I’m so excited to FINALLY share the photos from this year’s Paper Party during the National Stationery Show! I can’t believe the party was almost two weeks ago already – the whole evening went by so fast! I shared the party invitations designed by Moglea and printed by Bella Figura a couple of weeks ago, and the invitations really helped guide the overall party design. This year’s party had a tropical vibe, with a color palette inspired by the party invitations – shades of pink, dark blue, and gold – and lots of tropical details from foliage to flamingos!
This year’s party was again held at Hudson Terrace – but this time in their rooftop terrace! My talented friend (and professional event planner) Janice from Bellwether Events helped me plan the party and kept the entire evening running smoothly and Mandy (one of our resident DIY mavens) helped with a lot of the party décor. We also partnered with an incredible team of sponsors and creative companies to bring the party to life, including The National Stationery Show, Minted, Etsy Wholesale, Silhouette America, Smock, Simply Framed, Rifle Paper Co., Hester & Cook Design Group, Legion Paper, Postable, Mailchimp, May Designs, Flower Muse, StationeryHQ, Foryourparty.com, and Swiss Cottage Designs.
Mandy made the most amazing sign for the Paper Party this year! She hand painted some white canvas fabric in our party colors then cut out the letters and backed them with gold fabric! We accented with lasercut tropical paper foliage and pineapples from Alexis Mattox Design. Our tables featured gorgeous table runners and placemats from the new Chilewich + Hester & Cook collaboration (so pretty!) and table confetti from Minted! Michele from Meant to Be Calligraphy also lettered our menu selections on Chilewich + Hester & Cook place cards.
Courtney from Swiss Cottage Designs offered to help out with some of the day-of stationery pieces – didn’t she do the most amazing job?? Courtney designed a fun tropical-inspired cocktail menu, name tags, cocktail stir sticks, coasters, matchboxes, and a giant welcome sign! For Your Party printed the coasters, matchboxes, and stir sticks in rose gold foil.
Coasters, stir sticks, and matchboxes from For Your Party!
Stripey party straws and drink flags from Minted!
I had a blast making signs for the party! I used my favorite DIY technique for making spray painted acrylic signs – but instead of a paint pen I used my Silhouette CAMEO to cut out vinyl decals! Michele from Meant to Be Calligraphy and Jenna from Mon Voir kindly provided lettering, which I cut out in white and hot pink vinyl. The signs ranged in size from 5″ x 7″ to 18″ x 24″ and were seriously so easy to make!
We also had a table with a demo of the Silhouettte CAMEO for party guests – we cut pineapples out of yellow and navy vinyl to wear as stickers around the party. They were such a hit! Mandy made a pineapple garland from navy card stock (so cute).
These cascading honeycombs probably made the biggest visual impact and were one of my favorite decorations at the party! We mixed 5″ honeycombs with crepe paper streamers and Mandy‘s DIY air plants. We had 4 or 5 of these cascades around the party. I love how they turned out!
The team from Smock made a couple of these “chandeliers” using strips of their gift wrap! They looked so beautiful blowing in the breeze.
This gallery wall in collaboration with Simply Framed was hands down my favorite element of the party! We mixed original calligraphy artwork from some of my favorite calligraphers with tropical-inspired illustrations, and I looooooove how it all came together! The prints all look amazing together and Simply Framed did a wonderful job matching each print to its perfect frame. Stay tuned for a little something special involving these prints tomorrow!
Artwork sources top row from left: Moglea, Idlewild Co., A Fabulous Fete, Ashley Buzzy Calligraphy and Letterpress, Meera Lee Patel, Rifle Paper Co.
Bottom row from left: Fleur de Letters, Idlewild Co., Mon Voir, Blue Eye Brown Eye Calligraphy, Meera Lee Patel
For this year’s party gift bags we partnered with the amazing Rifle Paper Co.! The bags feature a gorgeous custom Rifle design created just for the party – and don’t worry, I set some bags aside for a few lucky readers! Stay tuned for more details soon!
Can we talk about the AMAZING floral arrangements for a few minutes? Dawn from Soirée Floral absolutely killed it! We combined gorgeous peonies, garden roses, ranunculus, and greens from Flower Muse with a few tropical flowers like king protea and pink ginger flowers. We mixed a few large arrangements with smaller cocktail-size arrangements that guests could take home at the end of the evening. I’m still dreaming about these amazing blooms!
Yay for Etsy Wholesale! This was the second year that we’ve had an Etsy Wholesale lounge and I love that it’s becoming a little tradition at the party!
Our Smilebooth backdrop featured more lasercut tropical paper foliage from Alexis Mattox Design: palm fronds, philodendron leaves, and even a few pineapples! We also had some plastic flamingos for props, along with real philodendron leaves, protea, and ginger flowers. So. Much. Fun!
You can find the full photo gallery from Paper Party 2015 right here – and the Smilebooth photos right here!
Finally, a HUGE thank you to the wonderful sponsors and people who made the evening possible:
- The National Stationery Show, Minted, Etsy Wholesale, Silhouette America, Smock, Simply Framed, Rifle Paper Co., Hester & Cook Design Group, Legion Paper, Postable, Mailchimp, May Designs, StationeryHQ, and Flower Muse
- Infinite thanks to Janice and Mandy for all of their invaluable help over the past few months and throughout the evening – and Carrie, Kristina (and husband!) and our small army of friends who helped stuff gift bags or with set up before the party. We couldn’t have done it without you!
And of course a big thanks to Charlie Juliet Photography for the gorgeous photos and Hudson Terrace for having us! See you all next year!
Party Sources
Event Coordination: Bellwether Events
Floral Arrangements: Soirée Floral
Flowers:Â Flower Muse
Gallery Wall:Â Simply Framed
Day-of Calligraphy:Â Meant to Be Calligraphy
Day-of Stationery:Â Swiss Cottage Designs
Coasters, Stir Sticks, and Matchboxes:Â For Your Party
Table Confetti, Stripey Straws + Drink Flags:Â Minted
Tropical paper foliage for Smilebooth backdrop: Alexis Mattox Design
Table Runner, Placemats, and Place Cards: Hester & Cook Design Group
Venue: Hudson Terrace
Photo Credits: Charlie Juliet Photography