Portobello Bride 'Girls Night In' Morning Tea

Last Tuesday we held a 'Girls Night In' party to raise vital funds for Women's Cancer. It was the first one I have organised, and I loved every minute. I am already looking forward to next years. It's the perfect occasion to gather together your girlfriends, taking time out of your busy lives to celebrate friendship and womanhood whilst offering support and awareness to a very relevant and important cause.

I had decided on a Bright Pink and Daffodil Yellow theme, the colours of the "Girls Night In" charity.  I called on lovely Portobello Bride Members to help me create a morning tea like like no other my friends had experienced.

First on my 'To Do' list was the invitations. Samone, one half of Cake Ink, created an original stationery suite for us. I wanted something in bright pink, that was very 'Portobello'. The first design Samone sent me was perfect, the Bottoms Up coasters were the most talked about detail of the day, the girls loved them!

Lucky you, we will be providing a free printable version of the Stationery suite for you with compliments from Cake Ink! Check back soon...

The most important detail of the day, the Sweets was next! Juli from One Sweet Girl went above and beyond anything I imagined for our dessert buffet. There were chocolate cake pops, brownies, cupcakes, marshmallows, cookies and the piéce de resistance, a white chocolate ganache with fresh raspberry ribbon cake. 

Flowers are a must have when ever I am entertaining. I called on the lovely Virginia of The Bouquets of Ascha Jolie to arrange the most beautiful pink and yellow blooms for the party. Everyone commented on them, and I really appreciated the extra loose bunches Virginia provided for me to use throughout my home to complement our Girls Night In spread. That's what I love about all our members, the service they offer is simply exceptional.

The finishing touch was the pretty vintage glassware and crockery we hired from A Vintage Affair. Lee Elizabeth George from A Vintage Affair provided the perfect ensemble of coupette glasses for our champagne and daiquiris, cake plates and the cutest cake forks I have ever seen.

Floral arrangements by The Bouquets of Ascha Jolie

I placed photographs of the important women in my life throughout the desserts by One Sweet Girl.  

My favourite sweet of the day, chocolate brownies with raspberry icing.

Bottoms Up! Cake Ink printable coasters- you can get yours here soon!

Pretty drinks in pretty glassware by A Vintage Affair!

My niece, Eliza Valentine sneaking a cake pop!

 

Not forgetting the reason for our fabulous do! The girls donated generously to our 'Girls Night In' fundraiser. Thank you xx

The most divine cake I have ever tasted. Juli is certainly One Talented Sweet Girl!

The ever cheeky Lucy, kicking up her pretty heels!

I must make a special mention to Lisa of Who's A Clever Girl? Photography who travelled to my home on the Peninsula from Melbourne to photograph our event for you all to see. Lisa worked her magic around us all, blending in and capturing so many sweet moments.

Thank you also to all who donated online to our Portobello Bride page on The Girls Night In website. We raised just over $500, and we look forward to raising more in the coming year. The winner of our two tickets to a Portobello Bride event in 2012 is, Kylie Blake. Congratulations Kylie, and thank you again. 

all images captured by Lisa Kerr-Atkinson of Who's A Clever Girl? Photography

A Vintage Beach Themed Setting

We are loving Juli from One Sweet Girl's take on a much loved wedding day theme. Beach Weddings are a popular choice for Australian couples, and we love this romantic vintage style table setting that doesn't have a frangipani or sea shell in sight!

"Most of us that live on the ‘continental fringe’ {so to speak} are within reasonable driving distance of the beach, and in Australia we are certainly blessed with some amazing beaches, yet beach weddings constantly seem to follow the same path – frangipanis, sand, shells and succulents, with pink, yellow and white being the overwhelming colour scheme of choice.  Or we swing to the opposite extreme and feature nautical imagery with lighthouses and rope, and confine ourselves to a navy, yellow/red and white scheme... it’s time for a change! 

For this table I followed natures palette of sand and cream, and incorporated only a tiny nod to the setting – pearls and rope on the cake, and a little deep ink blue in the marshmallows and the invite.  Keeping the textures neutral allowed the stunning setting of Sorrento to shine through.  The inspiration was definitely romantic, vintage, with a Q.Victorian-era hint in the overall look.

The table featured the wedding cake, peanut butter choc chip cookies, chocolate whoopee pies, rosewater marshmallows, chocolate meringues and chocolate brownies – and were presented on vintage pressed and cut glass vessels.  The table was covered in unbleached hessian to keep the natural theme going.

Flowers for the table and the bouquet were created by Virginia of The Bouquets of Ascha Jolie, and featured taupe Honeymoon Roses as their main feature, again keeping to that neutral colour palette.  A touch of blue was again brought in with Virginia’s inspired use of Sea Holly, and rounded everything out with Dodda vine, reeds, spider ivy and Magnolia leaves.  The bouquet featured more Honeymoon roses, blue Privet berries, Blushing Bride and Hellebores, and the stem was wrapped in linen grosgrain to again enhance the natural theme.

The invitation was created for me by Nomie Boutique Stationery, and was based on a Victorian-era perfume label, which was toned deep ink blue to suggest a more vintage, Victorian-era elegance, was printed on a heavy-weight textured cotton card stock, and features a cut edge for a point of difference."

Thank you again Juli for sharing another of your beautiful creations from One Sweet Girl with us.