should have 1/3 cup. Cut the top and bottom from the other orange. Set the orange upright and, following the contour of the fruit, cut off the peel, pith and membrane. Holding the orange over a bowl, cut along each side of the membranes between the sections. Let the sections fall into the bowl along with any juice. Cut the sections into 1/2-inch pieces. Strain the juice into the measuring cup or reserve for another use.

2. Pour the wine into a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until reduced to 2 cups, about 5 minutes. Add sugar, orange juice, orange zest, orange pieces, apple pieces, blackberries, and salt. Pour in 6 tablespoons water. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.

3. If using conventional ice pop molds, divide the mixture evenly among the molds, ensuring that each has about the same amount of fruit. Cover and freeze until solid, at least 4 hours and up to 3 days. If using sticks, insert them in the molds when the pops are partially frozen, after about 1 hour, then freeze until firm, at least 3 more hours. If using an instant ice pop maker, follow the manufacturer's instructions to fill the molds and freeze the pops.

- From Ice Pops by Shelly Kaldunski

Per serving (based on 14): 82 calories, trace protein, 11 grams carbohydrates, 8 grams sugar, trace fat, no cholesterol, 17 milligrams sodium, 1 gram dietary fiber.

Celebrity Bachelorette Party: Khloe Kardashian's Santa Monica Bash

How do the Kardashians party before one of them gets married? By heading to the Santa Monica Viceroy Hotel! The night started with ten of them having cocktails in two adjoining upstairs suites in the hotel before having dinner at an outdoor candlelit patio. The girls even gave bride-to-be Khloe a  champagne toast as a cale was brought out to celebrate her nuptials.  

At this point, filming for the reality show stopped and the real party began! The group headed upstairs to their suites again and the private party went on till 2am, with the girls drinking into the wee hours. The girls opened X-rated party gifts from Agent Provocateur, where Kim and Kourtney had been spotted shopping earlier in the day. At one point Khloe received another cake.  Supposedly this cake was a little cake in Lakers colors with a large appendage rising out of the middle of it and the words, “The Taste Of Things To Come”! 

Recreate her bachelorette party:

• Stay at the Viceroy Hotel in Santa Monica. Some of the amenities at this swanky hotel include: in-room beauty bars featuring full-sized spa products; two outdoor plunge pools; and in-room and poolside spa and beauty services by GreenBliss EcoSpa, Santa Monica’s original mobile eco-luxury spa service. Rooms here range from $295 to $600 depending on the day. Look for the special offers to save money.

• Pick up a naughty cake from a local exotic cake bakery like Exotic Cakes. We loved how Khloe's friends customized it for something near and dear to the bride-the Lakers!  Not in your budget-make your own using naughty cake pans from Bachelorette.com.

• Give out swag bags or goodie bags. The Kardashians chose sexy lingerie label Agent Provocateur to use as gifts for their friends.  Now we don't know what they bought, but handing out gifts like lace camisole favor bags filled with candy, sexy female form bath soaps, or personalized bath salts will make the guests feel sexy and loved. 

(Info from Radar Online)

FREE Printable Bridal Shower Invitations

We found more FREE printable Bridal Shower Invites for you.  You can download the pdf file of the one above and another similar one at Free Printable Greeting Cards. The pdf file is free, but you can purchase a premium version that allows you to edit it for $4.  For more FREE printables look here.