Wine Tasting Valentine’s Day Party: Girl’s Night Out

I’m excited to share the details of this Wine Tasting Valentine’s Day Party: Girls Night Out (GNO) with you today!

Wine Tastings continue to trend in 2015. A wine tasting is a fun way to get together with friends, and Valentine’s Day is no exception.  I gathered a few of my blogger and interior designer friends, some from One Room Challenge, for a girl’s night out!

Utilizing different rooms to keep the flow of the party, we started with Chardon Rose Sparkling Wine from our wine tasting menu, that was displayed on my old finished coral campaign piece in my office.

The color of the sparkling wine is pink, which is festive for Valentine’s Day, a bridal shower, or girl’s night out.  It pairs well with strawberries, and I chose to make chocolate covered heart shaped strawberries.

An easy winter wine that pleases most pallets is Pinot Noir. Compare a California Pinot Noir to a Oregon.  I choose Meiomi Pinot Noir, California, and Earth Pinot Noir Oregon.

Choose a few food pairings around your wine tasting menu to compliment the taste of the wine.

Guests enjoyed heart shaped smoked salmon bites, bacon wrapped dates stuffed with walnuts, and a cheese platter.

Make it festive with food labels. I choose these chalkboard picks from Crate & Barrel, which complimented the slate cheese plate. I had to get this sign from Michael’s since it’s an endearing saying in our family!

I mixed and matched old party décor to pull off this finished looked with a few new items. This white cake stand from Crate & Barrel is one of my favorite pieces for parties and home décor because it adds height! The gold candles were a steal from HomeGoods and add some glam.

A few simple floral arrangements and paper and felt decorations pull the Valentine’s Day party look together. Flower arrangements don’t have to be big and expensive, I got my assortment from Trader Joe’s to make my arrangements. To add dimension and interest cut the flowers to make them different sizes. Get more party planning tips and tricks in our recent post here.

This group of girls is power house of talent and loves a good DIY! I made these delicious heart shaped shortbread cookies, get the recipe here, and displayed them in seamless wine glasses for the guest to decorate in style and take home.

Hope you enjoyed seeing this Wine Tasting Valentine’s Day Party: Girls Night Out as much as I enjoyed planning it! For more Valentine’s Day inspiration check out our round up and the Valentine’s Day Party Sneak Peek. Planning a party? Then you’ll want check out post of 8 Party Planning Tips and Tricks from the Pros.

Event Design and Styling – Sarah Sofia Productions

Photography – Sarah Sofia Productions

Floral Arrangements – Sarah Sofia Productions

Food – Sarah Sofia Productions

I love you this much sign – Michaels

Wine glasses, white cake platter, slate cheese platter, chalk board food labels and white dot serving platter – Crate & Barrel

Pink and gold garland, flower decals, and pink tin pail – Target

Red and pink paper heart garland – Crate & Barrel

White Lanterns – Ikea

Gold tray – HomeGoods & Sarah Sofia Productions

Gold votive candle holders – HomeGoods

Wordless Wednesday: 8 Party and Event Planning Tips & Tricks From the Pros

As a party, event, and wedding planning pro, Sarah Sofia Productions is dishing out party planning tips and tricks that will make your party stand out and run smoothly.

1. Determine your budget and get organized with a party planning check list. These two items will be the most important element to keeping you on track and looking like a pro.

2. Choose a color scheme and or theme. Whether your throwing a cocktail party, holiday party or kids birthday party the colors and theme set the tone of the party, like the colors of the Sip and See/Housewarming party.

3. Food selection and preparation. Determine if you will be hiring a caterer or making the food yourself. The menu selection will be determined by the type of party your throwing i.e. brunch, wine party, dinner party and the date i.e. time of year.  Scallops are a perfect appetizer to serve for spring and summer parties. See Surprise 50th Birthday Party for details.

 

Who doesn’t love Pinterest? However, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the delicious and beautiful recipes. Plan on making a few items well and buying the rest. Food bars are a hot trend, so why not take the work off your plate and set up a bake potato bar or taco bar for your guests.

4. Use fun and special occasion serving pieces. There’s no better time to use all those 3 tier food platters, china, or fun serving dishes you received as wedding gifts! Varying the height and size of your food display is one of the tricks the pros use to make the food table look beautiful, like in the photo below from a Summer Cocktail Party. Don’t have a punch bowl, cupcake stand or enough place settings? Ask a friend if you could borrow it for your party or rent them for your local party rental company.

5. Décor and flower arrangements. Once you’ve decided on your color scheme and or theme, it should be woven into your party through the invitations, table linens, food, serving dishes, flower arrangements and decorations.

Pictured above are some of our favorite flower arrangements from Tying the Knot Bridal Shower, Easter Celebrations, Valentine’s Day Sneak Peek, and Summer Wine Tasting! Flowers don’t have to be expensive or look like you just bought them at your local grocery store. Shop farmers markets or Trader Joe’s.  Arrange flowers in various heights and colors, use fruit as your vase, and use festive elements like candy.

Don’t have tons of money for flower arrangements or decorations? Use fruit in glass containers and home décor items such as candles and lanterns to set the mood.

6. Signature Drink. No matter what party your hosting, make it stand out with a specialty drink like the Moscow Mule pictured above from the Queen City Gala: Black Tie For Charity.

7. Entertainment. Don’t have a budget for a DJ or band, then make a party mix on your IPod or download your favorite party mix on your.

8. Be a guest at your own party. As a host of any party or event your busy greeting guests and making sure things run smoothly. However, make sure you take the time to enjoy it all. If you don’t have the time to get all the party planning tasks complete or don’t want to the extra stress, hire a party or an event planner and be a guest at your own party!

Credits

Style and design – Sarah Sofia Productions

Photography – Sarah Sofia Productions

Floral Arrangements – Sarah Sofia Productions

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An InLinkz Link-up

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Sarah share her Heart Shaped Shortbread Cookies recipe, just in time for Valentines, make up a batch now for your family, or as a gift for friends

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Heart Shaped Shortbread Cookies: The Perfect Valentine’s Day Treat or Gift

We’re gearing up for Valentine’s Day with these fun and delicious heart shaped shortbread cookies.

I received this Message Cookie Set by World Market in a Gift Swap and knew it was perfect for Valentine’s Day treats!

Heart Shaped Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 Cups butter, softened
• 1 Cup white sugar
• 4 Cups purpose flour
• 2 Teaspoons vanilla extract
• Pam cooking spray

In a large mixing bowl cream butter and sugar until fluffy and light. Stir in vanilla.  Add flour and mix with sugar mixture. Cover and chill for one hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two cookie sheets and chill. Use message cookie cutters and small heart shaped cookie cutters.  Dough might be fragile so use spatula to slide onto baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cookies cool for 10 minutes and decorate.

I sprinkled just a little pink sugar over the shortbread cookies, but they really don’t need any additional decoration.

Simply place in sailplane bags, and cute tag, tie with pretty ribbon and voila’ your Valentine’s Day treat, party favor, or gift for your kids teachers and classmates is ready to be served!

For more Valentine’s Day inspiration check out our Valentine’s Day Inspiration Round up and Valentine’s Day Party Sneak Peek, with the big reveal coming soon.

Credits

Styling and Design – Sarah Sofia Productions

Photography – Sarah Sofia Productions

Flower Arrangement – Sarah Sofia Productions

Message Cookie Cutter Set – World Market

Gift tags, pink and gold tin bucket, and pink and gold pom pom banner – Target

White cake platter – Crate & Barrel

Gold votive – HomeGoods

White lanterns – Ikea