Invitations – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

Events January 30, 2018

Emilia’s Sweet Shop: A Dylan’s Candy Bar Themed First Birthday Party

I had a “What a One-derful World!” themed first birthday party fully planned out for sweet Emi, but when Meredith muttered the words, “What about a candy party?” then texted a photo of what she had in mind, I was sold. Alas, a Dylan’s Candy Bar-themed party sprouted out of my crazy brain – it involved 193,249 texts between Meredith and Monica, both of whom Sasha thinks have a bad influence on me! Ha.

I sent Monica a very rough draft of an invitation design, which she, of course, ran with and instantly delivered a paper mock-up, which looked way better than I could have imagined. From there, vinyl backdrops were designed, custom fabrics and wallpaper was printed, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

The real MVPs of this party were Monica, for making lots of designs (signs, vinyls, invitations – you name it) and obviously THAT CAKE. It is so amazing! I was so sad that people had to eat it. Even Emi’s egg-free smash cake (love/hate her for that!) was gorgeous and delicious too. And of course, my mom, who baked and iced 60 cupcakes, sewed bunting for Emi’s high chair, made a table runner, and sewed 45 favor bags for people to take candy home in. What would I do without these two?

Overall, the party was so much fun. Emi was uncertain how to deal with all of the attention at first, but she was really feeling the cake smash, which I was most worried about. We definitely were left with lots of candy afterwards, but I bagged it up and gave it to my sister to take to her office! After the sugar high wore off, sweet Emilia slept well that night and woke up in the best mood for her actual birthday yesterday. I want the birthday festivities to live on, but am so ready for a break in party planning! Ha. I sourced all of the items in the party below, except some DIYs, like the ‘Watch Emi Grow’ planter, which was something I had in my mind then went to Home Depot and made it work (with Sasha’s help). Email me if you have any questions! And now, for 100-or-something party pics!

Sources: Vinyl backdrops from Signs.com, designed by Monica of Paper Flour Ink // Invitations created by Monica of Paper Flour Ink // Calligraphy by Nancy of nancyb. creative // Cake by Monica of Paper Flour Ink // Balloon arch by Lili of Lili’s Balloon Decorations // Cookies by Jessie of Miss J’s Bakeshop // Florals by Flower Vibes // Candy containers from Shindigz // Custom water bottle labels from Amazon // Pink Chivari chairs, blue tablecloth, kids table from Aztec Party Rentals // Custom caricature coloring sheets by Juan on Fiverr.com // Cupcakes by my mom (with toppers from Party City, cupcake liners from Amazon) // Cupcake stands from Amazon // Pink sequined tablecloth on Amazon // Favor bags, bunting, and table runner by my mom // Instax polaroid camera on Amazon // Custom Shutterfly photo book // BabyBjorn highchair on Amazon // Custom stamps from Mi nted // Candy stand DIYed, but storage unit from IKEA with customized removable wallpaper from Spoonflower // Custom jigsaw puzzle from CreateJigsawPuzzles.com // White frames for signs from Target // White serving platter for cookies from Target // Moonwalk from Sky High Party Rentals // Front door sign printed from VistaPrint.com // My red dress from Nordstrom // Clear kids ghost chairs from Amazon // White kids Eames chairs from Amazon

Events November 24, 2017

Jill & Kevin’s Save-the-Dates from Minted

Last month, I took my younger sister’s engagement photos. Kevin and I drove to Galveston together, as Jill was already halfway there getting her hair and makeup done by Sunkissed & Made Up. We shot a few photos in Beachtown, then headed to Pleasure Pier, where we took more, before heading back to Beachtown. All in all, I am so happy with how they turned out, and more importantly, Jill and Kevin are too (or at least, that’s what they’re saying, ha!).

We searched for the perfect save-the-date and found This is Happening by designer Eric Clegg on Minted. I love how it looks with the beach scene. We put a few simple words on the back, sharing the location and directing them to their website (which Kevin designed and is amazing). As the perfect finishing touch, we ordered the custom stamps, which allowed us to share another photo we loved. My talented mom did the calligraphy on the envelopes. Jill came over on Wednesday and told me that people were already complimenting her on the save-the-dates!

Time is flying by, so we’re now thinking about the invitations! Bring on all of the beautiful Minted suites.

And now, prepare for photo overload!

