Pinterest has turned us all into event planners. I certainly don’t think it’s taken the place of professionals who do that for a living, but I think it’s made a world of difference for those of us who are DIY party planners. We thought we’d do a little experiment by planning a hypothetical party, with Pinterest as our primary research tool.

1: The Theme

If you’re going to throw a hypothetical party, I figured it would be a good idea to start with a party that I’m pretty familiar with. So, I decided on a wedding shower. It’s been two years since I got married, and oddly enough I have only attended one wedding shower since. For the theme I wanted to use something that could easily tie into the food, drinks and decor.

I’ve been a bit obsessed with the color mint since spring. My toes are currently painted a fun mint green. I was recently contacted by Dixie Vodka about sampling their Mint Vodka. That’s something you certainly don’t have to ask me twice. With that the theme was officially decided: “Mint to Be“. Cheesy… I know! (said in my best Monica voice). After all, the color doesn’t go out of style and lots of mint-colored items are available to create a memorable party.

2: Planning

Here’s where Pinterest comes is. Depending on who you’re throwing this party for you can either create a Secret board to collect all of your ideas, make it a collab board with some of your co-hosts, start a new dedicated public board, or you can add your ideas to a party board that’s already rolling. You decide. Want to know the best part? You can change your mind later. (Geek girl sidebar: you can change a private board to public but not vice versa)

3: Supplies

After you’ve spent hours/days/weeks scouring the never ending pool of ideas that is Pinterest now it’s time to think about budget and the items you actually plan to buy. For my hypothetical Mint to Be Party here’s the supplies I’d use.

invitations: these lovelies are available on minted.com (coincidence? I think not)

paper products: you could use your fancy dishes if you have them, but there are so many adorable festive paper plates and napkins. (pictured: mint table sets from shop sweet lulu)

bevvies (cocktail + mixers & uncocktails): you could clearly break the bank on this and the food. Since my hypothetical party is planned for an afternoon with close friends I decided on two alcoholic options and a few traditional drinks (more about that below)

food: one of the last weddings showers I attended was pretty low-key but the hostess decided to have all of the food catered in. I thought it was quite brilliant. She wasn’t stressed the day of and the guest of honor got to have all of her favorite dishes available.

4: Decorations

Mint matches well with cream, gold, peach and light pink. Choose this combo of soft colors to decorate for the event. This paper garland sold on Etsy is just $10 and makes for a nice visual in your home.

A tissue paper pom will look cute around the house too! You can buy each pom (also on Etsy) if you don’t want to create it from scratch. Hang a few poms around the kitchen, dining and on your patio if part of the party is taking place outside.

5: Entertainment

Are you the party game playing type? I’m still on the fence about most party games, but I’ve seen a few light-hearted games played at various showers.

Does your group want to host traditional games, or are they looking for something different? We’ve seen DIY headband stations at baby showers, so you can tweak that theme into a DIY garter bar. All you need are a few rolls of mint and white ribbons, hot glue guns and tags for labels. Encourage the guests to write a special note on the tag for the bride. Just Daisy Dreaming did this at a recent shower and they turned out so cute!

The Knot offers a list of additional games such as Bridal Bingo, Wedding Trivia and Bridal Pictionary.

6: Clothes

Help the bride play dress up by finding a mint-colored dress for her to wear, nude heels (or another soft color) and a pearl necklace. Want to go the extra mile? You can even coordinate your outfits to fit your theme! I mean, you know you want an excuse to get that mint green dress that just went on sale anyway. These dresses could work for the guest of honor and/or the hostesses.

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7: Wedding Shower Day of: Food, Drinks and the Cake

Prepare light bites, cocktails (both alcoholic and nonalcoholic) and of course, a festive cake. Food ideas that are easy to prepare and aren’t messy include tea sandwiches, fruit salad, cheese (like brie) and crackers and chicken salad.

For drinks, you can consult Pinterest for recipe idea of create your own. For our hypothetical party I like the idea of a drink that can easily be served with our without alcohol. So, I bring you Just Peachy Tea Lemonade. This recipe is an adaptation from Food Network’s Whiskey Tea Lemonade. The good news is, the liquor (in this case Mint Vodka) goes in each individual glass. So your guests can add the right portions for themselves.

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You can also save some brewed tea to serve separate from the Peach/Lemonade combo. If you know several of your guests enjoy cocktails, I’d recommend having supplies on hand to make some of the more popular combos like Mint Julep, Vodka Soda, Screwdriver (Orange Juice). All of these could be made with Dixie Southern’s Mint or Traditional flavored vodkas.

And for the grand finale, add the mint-colored cake! The one pictured below is featured on Wedding Window.

About Dixie Vodka

Dixie Vodka is an all-American spirit that has a Southern heritage. Handcrafted in Charleston, South Carolina, GENERAL BEAUREGARD DIXIE’s Southern Vodka is 6x distilled from all-American non-GMO corn and then run through the patented TerrePURE® process to naturally eliminate remaining unwanted impurities. Winner of the top Platinum Award at the 2014 consumer judged SIP Awards, solidifying its position as the South’s Best Tasting Vodka. Gluten Free. 80 Proof. Dixie Vodka comes in Traditional, Black Pepper or Mint. Check out http://generaldixie.passionspirits.com/ for more information.

Disclaimer: We were provided samples of Dixie Mint Vodka to try. This hypothetical party is not associated with or sponsored by General Beauregard Dixie. Although, we appreciate the creativity that comes with making up cocktails IRL for a fake party! Oh, the life of a blogger. We hope you’ve enjoyed this edition of Genpink! Now who is getting married next? 

{photo credits: Pinterest screenshot from genpink // bridal brunch invites // mint paper plates // mint wedding garters // peach tea lemonade // mint wedding cake}