The Super Bowl is coming up on February 5, 2012. Have you already made plans to host a Super Bowl party at your house? What are you doing, just the traditional food, drinks and watching the big game on television? Why not switch it up a bit and do something a bit different? It's also fun and exciting to change things up a bit, even if it's minor. Change up your Super Bowl party with the help of Wedding and Party Network. We've got some fabulous tips that will make your party a huge hit!

Plan Accordingly – Of course, with every party, you also need to plan accordingly. How many guests are you inviting, what type of food are you serving, are you having party decorations and do you plan on having activities for everyone? The best thing to do is to sit down and write everything out. Make a list of everything. This truly makes planning easy.

Party Decor – This party doesn't need a ton of party decorations at all. Just keep it within the team's colors. Divide it half and half to be fair to all your guests, unless all of you are rooting for the same team to win. Use the colors within the table cloths, centerpieces and scatter some footballs around. Use beer mugs or football koozies for the floral arrangements, except place simple flowers. Just keep it simple.

For The Food – Since it's the beginning of the new year, a lot of people made new year's resolutions to eat healthier. So, keep this in mind when planning your party menu. Instead of doing a variety of food that really doesn't go well together, think about planning out a food theme. Go with a chili bar and serve different types of chili, even a healthier version, like turkey chili. You can include all the toppings and even some hot dogs, burgers or nacho chips.

However, you can take a different approach and host a taco night, soup night or a burger bar. This way, you don't have way too much food to satisfy everyone's appetite and your menu isn't all over the place. Focus on one or two appetizers to satisfy everyone while everything else is cooking. Don't forget, you can always find a local caterer to create your meal so you're not in the kitchen all day. They always have great ideas and it frees you up from the kitchen.

Sweets – Of course, go with the theme and have a football shaped cake or football cupcakes and cookies. Just keep in mind football and the teams that are playing. You can even set up a cute dessert table that replicates a football field and have cupcakes in the team's colors and place them on the field. Don't forget to always keep in mind how you display your food. It makes everything that much better.

Don't Forget The Drinks – Drinks are just as important as the food. Have a signature drink for the evening or even have one for each team. You can do punch, have beer tasting for the guys or margaritas if you go with the taco theme. Make sure you have drinks that pairs well with the food and display them in a fun way.

Game Day Activities – Of course, you can have games like washers, horse shoes, bean bag toss or ping-pong set up to play before the big game starts. Don't forget to have everyone pick who they think will win too, which makes a great game day activity.

The Super Bowl is a great time to get friends together and hang out all day to enjoy each other's company. It's a great time to host a party and to get creative.

Here at Wedding and Party Network we want to give you inspiration for your wedding details. The details are what sets your wedding apart from anyone else. The colors, theme, detailing and style all creates your wedding day style. So, today's Inspirational Friday will focus on party decorations! They are truly great and definitely show off your party theme. There are so many different ideas out there and ways to display your party theme through decorations. You just have to find a little inspiration and creativity.

Party decorations truly tell your party's story. They represent the color, theme, setting and everything else that you want your guests to know about your party. How you display them and what's included are both important. Displaying flowers in an elegant way lets your guests know that this party is elegant or having bright colors displayed throughout your party shows them that it's a fun and vibrant party. When planning a party, always think about your decorations and how they can tell your story.

What major events do you have coming up this year? Anything special? Well, a first birthday does sound like a big milestone for anyone! However, what will you do to make your child's first birthday special? There are many, many ideas out there that can make it special. However, you have to find one that fits their personality and stands out from the rest. Well, Wedding and Party Network has our top picks for 1st birthday party themes.

For The Boys…

Monkey Around - Boys are all over the place, especially at the age of one. Therefore, a monkey themed birthday party is perfect! Think all things monkeys. Create trees, place monkeys around and use bananas. Refer to all things monkey. Also, for the food, fix banana pudding, monkey bread and banana cupcakes. However, not everyone enjoys bananas. Therefore, create whatever you enjoy and just use printables that feature monkeys and cute names like monkeying around or monkey crunch.

Hole In One -An adorable theme is a hole in one party, which focuses on golf. Create a blue and green theme and use this color scheme throughout everything. Plant grass in a square vase or just use paper grass and place donut holes on a stick and place them in the vase for a unique food display. Place golf balls out as party decorations, have golf cart rides, golf inspired cupcakes, "club" sandwiches and the party favors can be those plastic golf clubs.