Baby December 4, 2016

Destiny’s Baby Sprinkle

Yesterday, I threw one of my best friends, Destiny, a baby sprinkle to celebrate the impending arrival of her sweet baby girl (and also her 25th birthday!). The shower was at Sweet Paris’ CityCentre location, and despite the weather outside being frightful, the atmosphere inside was seriously delightful (ode to one of my favorite Christmas carols). Destiny’s mom flew in from Las Vegas for the shower, and it was so nice getting to celebrate with Baby Thompson’s Nana there too!

We ate crêpes, decorated cupcakes, guessed Baby T’s arrival date, took photos in front of the sprinkle backdrop, watched as Destiny opened one adorable baby item after another, and had wonderful conversations amongst old and new friends. I love baby showers!

Destiny and I met last summer and quickly became good friends. We both have 2.5 year olds, Truman and Isla, who are also best friends, and I love seeing them together, as Isla always lights up when she sees her pal. Destiny is one of the most sweet, considerate, and thoughtful people I’ve ever met, and we wanted to show her how loved and appreciated she is. The group of ladies at the shower definitely filled the room up!

There were a lot of talented ladies who helped me pull off the sprinkle, and I’ll start with the invitations, which were created by Papellerie (the same gals who did our wedding suite and Isla’s birthday invitations). I am thrilled with how they turned out – they have sprinkles in them (see video on my Instagram here).

The gorgeous wedding cake was made by Lisa of Maple & Love, whom gave me all of our incredible travel suggestions when we went to Melbourne. It was a lemon and strawberry cake, and although I don’t eat eggs, I did totally get a bite of the icing – glad I did!

My Cricut got a good workout, as I used it to create the bottle shapes for the Eos party favors, the ‘Guess Baby Thompson’s Birth Date’ activity and the vinyl shapes for the mylar balloons. I left the heavy duty laser cutting to Monica of Paper Flour Ink, who made wooden boards reading Oh Baby Girl that she covered in sprinkle paper. She is the best!

At a recent party I co-hosted, one of the other gals suggested we order thank you cards and pre-address/stamp the envelopes to help the mama-to-be, and I thought this was such a great idea, so I ordered pretty pink and gold thank you cards from Tiny Prints. I also ordered customized mug from Tiny Prints that read, “Sugar, spice, all things nice – that’s what Baby Thompson is made of” for the tea and coffee. Side note: I’m also obsessing over their gorgeous Holiday cards. We’ve gotten a few in the mail that are Tiny Prints, and I love them!!

My amazing friend Amanda baked cupcakes that were at each place setting, surrounded by colorful sprinkles from Layer Cake Shop. Guests got to decorate them as they wanted, then take them home (because crêpes and cakes made for fully tummies!) in boxes, which had customized birthday stickers, also from Tiny Prints.

Meredith, the queen of creativity (hello invitation stylist!), helped me to blow up and stick all of the confetti-shaped balloons to the backdrop, which my wonderful mom sewed (Sasha DIYed the PVC pipe stand and Amanda sanded it down! Talk about a team effort!).

I am seriously so excited to meet sweet baby Thompson. Our oldest babes are already best friends and I know that she and Emi will follow in their siblings/mom’s footsteps. It was such a joyful shower, and I would love to re-live it all over again. She deserves all of the love and attention, as she is one of the most selfless people I know. February cannot come soon enough!

Baby July 8, 2014

World’s Cutest Birthday Party Invitations

I saw these 1st birthday party invitations on Oh So Beautiful Paper, and immediately had a hunch as to who created them. They are the work of Melissa at Atheneum Creative (see these pop-up birth announcements and these bow-tie party invitations) – and I love them. All of the accompanying “branded” material is so cute as well – let’s talk about those ‘favorites’ napkins – could those be any cuter? I want my birthday parties to be this decorated. While I’m scared of Isla growing up too quickly, I’m excited to plan her first birthday party!

Decor July 2, 2014

Dinner, Drinks and Jazz – Rehearsal Dinner Invitations

The geniuses at Papellerie are at it again – designing by far the coolest rehearsal dinner invitation I’ve ever seen (does anything else even compare?). When I saw these gorgeous New Orleans themed invitations on their website, I died. They are perfect. I love the box, the whiskey, the recipe, and the invitation. How impressive is this? There must have been a lot of very happy recipients!

See our wedding stationery + branding by Papellerie here