Purchases - party supplies

Paper + watercolor + envelopes for invitations

Gold fringe (self explanatory) + paper lanterns + crepe paper (already had hot glue) + cocktail napkins

Baby jungle cats (8)

Bridal festivities are definitely a chance to go all out, but I like to focus on a few key details and let it be. The best part about small parties is that you can spend time on small things. Hand painting + adding backing + adding dots + lining envelopes? I would not have been able to do this (or enjoy it) for our 100+ wedding invitations. For 15 invitations, it's a pleasure.

Likewise, making 5 lanterns was do-able, but if you're considering this on a larger scale, plan ahead accordingly and enlist help. I have the tutorial ready, so that will be up soon, promise.

I relied heavily on the gold fringe to set the mood, which really made it a good bargain and I think that could easily be used for a wedding decoration. The most important thing we found was getting the edges trimmed exactly. If they are wonky, the whole thing starts to look cheap quickly.

Everything else I used at the shower was something I already owned. I had the glass globes (to be fair, they were an incredibly impulsive holiday purchase and this is the first time I've used them). I was planning on using a cream colored tablecloth for the welcome table and at the last minute realized I'd ripped it terribly awhile ago. I dug through my fabric stash and found a piece of pink and cream striped fabric and then just tucked it so that the selvedge was the only edge that showed. It ended up looking better than my original idea. Oh, and that was my dresser pretending to be a table under it.

The weirdest decorations were the random cat pictures that we framed and scattered all over the house. It was subtle enough that some people thought we were just oddly obsessed with cats (um, we are not), but it was funny as everyone slowly figured it out. And so I guess I have to add our last party purchase ....

{cat fancy - totally worth it}