Rock Star -A rocking birthday bash is a great theme for the little ones. You can definitely get creative with this one, using guitars and the color schemed red and black. You can have the little one rock a biker jacket for attire. How cute does that sound? Just place little guitars, drumsticks or music notes on everything. A great party favor is a plastic microphone filled with candy. This is definitely a great 1st birthday party for the little guy.

Barnyard Bash -Who doesn't enjoy animals? There are tons of ideas for this cute birthday party theme. Think of all the barnyard animals and what you can find in or around the barn. Create a fun barnyard cake complete with all the animals.

For The Girls…

Butterfly Ball - A party full of butterflies, fairies and a vintage feel, what little girl wouldn't love looking back on this party? Your main focus should be butterflies. You can find them in various colors, patterns and designs almost in any store, even home accent stores. Just plan this party ahead so you have plenty of time to look for unique butterflies. Hang butterflies from fishing line throughout the party, attach wings to the chairs, decorate the tables with tulle and place butterflies throughout the food table.

Little Miss Sunshine - You know, the ever popular girly shirts that feature, Little Miss Sunshine, Little Miss Rain or Little Miss Naughty. Well, base the party around Little Miss Sunshine (you can replace the word sunshine with the birthday girl's name). Think all things yellow for this party. Mix and match fun pastels with the yellow, but keep that the main color of your party. You can create whatever appetizers you may like, feature a fun yellow cake and a candy bar. This 1st birthday party is ideal for the bright and cheery little girl.

Pink Lemonade - A fun little pink lemonade birthday party is great! Think all things pink. Keep this party pretty simple and serve adorable lemonade in bottles or mason jars and keep the food light, like tea sandwiches, miniature cupcakes, vegetable platters and fruit trays. For the decorations, think pink streamers, balloons and even a pink lemonade stand. This party is simple yet perfect for a first birthday party.

1 Upon A Time - Make once upon a time and turn it into a 1 upon a time party. How cute is that? Of course, dress her up in a little tutu with a crown and make the party all things princess themed. You can choose whatever color you like or center it around a certain Disney princess. Take ideas for your favorite princess movies and incorporate that into the decorations, food and party games.

Pinwheels & Pearls -Pinwheels and pearls is a cute little theme that looks great on the invitation and so adorable within the party decorations. Serve up cute little pinwheel food, like sausage pinwheels, turkey pinwheels or jelly rolls. Anything that is related to pinwheels. Even pinwheel cookies and place them on a stick. Think pastels, pinwheels and pearls to place out for party decorations. This party is too cute!

Whenever planning a 1st birthday party, keep the child in mind and try to match the party theme to their adorable personality. What do they love most or what do they remind you of most? This is a very special occasion that needs to be remembered and truly celebrated in fashion.

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Earth Day is April 22 this month and what better way to spread the word than with a party. This day is to celebrate and bring appreciation to the Earth. Everyone has busy lives, but it is nice to stop and remind yourself about the Earth and all it's glory. Environmental awareness is growing, therefore, so is the importance of this day. So, if you are into becoming more eco-friendly and would like to help get your friends and family involved, host an Earth Day party! Wedding And Party Network is here to give you a few tips that will make this party theme a success.

Party Invitations – Send out e-vites! This is the most environmentally friendly way to send out party invitations. Most everyone has access to the web and check it quite often. Therefore, sending out party invitations through email would be a great idea for Earth Day. Save paper!

Party Decorations- For party decorations, make sure everything is recyclable. Everything has to be eco-friendly for Earth Day. First off, make sure you have recycle bins placed out for all your guests to see how important it is to recycle. Plus, it serves as part of your party decorations.

Go with a blue and green color scheme to represent the earth and water. Create informational posters (on recycled paper, of course) with recycling information and important facts about the earth. Let them know how and where they can drop it off or when pick up day is for recycled items. Just be informative throughout your party decorations.

"Green Food" - Are you asking yourself, how can I incorporate Earth Day into the party food? Well, it's easy. Think fresh and local. The spring weather has lots of fruits and vegetables in full force, so use what's in season. Keep it light and refreshing. However, the most important thing is where you buy your food from. If you have a local farmers market, choose them to buy your produce and meat from. If you buy it locally, you're supporting your community. Visit your local caterer to come up with delicious appetizers and suggestions on where to buy around your town.

