This week has been extremely busy with trips to both NY & Atlanta, but tons of fun too! On Monday morning, Amber and I headed to NYC and teamed up with Café Escapes to style & host a Blogger Event Tuesday night called Storybook Bliss. We had a BLAST with the photo props, vintage book inspired decorations & crafting, and of course the food and drink tasting…which featured the 6 Café Escapes flavors paired with mini indulgences selected by the chef. I have lots of pictures to share (beautifully shot by Blue Dog Media) + party details for inspiration, as well as a list of all the wonderful bloggers who attended (below) so that you can check out their recaps too!

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS to look out for:

– DIY Paper Flowers displayed in gold mason jars with ripped book pages & scrabble tiles
– Spray painted jewelry holders used to hang mugs in some of the centerpieces
– “Table of Contents” inspired menu cards – with courses displayed as “Chapters”
– Eclectic centerpieces with vintage books, mugs, printable scrolls, paper flowers & more!
– “Relax and Enjoy” Kraft Bags & Cozy Blankets as Favors

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PARTY DETAILS, as told by HWTM…
: 

Upon arrival guests were greeted with a glass of champagne topped off with a fresh raspberry. They were then asked to take a seat at one of the 4 tables of 10 just before the food and tea pairing began.

Keeping a vintage and eclectic feel each centerpiece was varied with unique elements. The tablescape decor included the following:

– Paper Garden Roses & Wildflower Bouquets in Gold Dripped Mason Jars Embellished with Scrabble Letters (Paper Flower DIY Tutorial)
– Tea Cups Filled With Gold Beads with Paper Wildflowers
– Book Paper Wrapped Mason Jars with Candles
– Vintage Mini Chairs holding Café Escape Cups
– Repurposed Jewelry Holders Painted Gold with Hanging Tea Cups
– Stacked Tea Cups
– Custom Scroll Banners
– Custom 4×6 Signs in frames
– Tree Stump Slices
– Vintage Books Tied Together with Twine or Stacked
– Coffee Filter Flowers with Embellished Centers at each Place Setting
– Chevron Forks at each Place Setting
– Custom Menus that Mapped Out The Food and Tea Pairings

Each guest was served 6 different Café Escape flavors to try. Each were carefully paired with either a savory bite or a sweet treat. Once the tasting concluded guests watched Jenn Sbranti of HWTM demo several of the DIY projects she used to create the decor at the event including: gold dripped mason jars, coffee filter flowers, paper rosettes, paper wildflowers, paper garden roses and book page flowers.

After the demo, guests were asked to move into the Eventi Suite complete with a stunning bookcase wall which was used as fun backdrop for our “photo booth”. Beer, wine, and lots more of the Café Escapes tea flavors and food pairings were served as guests had time to mingle. Guests could also step out onto the clear tented Veranda for some fresh air and a beautiful view of the night sky and city lights.

PHOTO BOOTH

Using the bookcase wall as the backdrop, guests had fun using playful wooden props like mustaches and glasses. They also got to pick out their favorite flavor of Café Escapes and hold up a cute glittered heart cutout sign (made from unfinished wood + craft glitter) that read either, “Chai Latte”, “Café Mocha”, “Milk Chocolate Hot Cocoa”, “Dark Chocolate Hot Cocoa”, “Café Vanilla”, or “Café Caramel”. The sliding ladder attached to the bookshelf was adorned with DIY paper rosettes that added big pops of color and texture to the backdrop. Each shelf was lined with tea lights to set a glamorous, soothing ambience.

GIFT BAGS

Each kraft paper gift bag had a printable tag reading “Relax and Enjoy” and was filled with the following:
– Café Escapes Mug
– Café Escapes Sampler
– Barnes and Noble Gift Card
– Recommended list of books to read from Glam editors and Café Escapes!

Each guest also got to pick out a cozy blanket, rolled up and embellished with a Thank You tag. Amber and I had quite the interesting time getting ALL of these blankets from and NYC Target to the hotel in a cab by ourselves! Some funny pics too ;)

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BLOGGERS :)

– Ashley Diamond of A Healthy, Happier Bear
– Ellen Schmidt of Baby Meets City
– Karla Borders-Pope of Brown Girl Gumbo
– Debbi O’Shea of Diva Debbi
– Jill Seiman of Glamamom
– Makeda Saggau-Sackey of Glamazon Diaries
– Millissa Mathai of Haute Mimi
– Katie Manwaring of Katie’s Bliss 
– Adina Zilberman of Krasey Beauty
– Theodora Blanchfield of Losing Weight in the City
– Monica Marino of Marino Bambinos
– Eileen Dautruche of Miss Whoever You Are
– Bianca Jade of MizzFIT
– Katia Lin of MizzFIT
– Caroline Kebbe of MizzFIT
– Mariana Leung of Ms. FABulous
– Sherrell Dorsey of Organic Beauty Vixen
– Lara Eurdolian of Pretty Connected
– Sherry Singleton of Sherry Blossom Beauty
– Janelle Benjamin-Simms of Style. Love. Repeat.
– Alison Lipow of The Knotty Bride
– Abiola Abrams of The Passionista Playbook
– Christine Tsang of Tineey
– Ehmonie Hainey of What’s Haute
– Kristin McGee
– Lauren Barth of Tend
– Valis Vicenty of Glam

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VENDOR CREDITS:

– Event Styling & Design: Hostess with the Mostess
– Printables: Hostess with the Mostess
– Event Sponsor: CaféEscapes
– Photography: Chadri Chinalai of Blue Dog Media
– Venue: Eventi Suite in NYC
– Photobooth Props: Say Hello Shop
– Chevron Striped Wooden Forks: Sucre Shop