Ever since we got our new house, I was looking forward to hosting gatherings. The flood last summer put a huge halt on any of that, but after 7 long months, the time has finally come.

Like with every party, I tell myself to keep it simple and lose my way barely a week into planning.

The Decor:

Post-flood, we had to rip out our entire fireplace, so while it’s still unfinished, — I’ll be adding wood slats — it makes for a good backdrop to add vinyl to while not taking up as much space as an actual backdrop.

Using all my same red and pink candlesticks from past events, and favorite holders, I filled the mantle mixing and matching combos, and paired them with the adorable bow garland I DIYed for Christmas.

Inside the front door when guests walked in, I built a large balloon garland, again mixing different pinks and reds. To secure, I used stretchy jewelry elastic to tie the top portions to the stair railings and a bag of rocks attached to weigh down the lowest cluster of balloons.

Using some leftover bows from the garland, I attached by threading through some 260 clear balloons and tying to make a rubberband. I used that to loop around the balloon clusters for placement.

I loved the way all the colors popped, and the bows were the cutest touch to add an extra design element.

I wanted to keep the table settings pretty simple, using only things I already had on hand, so I filled them with bud vases and all the extra candles I had.

For the longer table, using flowers from Trader Joe’s, I arranged a centerpiece inside the vase I normally display on our dining table. The key is to get different lengths of stems to add height and visual interest and then some greenery for filler. I started with my base using the flowers to fill the pot, then filled in with my higher greenery stems for dimension and baby’s breath around the bottom for balance and shape.

Food & Drinks:

I had some of these custom seltzer labels made previously by an Etsy seller for a bachelorette party I hosted, and they were such a hit! I knew it had to be pretty simple to print myself, and sure enough, it was! I designed my label in Canva and Photoshop — sizing being 7.3” x 5.5”— and simply printed them on printable vinyl using my regular printer. Previously, I used them on White Claws, which was great since the lip of the can is white and doesn’t take away from the design. This time, I mistakenly bought Trulys, which has the fruit design to the top, so I had to adjust my labels to 5.75” tall to cover that — which mean it doesn’t apply as smoothly around the edge. All in all, still adorable and a perfect way to elevate a small detail.

Flower ice cubes is the easiest, but most timing consuming detail, and since it always adds such a fun pop of color to any drink display, I’ll continue to torture myself with the time I spend on it. I usually will grab 3-4 different small flower bunches to use and snip off all the blossoms into a bag. (Tip: I’ll store them in the fridge to keep fresh during the lengthy process.)

After placing one blossom in each ice tray cube, fill each spot halfway with water. Freezing them this way first will hold the flowers down to be submerged instead of all floating to the top. Place in the freezer for roughly 2 hours. You want them frozen enough that when you fill the remaining space, the water doesn’t melt the existing ice cube. Once full, I’ll typically freeze for an additional 4 hours before removing from the tray and starting a new batch.

For food, I wanted to keep it fairly easy serving mainly appetizers, pizza, and salad. Our spread included veggies, charcuterie, queso dips, and these delicious bacon wrapped dates, among other things.

And, of course, a pink party wouldn’t be complete without some girly funfetti cupcakes.

We had a pretty large group, so although I had purchased a few card games to play, we mostly just enjoyed a night out with the girls talking and mingling.

The night was so fun filled with friends, food, and laughter. I can’t wait to host our next girls night, and already planning a theme for next year’s Galentines.