What To Do -So, what do you do at an Earth Day part? If you are doing this for the kids, there are lots of fun party games out there for them that incorporates with this theme well. Do a recycled relay. Separate the children into groups and give them a pile of recycled items. They must then take turns running down to the recycle bins that you place out and sort the items into the right bins. Whoever finishes first, wins.

Another game that you can incorporate into your party is recycled crafts. After the relay is over, give them everything they recycled and let them get creative and come up with a fun craft. Anything to make them aware of recycling and what it does to help our earth is a plus!

When hosting your Earth Day party, it doesn't have to big extravagant. You just need to focus on the importance of the Earth. So, keep it minimalistic. The main focus for this party is the Earth. Stop and remember how truly important it is to you and everyone around you. Plus, Earth Day parties are so much fun for everyone!

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Recycled basket photo provided by jfeathersmith via flickr.

Does your little girl have an upcoming birthday? Well, stick with the season and throw an adorable little SnowGlam Party for all her best friends. When people think of the winter months, they always think it's hard to plan a birthday party. Well, it's  not. There are so many things out there for your little ones, you just have to know where to start. This party theme is perfect for any little glam girl or even a girl's night in! Here are a few party tips to get you started to make sure everyone has a great time. They'll call you party planner of the year!

Invites Set The Theme: A great invitation to send out that would be ideal for the little girls and even the adults, is a snowflake invitation. These themed invitations will immediately set the tone of your party. Visit your local stationery store for themed invitations, like snowflakes that will set your winter wonderland mood right from the beginning.

Glam Party Decorations: Where to begin? Of course, your main focus should be white. You can either pair white and silver or incorporate a pastel blue or pink into the theme. Incorporate white table linens with silver snowflake confetti. Decorate your tables with Christmas lights, hang snowflakes, scatter fake snow out and set out adorable snowmen in the snow.

If you want to mix in the pastel colors, mix and match the colors of snowflakes that you hang. Mix and match table linen colors and top it off with a beautiful white floral centerpiece or an elegant ice sculpture. How chic! However, the special added details such as the Christmas lights will truly make this party stand out.

Deck the girls out with feather boas and tutus. How adorable and glamorous would the little girls feel. Maybe even the adults too! By adding all these special details together, you'll get one glamorous snow party.

Let It Snow Desserts: For this party, stick with just desserts. It'll be simple for you or if you plan to have it catered, your party caterer will know exactly what to fix. A fake snow-like accent is shredded coconut. Adding it to most everything is a must, even if it's just for decoration.

Keep in mind snowballs, it is a snow theme party after all. Little white powdered doughnut holes are great replicas of snowballs. Scatter them in a bowl or attach them to a floral cone with icing to make a great centerpiece. Accent them with blue and white candy too for the finishing touch. It'll be a snowball tree. Make white cupcakes with edible iridescent pearls or scatter shredded coconut on top. Make a gigantic snowball cake with coconut on top or do white cake pops. To make it even more ideal, have your bakery create adorable gum paste snowmen. Or make them yourself out of marshmallows.

If it's a winter wonderland where you live, serve up snow cones or even snow cream. Everyone will love it! Literally, there are so many dessert ideas that you are sure to come up with from snowflake cookies or to miniature cheesecakes. All while using white and keeping within the snow theme.

A SnowGlam Thanks: Party favors are a great way to end your party. Nothing says glamour better. A little miniature snowball cupcake in an elegant clear box would be great. Cookies would be ideal too. You've already got lots of food, so why not send them home with something delicious that will remind them of your amazing party. Create a gift bag with all the ingredients for a warm cup of hot chocolate.

Even better, create a little gift bag featuring adorable feather boas and pearls. So cute and the little girls will absolutely love these items. They will play dress up all the time at home with them. Party favors are just a great way to say, "Thanks for coming" and for them to carry the memories back home.

A SnowGlam party is such an elegant and chic birthday party, holiday party or great for a girl's night in. Everyone will share lots of laughs, tasty treats and admire the winter season upon them.

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The new year is fast approaching and so is the question, "What am I doing for New Year's Eve?" Why not plan a get together at your house? If you're not in the mood to be around a big crowd for the night or get out in the chilly weather, plan a fun night in. It can be just as glamorous or low-key as you want it. There are absolutely a ton of ideas out there that you can do, but for this post we are going to focus on a time themed party.

