Cinderella Engagement/Wedding Party!

Let the Fairy Tale begin! Planning a Cinderella themed Wedding will make your special day even more magical... and many of these ideas can be used for the Wedding and Reception too!

There is nothing more romantic than a wedding with a fairytale theme, and what better fairytale than Cinderella? We recommend a couple of invitations that work perfectly with this theme and are sure to have your guests dreaming of the upcoming event!

Check out the Camelot Invitation for a soft and elegant look.

The Castle Invitations come in several different colors and add a unique touch with the palace doors opening to display the wording.

For a handmade invitation, glue a piece of heavy string tied in a knot to the front of a blank card. On the inside say, "Danielle and John decided to tie the knot - let's help them celebrate!"

If you opt for an invitation that is formally printed and not homemade, the Young Love Invitation is the perfect one to send for this type of event!

Cinderella Wedding Decorations:

There are several terrific kits that really set the magical stage for your Engagement party and for saying your vows!! Depending on your budget, you can use a whole kit, or purchase individual components separately. Here are some of our favorites:

If you are interested in a royal carriage, check out one in the "One Last Dance" kit. It also features a castle and backdrop, horse-drawn carriage, Cinderella gate and a lighted palace clock. Again, you can purchase the entire kit, or just components of it.

The "Hour of Enchantment" kit features a large enchanted clock (with the time at just before midnight!) and four enchanted wall columns.

Another alternative is the 8' castle from the "Daring to Dream" kit. This is white and is edged with holographic silver streamers.

Decorating with Gossamer is so easy, so fun and so enchanting! Use some of the Cloud-Patterned Gossamer (a wonderful, lightweight fabric that drapes beautifully). You can use this to place around the walls, tables, columns. (Works great for the Reception too!)

Here are some more decorating ideas to make the Cinderella theme come alive!

Use lots of stars and the silver to decorate with. Die Cut Stars, Milky Way Garland, and Star Confetti would all work well for you. Castle Confetti too!

Use some silver or star-patterned Balloons and hang these from the ceiling around the party room.

Choose pink and silver to decorate your tables. Super-shine table covers in silver as well as paper and plastic table covers in pink. Sprinkle Castle Confetti in the center of the table for a fairytale touch.

Two centerpieces that would be spectacular way to adorn your tables. Check out the Castle Centerpiece as well as the I Wanna Be With You Centerpiece.

Another idea would be to use Mini Slippers in the center of the table along with several sizes of candles. Fill the slippers with flowers or Holographic Silver Confetti.

Hang lots of Twinkle Lights around your party room for a romantic glow.

Paint a few pumpkins white and sprinkle some gold glitter on them for a magical touch. Place a few pictures of the bride and groom around the pumpkins as a reminder of how they got to this special day together.

Finally, you will definitely want to a Tiara for your Cinderella bride (who says you cannot wear it to the Engagement party too?)!!

Enlarge some photos of the couple (together and alone) at a copy store and hang them around the room. Choose cute photos - some romantic, some embarrassing, some baby shots, etc.

Gossamer - If you are decorating a large area, or want to make any area look more intimate and festive, drape and swag our Gossamer across ceilings, walls, and the edges of table skirting. Twist two colors together for a stunning look. The gossamer drapes so beautifully, that if your room is softly lit, it will have an ethereal glow.

Balloons - Never underestimate the power of decorating with Balloons as they can transform any size room into a cozy space at a very low cost. You can choose to inflate balloons with helium, but that is not your only option. In order to save money, inflate hundreds of balloons in colors to match your theme without using helium. Tie a 6-8 foot piece of curling ribbon to the end of each one. Using scotch tape, masking tape, or straight pins, hang balloons down from the ceiling so they hang at different lengths. Curl the loose end of the ribbon with scissors.

A cute balloon that would add love into the air of your celebration is our Latex Heart Balloons. These would be especially adorable tied to the chairs of the guests of honor.

