Party Time

A collaboration post with Sloane Fine Tea Merchants and Bicyclette

As fun as it can be to get all dressed up and head out for a night on the town New Year’s Eve, we often forget the importance of celebrating the new year on New Year’s Day itself. One of the few moments in an entire year where everything is closed and one can truly relax, New Year’s Day is the perfect opportunity to gather friends and loved ones together to celebrate and make resolutions in style.

In fact, we think the best solution might just be a sparkly New Year’s brunch!

Whether you’re strapping on some glittery heels for a night of dancing and champagne NYE, or staying in with family and Chinese food to watch the ball drop, a New Year’s Brunch the next morning is exactly what you’ll be craving by the time midnight rolls around. Keep it intimate with a few of your bff’s, or welcome 2015 with the whole neighbourhood and a potluck-style feast. As long as there is pancakes, hot tea, and sparkle involved, we can almost guarantee your guests will be pleased.

It didn’t take much to get our brunch setup ready, especially with the help of homemade party supplies from Lampshade Bash. We strung up some simple banners, added glittery drink tags to our champagne glasses, and threw down a sequin tablecloth littered with confetti for good measure.

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When it came to food and drink, we wanted to offer more than just champagne, so we turned to our favourite local tea company and created a chic and simple loose leaf tea bar with some of their tastiest blends! All you need to replicate this set up is a few tins of tea, cute spoons, teacups, and sachets or strainers for steeping.

Keeping with the tea theme, we also infused our cake-like pancake tower with Sloane’s Rouge Provence herbal tea, a recipe they’ll be sharing very soon on their blog! Depending on the size of your party, you could also include a donut mountain, breakfast cookie platter, fruit skewers, or any other shareable brunch snacks you can dream up.

Of course we also included a bottle of champagne on the table for good measure, though it could easily be swapped out for sparkling pink lemonade if you’d rather keep your spread alcohol free but still include a toast or two!

Because beauty is in the details, we added a few special touches to our setup to complete the look. Celebratory bouquets bursting with blooms were a must, and on each place setting we included sparklers and notecards for guests to write down their resolutions and make a special wish.

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No matter how you choose to ring in the New Year, we wish you all a sparkly night and a cozy inspiring morning filled with confetti, party hats, and midnight kisses!

Photos by Jason Matos

Decor supplied by Lampshade Bash

Dress UpOh so Pretty

Our Pool Party might have been this past Sunday, but that so doesn’t mean the fun is over! We’ve got a few more recipes, DIY’s and printables up our glittery sleeves, and of course we have a bit of advice concerning the most important part of every party: what to wear!

Paige and I spent so much time meticulously planning this event that we almost forgot to figure out our outfits (almost). We were lucky enough to have our hair done by Amanda, a colour magician at Blyss Salon, and we wanted to play up the amazing raspberry and blush hues she created in our locks.

We knew that a lot of pink had to be involved, and of course some party pieces by Ban.do (also known as the most fun company on earth.) We also wanted to work in our new favourite celebration piece, the Party Skirt (an adorable Canadian brand that just became available at Bicyclette! Yay!) With all of those guidelines in mind, we put together a few colourful ensembles that would be perfect for a summer bbq, a rooftop soirée, or even a pool party!

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And of course I couldn’t just leave out pool party beauty now could I? There are so many wonderful mega-cute products that work so well for summer events, and you might be surprised by how many of them are waterproof too!

Pool Perfect Products//

*I’m having a serious love affair with Fresh’s Sugar Tulip lip treatment. It’s moisturizing, SPF 15, and gives my lips the perfect hot pink summer glow!

*In the world of liquid eyeliner, nothing beats Stila’s stay all day waterproof formula. I wear this product daily whether I’m swimming or not and it’s always perfect!

*Add a bit of colour to your cat eye with Stila’s smudge stick waterproof liner

*Get some seriously glorious mermaid lashes with Pacifica’s vegan, all-natural Aquarian Gaze water resistant mascara

*Nothing says summer party like Mermaid perfume, a sweet orange blossom scent for for any pool party princess!

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Sips, Sweets & Snacks

We firmly believe that cocktails are a must for any soiree, but something simple like gin and tonics or vodka waters just won’t do! Making themed, fancy drinks and dressing up a bar cart is one of our favourite parts about throwing parties, so figuring out cocktail recipes was the first order of business on our list when it came to planning our Pastel Pool Party!

Poolside lounging is pretty synonymous with cute tropical drinks, and we really wanted to bring some fun elements into these cocktails to channel that pairing. We teamed up with BYOB, an amazing cocktail accessory shop down the street from Bicyclette, and they provided some amazing syrups and mixes for us to experiment with. We also picked up a few bottles of gin from Dillon’s, a local distillery that makes wonderful spirits, plus some fruit, sparkling water, and of course pink champagne. Here’s what we came up with when we put everything together for our tiki cocktails!

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Gin Tiki Twist // 

Spicy and refreshing, this drink is perfect for hot sunny days spent in a bikini with a couple of your closest friends. 
1 shot Dillon’s Gin
1 shot Lab Sirop Artisinal Tiki 1930
1/2 shot White Whale ‘The Filthy Liar’ Mixer
Sparkling Water
Tropical Fruit to garnish

Stir the gin and syrups together in your favourite cocktail glass, then top it off with sparkling water (to the rim) and garnish with tropical fruit of your choosing!

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Cotton Candy Colada // 
Sweet and pretty, this bubbly cocktail’s garnish slowly melts into the drink, sweetening it as you sip! 
5 shots Owl’s Brew Coco-Lada Mixer
Pink Champagne
Cotton Candy
Measure out the Coco-Lada and pour it into your favourite champagne glass, then top it off with pink champagne (to the rim) and garnish with a fluff of cotton candy!

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Photos by Paige Boersma