"Timely" Party Decoration

"Timely" Party Decorations

During New Year's Eve, don't you focus on time. You keep your eye focused on the clock. Making sure that you don't miss midnight. There's even a countdown. Therefore, wouldn't a fun party decoration be clocks? No one will miss the new year with all your clocks. You can make them as fabulous, glamorous or as simple as you'd like.

Scatter them throughout the house, make them centerpieces, place settings, chargers and even little accents in the bathroom. Buy some at your local craft store and sparkle them up a bit with paint and glitter. Get creative and glue the clocks together to make a unique arrangement to put on top of your fireplace mantle or use it as a centerpiece for your dining room table.

It would make a great focal point. Plus, everyone would have something creative to stare at to keep track of the time.

Of course, you should definitely go all out with the clock theme. However, you can add little accents here and there. Such as, little black and white flowers. Anemones would be fabulous. Just a simple vase filled with flowers sounds perfect, it's such an elegant touch.

Add candles to create a more glamorous feeling. It is New Year's Even after all. You want that elegant, glamorous and festive feeling all around. It's the time to celebrate all the great times you had and all the great new beginnings that are about to occur.

Countdown To The New Year With Party Food

New Year's Eve Party Food

Again, keeping with the time thing, a fun idea might be to serve up a new appetizer each hour. Guests will look forward to it and wonder what exactly you're serving up next. Since guests will be wanting to snack all night, set out fondue for an all night snack. Serve fondue along with a fun chocolate fountain. Guests will be able to dip cheese, bread, variety of vegetables, seafood and meat. Along with an assortment of fruit for the chocolate fountain.

Now for the appetizers of the house, stay simple. Stick to easy party food, you don't have to go all out since you're offering a fun presentation. Start out with bruschetta, dips, canapes or cheese and crackers. Start out light. As you work your way through the hours, get a bit heavier with each dish. Your party caterer should know great appetizers to serve guests. A new party food each hour leading up the new year sounds so unique. Guests will truly enjoy this fun idea!

Party Blowers & Confetti, Oh What Fun!

Ring in the new year with glitz and glamour. Party blowers and confetti are a must for ringing it in. Create shakers, party blowers, silver confetti and noisemakers. Make sure you have everyone count down together and then celebrate together.

These party accessories are just a fun way to bring everyone together and make your New Year's Eve party just that much more fun. Imagine silver confetti floating down from the sky. Think back on what the past year has brought you and what the new year has in store.

You don't have to do much to create a glamorous New Year's Eve party. Honestly! A few candles, flowers and fun clocks. There you have it! Plus, your amazing party food will make it that much more chic, tasty and unique. A fun night in with close family and friends and elegant party decorations will let you ring in the new year with style.

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While the freezing weather has yet to hit us, lets all enjoy being outside while we still can! Being outdoors is a great place to enjoy memorable times with friends and family and to host unique parties. For the Fall weather, host a small get together that is warm and cozy. What better way to do this? Host a dinner and a movie party! This is a great setup to share with close friends and family and will give you a few hours to relax and take a break from everyone's hectic lives. Here are a few ideas & tips to help you along the way.

Fun Party Decorations

The Smallest Details Create The Party

"It's all in the details," is so true. Even the smallest details can give your party an extra punch, so make sure to go all out and not miss a step. This party theme should be for close friends and family members — a smaller get together. It'll give you guys time to relax and catch up on the details of their lives. First is first:

Invitations: You're sure to find themed invitations at your local stationery store so these won't be a problem since there are invitations for every party theme out there. If you're crafty, create them yourself.

A cute popcorn bucket, ticket stub or even a miniature movie screen would be ideal for this affair. Use the words featuring, which should be the movie title, and co-starring should be all the details of the party. Setting the theme from the beginning is a must.

Movie, Time & Location: Pick an oldie but goodie, those movies never go out of style and everyone still enjoys them. Think of a movie that you could watch a million times, but never get tired of. Timing is a big part of this party. It should be dark enough to give it that movie-setting feel and where you can actually view the movie outside.

The time will all depend on when the sun goes down at your house. Finally, the location should be outside in your backyard since there is so much fun stuff you can do. However, bringing the party inside won't slow you down either.

Party Props: Create a movie poster featuring all the details of the party and point them in the right direction is such an easy task. However, it will just add that much more to your party theme. Since Fall is here, so are hay bales. Are you thinking of it?  Yes, a great movie seat! Set a couple blankets out with them and voila, there you have it.