Balloon Centerpieces - Balloons are an affordable and easy product to use to create lovely centerpieces. Select balloons and curling ribbon to match your theme colors. Inflate the balloons (always use an odd number - 3, 5 or 7) with helium and let the colorful bouquets float above the table. Make sure the balloons float well above eye level so guests can easily see each other across the table. Secure the balloons by tying the ribbons to Mylar-covered weights, floral vases, upside-down top hats, or other theme-related items.

If you prefer not to use helium, attach the balloons to balloon sticks and holders and create a bouquet with balloons. Fill a simple vase, metallic tote bag, or other colorful base with metallic shred, gemstones or brightly colored tissue.

Candle Centerpieces- Place three or more Votive Candleholders (clear, frosted or cracked ice) in the center of your tables or clustered together at evenly spaced intervals on a banquet type table. You can increase your brilliant light by placing a mirror under one or two of the votives. Place the other candles around the mirror and enjoy twice as much flickering light from the reflection. To add a bit more glitz and glimmer, sprinkle Confetti or place Gemstones around the votives. These will also reflect the light and add sparkle to your tables. Use a confetti color that coordinates with your theme colors. Finish off your centerpieces with your choice of votive candle color. Choose the color that works best with your color scheme and enjoy the fabulous scent that will fill the air!

A second option to consider is to use tapered candles. The elegant lines of taper candles can dress up any table. We recommend grouping them together in odd numbers. At the base of the taper candles, place greenery, gemstones, wired garland, puddled gossamer or confetti. Place fresh flower petals around the candles for a romantic touch.

If an enclosed flame is a must, try decorative Candle Lamps. These lamps can be personalized with the date and theme of the wedding or can be left unimprinted. Place at the center of each table with flower petals, ivy strands, confetti or curled ribbon scattered at the base.

Floating Candles make a beautiful centerpiece for any table. Delicate candles in the shape of flowers can easily be placed in bowls, snifters or other wide mouth glassware pieces. Simply fill each candle bowl with water (about halfway) and place a floating flower candle in each bowl. Add color to the centerpieces by placing a sprig of greenery or colorful confetti around the base of the glass. Add a few drops of food coloring to the water if you wish to tint it to match your theme colors. Another color option is to add gemstones inside the glass container.

Cinderella Wedding Activities:

There will definitely be many toasts that are made over the course of the evening, normally starting with the announcement of the engagement by the bride's father. The groom typically follows by responding with a toast to his fiancé.

Here are few other creative options to help get all of the guests highly involved in the celebration and anticipation of the big day!

Have the guests come up with a "Number One Rule" of wedding arrangements or marriage. This should be their own words of wisdom or advice mixed with some humor. To make it more interesting, award a prize to the winner!

You could ask each guest to make predictions for the couple's future. Take turns saying, "In 10 (20, 30, 40, 50) years time, I think you will…" You will be surprised with the things people come up with!

Have everyone at the party tell a little story about the couple. "I Remember When…" could start each person's story. This will definitely bring a lot of laughs!

As a group, create a scrapbook or photo collage of the couple. Ask each guest to bring photos of the couple for the project and then present it to the couple at the end of the night

Use the soundtrack from Cinderella to start the dance floor off right.

Have a horse and carriage deliver the bride and groom to the reception and take them away at the end of the evening.

Instead of the bride throwing her bouquet, have her throw a glass (or plastic!) slipper.

Cinderella Wedding Food and Cake Ideas:

The food options are wide open for your congratulatory party! You can go very formal and have a sit-down dinner, or you can serve party foods via a buffet line.

For a "princess" touch to your food, serve it on gold or silver platters. If you are using plastic metallic trays, glue a few faux jewels to the outside edge.

Garnish food with edible loose-leaf gold, and add a sprinkling of tiny edible gold balls to your cake. Be sure to check out the Fairy Castle Cake before ordering your Wedding Cake! It will give you an idea of how magnificent this fairy tale cake can be!

Serve dry snacks (chips, pretzels, crackers) in crowns turned upside down. Place tiaras around any serving platters that need a touch of royalty!

