Confetti & Pink Styled Shoot

Late last year I was asked to provide some of our products for a styled shoot. When I heard the theme was confetti there was no need to convince me any further. As a bit of a confetti lover myself (sort of goes with the job…) I was intrigued to see the end results.

Charlotte Garret, designer and stylist super wizz organised the shoot with a wealth of other fab suppliers including EFC Photography who took all the gorgeous shots. Below are a few photos of some of our products including cake stands, tassel garlands and sugar swizzle sticks.

Ou lovely Miss Etoile cake stands in lemon. Cakes by the talented Bliss Bespoke.

This is only a little snapshot of all the images from the shoot. You can go and see all the confetti inspired images and full details via the The Wedding Community Blog.

Enjoy xxx

Credits:

Photography: Bea and Jude of EFC Photography

Styling: Charlotte Garrett and EFC Photography

Cakes and Biscuits: Bliss Bespoke

Cake Stands, Swizzle Sticks and Tissue Paper Garland: The Sweet Hostess

 

Red & Gold Sugared Almond Sweet Table

Last year I worked with an amazing couple Bee and Lorenzo to create a sugared almond sweet table. As Lorenzo was Italian and there would be a large number of their guests flying over from Italy they were keen to incorporate some traditions that would make them feel included.

I must admit I hadn’t worked with sugared almonds much last year, 2013 was a year where wedding favours had become more creative and unique. DIY favours had become popular which was great as it really did add the personal touch to weddings. So sugared almonds may seem old fashioned to some, but really when you bring it back to basics it is a lovely tradition and they actually taste really nice!

So what is the tradition all about? Five sugared almonds would be given to guests in either a small box or fabric pouch, the almonds each represented fertility, longevity, wealth, health and happiness. A kind of nice tradition don’t you think? Even though they have primarily been popular in Europe, Italy seem to be classed as the home of ‘Bomboniere’.

Getting back to Bee and Lorenzo, they had decided to create a sweet table full of sugared almonds. This would also double up as wedding favours to their guests. Such a great idea as it wasn’t just a little nicely placed wedding favour at the guests tables. The sweet table had become a talking point. Guests had mingled around the table, talked about the tradition, the Italian guests felt appreciated. It was a win win really.

The colour theme was red and gold. You can get some fabulous red and gold almonds, but on this occasion the white adds a nice contrast to the gold and red ribbons and candy labels. I use the BEST wholesaler for sugared almonds, they are all imported from Italy and they are TOP quality. The best thing is that they also stock chocolate dragees and flavoured sugared almonds which are honestly so tasty I can’t even tell you! She had flavours such as black cherry, cappuccino and strawberry.

So what do you think of this tradition and the spin Bee and Lorenzo put on it? I was lucky enough to see Bee, Lorenzo and some of the guests still on the dance floor at the end of the night. People were still hovered around the table and I always breathe a sigh of relief when the table is pretty much empty, but their are still a few sweets lurking in the jars. Guests were back and forth from the dance floor to the sugared almond sweet table. At that time of the evening people had given up and putting their almonds in the pouch and hands were scooping up the almonds with pleasure.

Blue & White Christmas Dessert Table Inspiration

Last week it was like Christmas at The Sweet Hostess HQs. Long awaited boxes of pretty and delicate paper decorations had arrived safe and sound from the US. Yes, the usual honeycomb balls, tissue pom poms and even a few new items like honeycomb hearts and diamonds had arrived. But my absolute favourite new arrival are the snowflakes, the white ones are so pretty but it is the blue and white frosted versions that have stolen my heart. I really just want to keep them all for myself 🙂

I just knew I had to create a dessert table backdrop with them. Just even adding a few makes a huge impact! I love the traditional white snowflakes, but I absolutely LOVE the blue and white frosted snowflakes. The photos on my website don’t really do them justice, definitely need to learn some new photography skills!

A tower of mini doughnuts is one of the easiest and cheapest ways of adding some impact to your dessert table at home. To tie in with the Christmas theme add a sprinkle of icing sugar. I have blinged them up by adding some embellished cake toppers.

Some silver striped straws are perfect for Christmas and New Year celebrations. As well as gold and silver stripes, chevron and stars we also have the most adorable red snowflake paper straws which are now available from our shop.

All the cake toppers you see are from the Danish brand Miss Etoile which we have been stocking from last month. Their products are simply gorgeous. As well as those we are stocking silver and gold vintage bird cake stands. You can see the silver version above, each has a lovely bird printed on the top of the stand. So much love for this!

We hope you like our dessert table and it gives you some inspiration to create your own. Watch our for our red and gold themed table coming next week. xx

Noah’s Jungle Themed Birthday Party

We fell in love with this gorgeous jungle themed dessert table for little Noah’s 2nd birthday party. The bright colours are guaranteed to make any 2 year old happy! Noah’s mum Nicola who created the table along with Jodie are the owners of the talented Treat Boutique based in Nottingham.

We love the mixture of sweets, cakes and desserts on the table and that wow factor cake!!!

All the sweets were in keeping with the jungle theme including sweet bananas, jelly snakes and tiger tails that were created from marshmallows!

