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Wine Not Start A Cellar?

A Bridal Shower Theme

Have you ever wanted to do something special for engaged friends or family, but couldn't figure out what to do? They have everything. Maybe they've already been living together. Maybe they're a little older and have established households. Perhaps they have no interest in traditional engagement parties or bridal showers. Well, here is a great solution to this dilemma. Have a wine tasting and cellar starter shower. Hosted casually with couples, this is a fun and relaxed way to commemorate the impending union while still honoring the people who are getting married. This is especially fun if the couple has an interest in wine.

If your shower/tasting will focus on a particular wine region, country or category, set the tone of your event venue with appropriate music and decorations. Greet your guests with a sampler of wine and escort them into the party area where they can meet and greet the guests of honor and other fellow guests.

For a complete selection of Bridal Shower decorating ideas and some unusual party favors, visit Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Party Decorating411.

Invitations

There are so many fun things to do with this theme. Try color copying or scanning and color laser printing a variety of wine labels for the front of the invitations and put all the essential party information on the other side. Be sure to provide explicit directions on their wine assignments.

Another thought might be to buy little wine bottle bubbles or mini wine bottles (you, know, like the kind you get on Air France when flying to Paris!?) and tie on a scrolled invitation. Pretty paper with ivy, grapes or bread and cheese can be found at your local copy or invitation store.

Why not purchase boxes of spreaders (the kind used for hors d'oeuvres) with a wine, cheese and bread theme or butler theme and place large sticky labels on the back with all the pertinent information. Spreaders come four to a pack.

Want to really get fancy? If your group is small or if money is no object, send each guest a wine glass decorated with paint pens. Use grape and wine motifs. Use raffia to tie the invitation to the stem of the glass or make a little card with the invitation information and put it inside the glass. These can also be hand-delivered. Try Crate & Barrel, Target or Pier 1 for inexpensive glasses.

Lastly, have a custom made caricature from Party411. Portray your guests of honor in an outdoor café sipping wine, picking grapes in a vineyard or toasting in a wine cellar.

Decorations

Centerpieces - Use the obvious to establish beautiful centerpieces of fruit, wine and accessories. Try your own variations with wine chillers, bottles of wine, fruit and balloons. A nice platter of cheeses makes a tasty and visually appealing center as well. Sprinkle the table with corks as confetti or find foil or paper confetti at your local party store. Try mini picnic baskets with fruit and small bottles under a pretty cloth napkin for another look. If you are so inclined, hunt for unique and entertaining single wine bottle holders and let each one hold a great bottle of wine that will be served at the shower. We recently saw one of a sommelier hunched over and the wine bottle fit onto his back. Very Cure! Flip through wine magazines for more ideas on visual presentations.

Seating Cards - If you choose to do them, tie name cards to unique bottle stoppers. Stoppers serve as favors for your guests. Try color copies of wine labels as seating cards to match your invitations, if that is how you've done them. Group by wine type or region. Why not write guests' names on corks for fun! Try using spreaders for seating cards instead for invitations and guests can take them home as a favor.

Sign-in Board - Use a sign-in board for guests to record special messages to the bride and groom. Use a nice picture of the couple as the focal point or have a custom sign-in board made by Party411. 

Menu

Your menu may be dependent on your wine selections. For great food ideas based on wine type, click here. Other great resources are Food & Wine Magazine, Bon Appetite and Gourmet.

Activities

This one is pretty easy. Beyond any couples shower games you may want to play, your main activity will be the wine tasting. If you personally know a wine expert or enthusiast, invite that person to help you choose your wine selections, plan your tasting and educate the crowd on how to taste wines. Another option is to call your local world food market, spirits retailer or wine and cheese shop to see if there are people available to help you with this effort. There is usually no fee if your purchase the wine from them. Read a helpful article on hosting a tasting from Wine.com.

 If you choose to avoid the tasting altogether, have your enthusiast help facilitate the stocking of the couple-to-be's wine cellar. Before the shower, create a gift list of items and wine varieties to be delegated to guests. Your wine expert can educate the crowd on various wines, establishing a cellar and proper storage as the couple opens gifts (wine varieties and accessories). Read a great article on how to build a wine cellar, including what to stock in it, from the DIY Network.

Read our suggested list of wine accessories.

Suddenly find yourself with a wine stain in an undesirable place? The Party Girl will tell you how to remove it.

Party Favors

As we've mentioned, bottle stoppers, spreaders or other small accessories make great favors. We think this heart shaped wine stopper is perfect! If you are feeling generous, have guests take home a bottle of their favorite wine from the tasting. Another fun ideas is to purchase each guest or couple a copy of the latest Wine Enthusiast or Wine Spectator magazine so that they can go home and ponder their own wine future.

You can also give each guest a personalized candy bar.

Cheers from Party411, and please consume your wine responsibly!