Bridal Showers

Bridal showers come in as many varieties as brides. Some are hosted by family or friends or coworkers. They may be held in a home or a restaurant or even at a spa. I’ve been to ones that were a specific product party – where you purchased presents for the bride at the party and if you wanted anything for yourself, she got credit for those items ordered, too. Bridesmaids or close friends may do a lingerie shower. There can be kitchen showers, bed and bath showers as well as general showers.

At IBY we have some fun invitations to go with about any kind of bridal shower you can imagine. Here are some of my favorites:

Recipe Shower
Vintage Shower
Gathered Shower
Wedding Shower
Lingerie Shower
Bridal Scrapbook
Elegant Affair

Of course, any invitation can be personalized to fit the theme you are planning. Click here to read more!

The Wedding Cake

Or cakes. Traditionally, there was the bride’s cake, which sometimes had sheet cakes to back it up. As a child I remember groom’s cake which was individually wrapped small pieces of cake—haven’t seen that in a very long time. The bride’s cake or wedding cake seemed to be always yellow or white cake, often with white icing as the base and then colored icing (in pastels) decorating the cake. I don’t remember thinking how good the cake tasted.

Things have changed. And for the better. I’ve been at weddings that served carrot cake or chocolate cake or cake with flavored fillings. I’ve seen primary colors decorating cakes. I’ve eaten ones with cream cheese frosting.

My youngest daughter and her fiancé chose to have two cakes – from two different bakeries. They liked a chocolate cake at one bakery. At another they liked a white cake with a strawberry filling. Both were lovely. Both were tasty. Guests got to choose which kind of cake to have.

So like with the food for the reception, do what you want! It’s your wedding and your reception. You might as well enjoy the cake or cakes, too. Click here to read more!

Wedding Reception Food

When my parents got married, the ceremony and reception was at my father’s parents’ house. Most wedding receptions for my generation seemed to be simply cake, punch and/or champagne, plus nuts and mints either at a church or community meeting room. My children’s generation’s wedding receptions are often much more complicated and often include sit down dinners—some buffet style and some served individually—at expensive venues that must be booked months in advance. I don’t think it just is a matter of “trying to impress” others, but that we are now a more mobile society and people often have to travel long distances for the weddings. You hate not to feed someone who has come so far. It’s also a good way to get to spend time with family and friends you haven’t seen in a while. And, yes, many of us are more affluent than our parents were.

Personally, I think families shouldn’t go into debt for weddings and receptions. It’s still okay to have the cake and punch reception. If you want a meal, consider:
- a nice buffet style meal that you prepare yourself (get friends and family to help)
- ordering finger food and sandwiches from the warehouse stores or large grocery stores
- seeing if a local restaurant has space you can reserve for a meal and if necessary limit it to close family and friends
Any of these options are a lower cost than having a catered dinner for the entire guest list.

If you do choose to have it catered, however, make sure you know what you want before you commit to anything. You can discuss pricing and options with several caterers and compare. You can ask a caterer for pricing on more than one option. If you’ve decided what you want, don’t let them sway you. For my daughter’s wedding, she and her fiancé wanted Italian food served. They picked out some variety – it covered those with vegetarian and dietary needs. The caterer was worried that not all people like Italian food. We couldn’t think of family members or friends who wouldn’t be happy with something on the menu the two had chosen, so held firm. It was a very lovely dinner and we heard no complaints about the food. Most important of all the bride and groom were very happy with their special day.

Often when doing a dinner reception, brides and grooms order response cards, so they know how many will be attending. Click here to read more!

New products

We are so excited about new cards we’re adding to our site. See New Arrivals for a sampling. Whether you are looking for birthday, wedding, baby, holiday, engagement or graduation cards—something new has been added in each category. And, we’re in the process of adding more!

Plus soon we will have tableware – plates, cups, napkins, tablecloths. I’ve been picking out designs and am very pleased with the variety of choices our vendor is providing. We’ll let you know when they are up on our website. Click here to read more!

Invitation Tips

Whether you are designing and printing invitations yourself or having us design and print, here are some tips to assist you.

Wanting to do a formal invitation? Then spell out your numbers – see examples below:

Thursday, the seventeenth of January two thousand and eight at eleven o’clock in the morning…

Less formal? Possible choices of formatting:

January 17, 2008 or January 17th (if you use the day of the week, put it first, followed by a comma: Thursday, January 17, 2008) at 11:00 a.m. or 11 a.m. or 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Need help with wording? Some cards have sample wording you can use. Or you may like the wording on one card sample and want to use it on a different card. Feel free. We’ve recently added a link on our website that gives you ideas for wording by category; browse Verse-It for just the right text.

Pesky prepositions. Wondering whether you need to say “on” Thursday or “at” Jungle Jane’s? If you break up lines, the prepositions are unnecessary:

Thursday, January 17th
11:00 a.m.
Jungle Jane’s
123 Wild Street
Animaltown

Is there a better way to say it? We also have customers ask us for advice on wording they have created. Don’t be afraid to ask when placing your order. If designing your own invitation, ask a friend for suggestions.

Have questions we haven’t addressed here? Email us at info@IBY.com and we’ll post the answers in a future blog.

Click here to read more!

For Two

Planning something special for your Valentine? How about a party just for two. Make it special with a personalized invitation. We can print a single invitation at IBY. Pick a design, tell us what you want it to say, choose font, and color. You can ask for a proof, or we can just ship it straight out to you.

And if you need help on what to say, check out romantic quotes and love poems. Lingerie Diva has them in English and Spanish! Click here to read more!

Planning a Valentine’s Day Party?

Today’s offering is a collection of resources for you.

For Children

Valentine's Day Party Ideas and Party Games for Kids

Valentine Crafts for Kids

Valentine's Day Party For Kids

Valentine's Day Games and Activities – with printable resources

Valentine Party Games for Children

For Children, Teens and Adults

Valentine's Day Party Ideas for Kids, Teens and the Young At Heart

Games with a Valentine Spirit

Valentine Fun

Everything Valentine’s

And, if you need invitation ideas – click here for a selection of Valentine related Invitations. Click here to read more!

Beach party ideas

If you’re lucky enough to live near a beach in a warm climate, it’s always easy to plan a beach party. But if you live in a cold climate, you might want to warm up your winter with a beach scene of your own. Check out these resources for ideas.

Birthday Party Ideas has tons of beach party theme ideas

Surf Party Theme (For Adults)

Beach Party Ideas for Teens – beach not required

Beach Party food

And if you need invitations, here are some fun beach ones:

Beach Party Festival Fill-in

Beach Chair Die Cut Fill-in

Click here to read more!

Making a Splash! Pool party Ideas for kids and teens.

Have access to an indoor pool or live in a warm climate? Then plan a pool party!

Games
A fun pool party game is Marco Polo. Whoever is "it" has to swim around the pool with their eyes closed trying to tag other players. When "it" calls out Marco, everyone else has to yell "Polo." "It" tries to find people by sound.

Of course, there’s always Pool Volleyball and Pool Frisbee or races with floatable water toys. Here are some Game Resources for you, too.

Swimming Pool Games for large groups

More Swimming Games

Sharks & Minnows How To

Fun and Games for the Swimming Pool

Resources for pool themes and ideas

Kids Pool Party Ideas

Pool Party Ideas for Older Kids and Teens

Pool Party Ideas for Kids – this is aimed at summer parties, but many of the games and décor ideas could be used for an indoor pool

Pool Side Party Ideas - themes

Pool Birthday Party – tons of ideas

Here are some invitations that are great for pool parties, too.

Thanks to M Connors for the pool photo from morguefile.com!

Click here to read more!