How to Plan a Party Using Pinterest by In Sweet Violets

Kristen's party ideas will BLOW your mind. You think to yourself... how did she even come up with that?! Lucky for us, she's sharing with us her process in party planning while I'm at camp in Cali! So get comfy, soak up the info, and give her some love :)

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Greetings Imaginale readers! I’m Kristen from In Sweet Violets Creative Services.

I’m so thrilled to be guest posting for Ale today. Like you, I love seeing what Ale is up to and her style is so inspiring. So, when I found out she had hopped on the Pinterest bandwagon, I knew I had to follow her boards. She shares a ton of fantastic fashion and photography inspiration on her boards.

I joined Pinterest early on, immediately seeing the potential of being able to collect ideas online. This is what my “pinterest-esque” organizing looked like before the real Pinterest came along.

These binders are full of craft, home décor, and party ideas that I ripped out of magazines or printed off the internet. I used to stock pile all my papers during the month and at the end I’d have this huge day of organizing them into clear sleeves and putting them away into their appropriate subject notebook.
Effective? Yes.
Daunting? Yes.
Space saving? No.

So, thanks to Pinterest I have been able to keep up with way more inspiration than I have before, in a cleaner, more efficient way. I still rip out pages from magazines every-now-and-then and put them in the binders, but Pinterest has become my go-to place for organizing great ideas.

My business, In Sweet Violets, offers graphic design and event planning services. Pinterest has become the fastest and easiest way for me to plan a great event. Here’s a look at how I use Pinterest inspiration boards to create an entire event:

Firstly, I keep a single board devoted entirely to parties

After meeting with a client to discuss what they’d like their party to include, possible theme ideas and a budget, I immediately start scanning my Parties board for ideas (sometimes, I’ll even take my laptop to the meeting and use the Parties board to show the client ideas as we discuss different options). I make a list of all the party elements the client wants, including invitations, decorations, food, activities and thank-you favors.

Lets say my client wants to host a baby shower with a “Classic Winnie the Pooh” theme, since that’s what the baby’s nursery theme is. I scan the Pinterest board for ideas and what luck! I’ve pinned a baby shower that has a Winnie the Pooh theme!!!

I open up the original link, and scan the post. Even though this shower used the more modern Winnie the Pooh and added Asian elements, it still has a few ideas I can use (like the guest book for example). The post also inspires me to create a “place” or “setting” for the theme. In other words, instead of putting Pooh and friends in an Asian setting, I think the Classic Pooh group would fit better in a woodland picnic --- who doesn’t love the idea of picnicking in the Hundred Acre Wood?

This immediately sends me back to my board to see if I can find any “woodland forest” related party ideas, and what do you know, there’s a whole slew of them:

These are all nameplate ideas, but their inspirational nonetheless --- and a great budget keeper because it reminds me that by going with the woodland forest idea, I’ll be able to use a lot of stuff from nature, a.k.a. FREE!

After scanning a bit further, I find another fantastic baby shower that, although it has nothing to do with Pooh, has everything to do with woodland creatures:

I love this whole post, and get ideas for not only food layout, but also the food itself. There’s not a lot of sweets going on here (most baby showers are a great place to get a sugar high), and I know serving more brunch-y items at an afternoon shower is the way I want to go with this event. I also love the idea of marking the cups with mini-clothespins and using the little Christmas tree as well.

One of my favorite things about Pinterest is the SEARCH bar at the top. I use this all the time when I need to find something specific. For example, this baby shower will be held at a home in large community of homes, so I need to make sure guests can find the house easily. I plan on having balloons placed strategically on the drive through the community leading the way for guests, but once they arrive I’d really like to have something on the door to say “Welcome, there’s a baby shower going on inside, and you’re invited to come on in!” I remember seeing a wreath made out of diapers somewhere on the internet, but can’t remember exactly where, so I go up to the Pinterest Search bar and type in “diaper wreath”. Lo and behold, there are lots of examples to choose from. I go with this guy because it has a really helpful step-by-step tutorial:

Putting an event together using Pinterest is not only easy, but its fun as well. I love collecting ideas and adding them to my boards, knowing that one day that single Pin could be the inspiration for an entire party! Whether you own a business or have a hobby that you enjoy, I highly recommend Pinterest for organizing your ideas. If you’re already on Pinterest, I’d love to see what ideas you collect! You can view all my boards HERE.

The Classic Pooh baby shower was an actual event hosted by In Sweet Violets this past March. Check out the party recap post over at the ISV blog and remember to:

-- Any crazy or creative party themes you've always wanted to try? My Mad Hatter theme party was probably my most ambitious one. I mean, marshmallow tree? That's intense.

Ale... from the past ;) --