A great movie seating arrangement. You could even throw big pillows and blankets around to make it even more cozy. A movie outside requires a white sheet or screen and projector to play the movie on. However, if you don't have these items, you can always bring the party inside. Such fun party props to complete your dinner & a movie theme night.

Movie Theme Decorations: Since it's an outside party, think rustic. You have the bales of hay, now just add little details such as pumpkins of different colors and sizes and simple flowers. You don't need much, just keep it simple and cozy with your party theme decorations.

Oh My, Party Food: Of course, you need a concession stand. Get a wagon or a table to serve the food. Popcorn is a must and should be served out of popcorn bags or even brown paper bags. Think of oldie but goodie candy. Tootsie rolls, Hersheys, Twizzlers or milk duds will be a great. Serve them out of paper bags too. Tie stuff up in twine, it will keep with the rustic vibe. Such cute and yummy party food!

Even get creative with your beverages. Serve your drinks out of mason jars. You can even create a hot chocolate bar to warm your guests up with chocolate shavings, sprinkles, whipped topping and marshmallows. Mmm, delicious apple cider would be a great way to warm up too.

This party is a fantastic get together to plan with friends and family. Enjoying each others company with this fun and cozy party theme is a great time for the Autumn weather.

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Hot Chocolate Photo, Apple & Hay Photo & Movie Photo are provided by Je l'ai fait!, methyl_lives & Kid's Birthday Parties via flickr.

The Kentucky derby is not just a horse race, it’s a party!  You can throw a derby party, just as exciting and fun as the race itself.  The actually Kentucky Derby is held the first Saturday in May, but you can have a derby party any time.

A derby party should follow the traditions of the real derby after all those traditions have been going on since 1875.  So what are the traditions?

A Mint Julep drink (iced bourbon, sugar syrup and mint ) is one of the traditions. So, be sure to include that as one of your cocktails.

Ladies, get out your favorite hats and wear them in high-style as this is a huge tradition.

Good food is the best tradition. However, it isn't stringent as to the kind of food. An easy way to feed your derby party guests is with finger foods: such as, shrimp cocktail, bacon wrapped prosciutto, finger sandwiches and crudities.

Since the derby is know as the running of the roses, you must have roses! Use a few real or paper derby hats (these are felt hats that men wear) lined with water proof paper or another container and fill with water and  roses as decorations.  Not good at arranging flowers? Have your florist create a rose centerpiece for your food table or a few arrangements with roses that you can use for decorations.  Don't forget to decorate your tables. You can use white, black or pastel green colors for your table linens and napkins. if you’re having the party on the day of the derby, pastel green colors are great. It gives everyone a feeling of the green grass area around the race track.

Every party needs a little fun.  For entertainment, you can place "bets" on who will win the real race and use party favors as the prizes.  On non-race days create your own Kentucky Derby race. Make the track from brown felt and include horses that you have cut out from some horse theme party decorations. Place numbers on the cut-outs and have guests make up horse names.  Give guests a scorecard with each horse name and odds.  Then have them place "bets".  Use dice to move the horses around the track.  Roll the dice and see who wins.

The Kentucky Derby is a fantastic event to watch.  Having a party that revolves around the race is even better. So if you are looking for a reason to host a party, have a Kentucky Derby party.

Remember you can have a Kentucky Derby anytime.  It makes a great theme for birthday parties, anniversary parties and even retirement parties.

I have always found ice sculptures fascinating. Actually, I find any mundane object used by an artist to create a work of art fascinating. But, ice sculptures add an extra element to the equation. After all, ice melts and breaks; so ice sculptures must be delicate and short lived. At least that is the first thought that comes to my mind when I think of ice sculptures. But is ice really delicate? Or is it a strong and durable material perfect for artistic manipulation resulting in an awesome display of beauty.

To learn about ice sculptures I turned to an amazing an artist of Ice Sculptures in Watford Ontario. Rich at Festive Ice Sculptures & The Chocolate Fountain Company was gracious enough to explain some of the myths and facts concerning ice sculptures.

5 Most Common Thoughts or Misconceptions Regarding Ice Designs

#1 I can't afford an ICE SCULPTURE. The first time anyone lay's their eyes upon an ice design at a function, the shear size and sparkling Continue reading "5 Things You Need To Know About Ice Sculptures" »