zeutertaining dea Aa SS Adding A Personal Touch To Your Parties (NAPSA)—Let’s get personal. That’s what many party planners are saying when they make plans to host one-of-a-kind parties such as a bridal shower, baby showeror even a Mother’s Day brunch. Adding a personal touch may be easier than you imagine. Here are someideas you can use: Make your centerpiece stand out. Don’t limit yourself to flowers. Centerpieces can consist of anything that fits into the theme of the event. For visual interest, you can use a large glass bowl] with goldfish swimminginit. You can cluster candles or float votives in water. For a baby shower, you can build a pyramid of baby blocks. Create unique place cards that mean something to the guest of honor. For a bridal shower, attach name tags to a cookie cutter at each place setting. For a baby shower, order custom cookies in the shape of teddy bears with the person’s nameiced on to them. * Decorate with a theme. Start by deciding on the colors and the theme. Is your mom a gardener? If you’re planning on a brunch for Mother’s Day or her birthday, decorate the room with flowers cut out of construction paper. Make a chocolate cake covered in flowers made out of candies. For a romantic bridal shower, decorate with hearts. Buy a miniature tree. Ask each guest to write something on a paper heart and use these hearts to decorate the tree. Makegarlandsofhearts. Make a party that’s all one color. For example, if the bride- ee 3 ' Adding a few personal touches to an event you’re hosting can make it even more memorable. to-be loves lavender, ask your guests to bring somethingin that color. Party favors should be fun. Keep party favors in the same theme as the rest of the party—such as seed packets for a garden party, candles for a party that relies on them for decoration. Or you can give out lottery tickets at any party celebrating a person’s good fortune. * Don’t forget the cookies. Cookies can be very useful in personalizing a party, either as the dessert or as creative place cards. Goodfor any special occasion or holiday, you can make a bouquet out of cookies or even give them out as party favors. Do-it-yourself cookie kits, such as those from Cookies by Design, can take a lot of the messout of this process. Besides the kits, the company offers fresh-baked hand-decorated cookie bouquets, individual decorated cookies, pan cookies, and other deliciously edible gifts. Learn more at www.cookiesbydesign.com.
