Hosting: Bohemian Woodlands Engagement Party

ruffle romper- sold out (similar | similar) | earrings | cuff 1 | cuff 2 | cuff 3

My dad’s side of the family has been going to the same Minnesota lake resort every August for over 40 years (crazy right?!) Shangri-La has a special place in all of our hearts and it’s an extra special week each year because our family is spread out all over the country, so this is our time to be together. My sister, Katie, got engaged a week before this annual extended family vacation, and she lives in San Francisco, so we knew this would be a perfect time to throw an engagement party.

So without much time, and a few obstacles (the resort is in Orr, MN a very small, remote town…the groc store doesn’t even carry seltzer…which was an issue during the week), I got to planning! I hit up Amazon obvs, (thank you Prime for your 2-day shipping), and started crafting, keeping in mind what would be both light and durable enough to travel with. With a lakeside venue, and a deck in the woods for our actual party space, I decided to go for a “bohemian woodlands” theme (…my family had a field day when I told them this. I still haven’t heard the end of it.)

We wanted the party to be a surprise, because what’s more fun than that?! So we concocted a plan for my dad to take the happy couple out to waterski with an added tour of the lake (since it was my sister’s fiance, Lenny’s first time here.) It would buy us about an hour for setup. Things (more or less) worked out according to plan…thanks to some boat trouble, we got additional (and much needed) setup time…luckily Dlesks are hard workers so all hands were on deck and my mom took care of all the apps!

Katie and Lenny got off the boat and as they reached the end of the dock, they could see the setup and all of us waiting, and with a pop of a champagne cork the party was started! The couple was completely surprised and the bride-to-be even teared up (mission accomplished in my book! 🙂 )

After a toast by the father of the bride, my other sister, Nikki, and I whisked Katie away to pick from this white dress or this one, to wear for the party (surprise engagement party…so we had to come prepared with outfit options for the bride as well!) to pair with a flower garland crown (ya know, to go with our bohemian woodlands theme) She took a quick shower (waterskiing) and the newly engaged couple rejoined the party!

Below are detail pictures and decor links. Scroll down to see my tutorial for making the birch bark inspired cake and an additional tutorial and template to make festive straw flags. Happy Hosting!

cups | knot skewers | table covering | greenery | champagne (one of our fav spots in Napa) | straws | straw flag template (tutorial below) | wood cake stand | cake banner: homemade | signage: homemade | twine | mini clothes pins | moss runner | wood cutlery | wood plates | wood picture stands | lanterns | tea lights | signature drink: Pimm’s Cup | banner paper | banner letters

 

Birch Bark Inspired Cake

This was my first time making a birch bark(-esque) cake…below was my process!

1. Make two boxes of yellow or white cake. Bake each box in one 8″ pan and one 6″ pan.
2. Stack the cooked 8″ cakes on top of each other frosting the middle and the sides- don’t worry about crumbs in the frosting because its supposed to look “rustic” anyways. I put the bottom layer on this piece of wood that I used at the cake plate.
3. Cut 3 straws to fit height of the cake so far, stick into the middle of the cake for support.
4. Cut a 6″ piece of cardboard, put on top and in the middle of the cake, right over the straws stuck into the bottom layers. Again, to support the next level of cake.
5. Frost the 6″ layers as you did the 8″ and stick them on top of the cardboard, covering it completely.
6. To make the birch bark effect take a knife and put a tiny bit of brown food coloring gel on it and just start making horizontal dashes all around the cake, some long, some short, some deep, some shallow, some thick, some thin- until it looks like a tree.
7. I added a heart with the couple’s initials to look like it was carved into the tree.
8. Add any additional garnishes- I picked some wildflowers and cattails to put on top and then added a homemade cake banner that said “engaged”

Festive Straw Flags

This is one of my fav ways to make a party more personalized and festive! It’s super simple and all you need is a printer, some paper, glue and scissors. Here is a link to my template for making these bad boys (opens in Word): Straw Flags

1. Once you open it just replace the words with text applicable to your own party. Fonts and colors can be changed. Just note that one phrase will be on the front of the flag and one on the back.
2. Print out your new template and cut along the lines. (I actually like to use a paper cutter and cut a little bit on the sides of the lines so that the lines don’t show on my flags…but I’m crazy.)
3. Once the flags are cut out, put glue on the back and wrap around the straw so the two ends meet. I loooove this glue stuff, I use it for everything and it’s great for these!
4. If you want, you can cut a small triangle in the end of the flag, just angle your scissors 45 degrees from the corner and make a small cut, do it to the other corner and voila, a flag!
5. One thing to note: I’ve done these with card stock (because it’s so much nicer than printer paper) and the flags ended up coming apart- the glue just couldn’t hold the thick paper together- so I recommend using a lighter weight paper- it doesn’t have to be printer paper, but just not as heavy as card stock.

 

Party Decor

 

Congrats on your engagement, Katie + Lenny! xo