Well, it look me a little while, but I'm finally posting our Valentine/LOVE party.
Can we first just take a minute and talk about that cake?
Oh, WOW!
I actually ended up making this cake two week-ends in a row because my family didn't think they got enough of it the first time! It was really that good!
Three layers of dark chocolate brownie, sandwiched together with a rich and fluffy chocolate chip cookie dough icing. (The icing was incredible!)
The recipe came from here.
Instead of pouring chocolate ganache over the entire cake, (like the recipe said) I frosted the top and then poured the chocolate over each piece as it was sliced and served. It was so delicious!
(The LOVE lettering was made with melted dark chocolate piped on wax paper.)
This party was a Sunday lunch gathering. AH chose to grill up his favorite ribs for everyone. Click here for that recipe. We also served green salad, fresh fruit and vegetables...but really the ribs and cake were the stars of the show!
OK, moving onto the decor. Red was the color of the day.
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I pushed my two tables together to make seating for 12 guests.
Solid red wrapping paper lined the tables as a runner. Grapevine branches were found on Christmas clearance at Joanns.
Red mini stands and pillar candles were found at Michaels
and this wide wired ribbon was looped down the table runner.
Red chargers, red paper napkins and heart paper plates were used. Guests ate on glass plates that set atop the paper plates and chargers.
These square bud vases were filled with red and white carnations and a few mini roses and greenery. I absolutely LOVE these vases and I use them all the time. I've had friends borrow them for showers, parties, weddings and I even used them at this memorial.
I tied on little paper hearts to the drinking glasses for name markers.
The pops of red in our home were eye catching!
Here's a look at the kid's table.
Melamine heart plates (found at Target years ago) and lots of felt hearts decorated this table. Mini red pails held candy for each guest and a red mailbox became the centerpiece.
And of course I made a photo booth.
This photo backdrop actually covered the messy desk area in our kitchen...perfect coverage!
The love balloon came from here. The striped fabric is actually a shower curtain from Target. I love using fabric shower curtains for back drops because you can hang them so easily with Command hooks. The shower curtains already have built-in holes.
My daughter took lots of photos with her Instamax camera. (It's so fun to have one of these cameras at a party. Guests can go home with an actual photo!) I took lots of digital pictures, too.
This was such a fun party, that we re-created it the next week-end when my parents came to town. I was amazed how easy it was to pull this party together the 2nd time around. The thought did cross my mind (just for a second) that every party should be done twice.
No, that's just too exhausting, but my family would argue that the desserts should be made twice.
Click here to see my party page. An A to Z list of every party I've posted on michellepaigeblogs.com
Click here for that idea.
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