A few ideas of items to serve:

Stuffed Mushrooms
Crab Dip with Crackers
Salsa and Chips
Fruit Salad
Pasta Salad
Chicken Skewers with Dipping Sauces
Pigs in Blankets
Spinach Dip in a Bread Bowl
Shrimp Cocktail
Mini Pizzas
Cheese and Crackers
Engagement Cake!

If going with a buffet, here are some tips (also great information for the reception!):

A great way to dress up your buffet table is to make layers out of your food presentations. You can do this by piling up books, overturned buckets, or bricks on the table and covering all with gossamer or tablecovers to match your party theme or colors.

A general rule is that everyone will not eat everything. People normally will eat more starches and meats than vegetables and anything fried will be the first to go! Going through a buffet line can make people feel the pressure of others behind them, so they move along quickly and won't take huge quantities the first time through. Remember that you will much rather have leftovers than a sparse spread at your buffet line, but here is a guide for you when you are estimating your food quantities for your buffet.

For individual meats, fish, poultry:
• 5 - 6 ounces per person
• If the cuts of meat have bones in them, consider adding more weight per person.

For multiple meat meals and buffets:
• 4 - 6 ounces per person

For pasta dishes:
• A pound will serve 8-10 people.

For vegetables:
• With a premixed salad, estimate one handful per person.
• One head of lettuce will feed approximately 5 people, 4 medium heads will serve 15-20.

For appetizers:
• Estimate about 10-12 items total per person.
• Make 3-4 of each item per person, keeping in mind that everyone may not take all of the items.

For desserts:
• Calculate one full portion of dessert per person.
• For multiple desserts, people will taste smaller portions of each item.
• A normal cake will serve approximately 10, but 15 will be fed if you are also serving pie.

Remember that doubling and tripling recipes is something of an art, so it is best to work small and work your way up. You will have a much better success rate with most recipes if you make multiple batches of a single recipe rather than trying to multiply the quantities by 3, 4, or more

If you plan on setting up a basic bar, plan to have the following on hand for every 10 adult guests: 1 case of beer
2 liters of seltzer
3 liters of soft drinks (diet and regular)
2 quarts of fruit juice
Plenty of chilled bottled mineral water (sparkling and flat)
2 bottles of wine - one red, one white
Hard liquor - a fifth makes approx. 14 drinks
Lemon and lime wedges and twists, olives and other garnish
Lots of ice - plan on 1 lb. per adult guest for the evening.

It is also perfectly acceptable to only serve desserts for this type of party. This allows you to save up the big expense for the wedding and reception itself. The Engagement party is about celebrating the wonderful news, not about food.

Cinderella Themed Wedding Party Favors:

It is not necessary to give out favors to your guests who come to your engagement party or wedding, but some hosts want to give a small token of appreciation. If you are holding your party around the New Year timeframe, present your guests with a small calendar with, of course, the wedding date boldly highlighted! You don't want anyone to make any conflicting plans for the big day!

Another idea would be to present your guests with an elegant frame or personalized photo box. Put a note behind the glass informing them that the space is reserved until June 13 (the wedding date) for a picture of the new Mr. and Mrs. Waterfall.

Show your guests just how much you care by offering Personalized Napkins that complement your theme. Napkins can be imprinted with your special wording and the design of your choice. They are soft and elegant, yet reasonably inexpensive. They are 3-ply to offer you a sturdy but extravagant feel. The napkins will serve several purposes - great decorating in disguise and a delightful memento of the party that can be saved in scrapbooks for years to come! Napkins can be laid out on a buffet table, or can be displayed at each place setting. Place napkins in the center of each place setting at an angle, or unfold them and place them in glasses for a tall dramatic look. The napkins can also be tied (and bundled with plastic cutlery) with a multitude of items to match your theme. Try Curling Ribbon, Gossamer Streamers, ric-rac or ribbon. You can imprint your napkins with a special design from our selection or for an additional charge, you can send us your own special design.

Mini Slippers would be great favors to give away to your guests as a token of appreciation for sharing in your special day!

There are also many different styles of Bubbles that can be imprinted with a special Cinderella design or a design that is all your own! Also great for the Reception tables! --- Have the guests blow bubbles while the horse-drawn carriage is leaving with the new husband and wife!

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