Pretty Party Place Settings!

Students Taking Pics with our mascots...Albert and Alberta!

The food stations before the hoards of seniors arrived

(Poor College Seniors+Free Food=Great Event)

Above are some photos from an event that I planned for an internship at the UF Alumni Association for graduating seniors. There were over 1500 attendees and the event included prizes, entertainment, and FREE FOOD! (And of course Albert and Alberta were in attendance!)

I have always loved planning events. Throughout college, I have had the chance to plan some great events for my sorority and events like the one above. Sometime in the future, I hope to do event planning, marking, PR for large scale FABULOUS events! Since the FUTURE part of that is stressed, until then, I like to find great ideas for parties and events and store them in folders and files on my computer! (Maybe that is why I get pinwheeled so often!) I suggest to anyone who has a goal, idea, or future event...always be on the lookout for new and exciting ideas. Chances are if you don't take a picture of what inspires you, write it down, or save it...you'll forget! I take pictures on my iPhone of pretty much everything that I want to remember out of magazines (too lazy to scan...) and save articles, pictures, and everything awesome in files on Word and iPhoto. That way, when I need inspiration for pretty much anything, I can look through them and get some great ideas!

Recently I have been finding some really interesting and low cost ways to use everyday items as truly unique place settings. Once I am what I like to call a "real person," a.k.a. having a job, having money of my own, and don't feel terrible need to go to smokey bars to fraternize with friends, I plan on having some awesome parties of my own. These place setting ideas could be used for pretty much any event, and you can tweak the ideas to your liking!

Cantaloupe Sailboat

This super cute place setting idea was found when I was at the hair salon in Southern Living Magazine! All you would have to do is make small slices of a cantaloupe depending on how many guests! I would suggest this setting for a brunch with friends. The "sail" is made out of thick watercolor paper but you could use any paper (or even patterned paper) to your liking! Since I am a Gator girl, I thought it would be cute to make the "sail" with blue and white striped paper. Think...you could even add logos, quotes, or embellishments of your choice! In the magazine they added a small amount of twine at the top and bottom of the sail to look rustic and hold it in place. I think that you could also use Glue Dots (my favorite for EVERYTHING) or even blueberries or raisins! I also think that you could substitute the cantaloupe for any other melon (watermelon, honeydew...) that you would like! (Think a watermelon with a green polka-dot sail...large cursive letter of the guest's first initial...so preppy, so cute, OH MY!)

Pretty Plain Pear

I found this simple place setting idea here on Bridal Wave. For this idea, you pretty much use letter stickers and stick them to the beautiful fruit! I like the idea used for a kid's birthday if you used a banana and colorful stickers. Even though I am not a mother myself, I have learned from my camp counselor and babysitting days that making food look "cool" will trick them into eating healthy. (Can you tell what kind of mother I would be? :) ) I think it would great if you were also to use a green pear with chocolate linens and decor...BEAUTIFUL! You DO NOT have to spend a lot of money to make your event look personal, well thought out, and classy!

Strawberry Monogram

This idea I made up myself. So creative I know! (Pats self on back) I think it would be perfect for a dinner with girlfriends! Think of three strawberries, held together by a long toothpick, skewer, or stirrer. Then, place the guest's monogram on the strawberries (one letter on each berry) with pins like these metal letter push pins! (Found on Etsy of course at this shop.) Make sure you wash everything first OBVI.

You could either place them on a small plate OR even better on top of a pretty pink COSMO! Make sure the skewer is long enough to balance across the rim of the drink. Then, your guests can take their pins home and use them on a bulletin board! (Let's be real, our girlfriends would probably enjoy a pretzel stick if it was on top of a cosmo but greatness can always be improved upon! :) )

Through Pink Colored Glasses,