The stunning cake was created by Lauren at Kupcake Kisses  which was a 3 layer cake, half vanilla and half chocolate.  Lauren also created the yummy chocolate coated Oreo sticks.

Nicola and Jodie’s top party planning tips for creating a gorgeous dessert table are –

♥ Make sure you add different heights to your table to give it depth. Add in unique textures and patterns for your risers and props. For instance we used chopped wood and wrapped boxes in animal print paper that worked perfectly for a jungle theme.

♥ Our curtain backdrop was made from ribbon and crepe paper and by adding the lion piñata it just finishes it off nicely. It was a very cheap and effective addition to the dessert table.

Thank you Jodie and Nicola for sharing this gorgeous jungle themed dessert table.

Miss Etoile Autumn / Winter Collection

I have been a big fan of Danish design company ‘Miss Etoile’ for some time. Two weeks ago I headed up to Birmingham to check out the latest products at the Autumn Gift Fair and to my utter delight Miss Etoile were exhibiting! It was a chance to see their products in the flesh and I wasn’t disappointed.

Initially I will stock their cake stands, cake toppers, paper lanterns, confetti, doilies and sweet jars. Too happy! Miss Etoile represent glamour and elegance. The best thing is that the quality of the items is amazing but doesn’t have the price tag to match! Here are a few of my favourite products…..

Black and Gold party Selection

Pastel Party Items

Miss Etoile products will be available from The Sweet Hostess online shop by the end of the month. All products are now being featured on our website. We hope you love the items as much as we do!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Melissa x

Tassel Garland Pin Party

We just had a little tassel garland pin party and thought we would share the love, inspiration and glitter we have just discovered! You may be aware that we are now stocking some stunning tissue garlands. Not so long ago we created our first tassel garland for a 4th birthday disco party.

I loved the instant colourful impact it made on the dessert table I created, but couldn’t believe the time it took to actually create! And as you can see from my version above, it isn’t as pretty and fluffy as the other versions around.

Since then we decided to stock a range of homemade tissue tassel garlands on our website by a paper crafting expert! They not only look AMAZING they have been lovingly crafted with excellent quality tissue.

My favourite garlands have a mixture of textures including mylar and tissue. They really make the garlands pop! We had a little pin party earlier and pinned loads of inspiration on our Pinterest board. If you have a moment go and check it out. In the meantime here is a little snapshot of the inspiration….

 

Have a wonderful week xxx

♥ Party Feature ♥ Ariella’s 1st Birthday – Rustic Winter Wonderland

Even though it is Spring and with Easter now being officially colder than Christmas we thought it was only fitting to feature this absolutely stunning rustic winter wonderland 1st birthday party.

I can’t even express how many gorgeous ideas and inspiration you will find here, so read on and take note! Emily who is mum to little Ariella wanted to create something unique and decided on the theme Winter Wonderland with shabby chic and rustic tones instead of the traditional Wintery blue tones.

The details in the party are stunning and in particular we love the natural edginess of the party which remains girly and beautiful. As you know I love a bit of DIY party and was very impressed with the branch centrepiece. I myself will be trying this out in the future! Emily followed an online tutorial similar to the one found here.

What a wonderful idea of adding a hot chocolate bar, keeping young and older guests happy alike!

I am so impressed with these tomato soup & grilled cheese shooters! Emily says “I saw these at a party awhile back and thought they would be a great addition to Ariella’s party!  They were a great, warm comfort food for a cold winter day!  Guests loved them, and even asked for refills”. What a wonderful idea!

Look at this amazing spread…….

The invitations were designed by Emily herself. Emily is a based in LA but we are hoping if we ask nicely she will ship her amazing designs over to the UK. Please check out her gorgeous work.

We asked Emily what tips she had on staying organised and calm on the day of the party?

Emily’s top party planning tips are:

♥ Start planning early. Emily started planning 9 months in advance. Although details such as the flower arranging etc had to be done the night before.

♥ Planning a seasonal party in the actual season has it’s advantages. Lots of products available and often at sale prices too!

♥ On the day of the event recruit close friends and family to help as much as possible.

♥ Emily says she does get pretty stressed leading up to the event, but once the guests arrive and party starts its time to relax, have fun and enjoy the moment!

All of Emily’s suppliers are US based, but if you are interested in who they are you can refer her post here.

 

A Mint & Gold Dessert Table

Hi folks, hope you are all well on this fine Tuesday. Late last year I organised a styled shoot of two of my favourite colours – Mint and Gold! These two amazing colours are a match made in heaven especially when incorporated into Weddings.

Now ya’ll know how I LOVE a good ole Candy Buffet, but I have to admit I LOVE a dessert table even more. With this one I combined the two. A little candy and a little dessert and this is what happened…….

Now creating your own DIY version is not that hard. If you are planning on creating a dessert table for a party or your own wedding, why not try a mini version first? It will give you an idea on the time it takes to create and will give you a chance to practice any recipes before your big day.

Stay tuned and subscribe to our blog for more updates on all things sweet. Within the next month we will be sharing some great DIY tips on how you can create your own amazing dessert station.

xx