Cute Bear Pair

Wilton makes a very cute cake pan that bakes up an impressive teddy bear sitting up. The one pictured above is a brown bear groom cake from Made By Melis.  Make two of these and then decorate them as the bride and groom! My Big Fat Tips: bake ahead of time and freeze – this makes decorating easier, and allows you to have to fresh tasting bear cakes ready for the big day! Each cake requires over 6 cups of batter, is in the oven for an hour, and needs to cool in a series of steps that will require more than an hour – so make sure you allow yourself enough time. Vist Made By Melis‘ site for even more information about baking with one of these pans.

Use a red velvet runner on the table to symbolize the aisle and place the bears at one end.

Snack Attack

Offer bear shaped treats in dishes around the house. Gummy bears, teddy grahams, there are some interesting choices once you look around, like chocolate covered gummy bears or chocolate bars with gummy bears in them. Bears pictured above from the chocolatestore.com.

Teddy Bear’s Picnic

Cover a table with a checkered table cloth and provide teddy bear shaped cookies and some bear friendly finger foods. (Smoked salmon and cream cheese canapes? Honey garlic chicken fingers?)

For the Cubs

Give the little ones a bear shaped snack container – make sure they go around the party and collect treats from the various dishes to take home with them.

Teddy Bear Themed Playlist

Make a play list of teddy bear songs (search for teddy bear and bear on iTunes) to play during the party.  Some ideas:

(Let Me Be) Your Teddy Bear (Elvis Presley)

Teddy (Connie Francis)

Teddy Bear Song (Barbara Fairchild)

The Bare Necessities (Tony Bennett)

Throw in some love songs to keep the bear songs from getting overwhelming. Try to stick to one style of music that will complement the couple’s style and the party’s atmosphere. Some ideas:

Rat Pack Playlist

This Love of Mine (Frank Sinatra)

Beside You (Dean Martin)

The Way You Look Tonight (Sammy Davis, Jr.)

Ain’t That a Kick in the Head (Dean Martin)

Groovy Easy Listening

Lovely Day (Bill Withers)

Just Kissed My Baby (The Meters)

Ain’t That a Groove (James Brown)

I Was Made To Love You (Stevie Wonder)

Indie Rock Easy Listening

Friday I’m in Love (Easy Listening)

Love My Way (Psychedic Furs)

Perfect Day (Lou Reed)

I Want You (Elvis Costello)

Any other ideas for songs? Please let me know –

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Here are some fun ideas for your bachelor party, bachelorette, bridal shower, engagement party, or jack and jill.

I come across so many Big Fat Fun decorations during my research. Here are some of my favorites, I hope they inspire you to come up with some unique ideas of your own! Let me know, and perhaps I can feature your party in an upcoming article.

Disclaimer: Not all items below will be appropriate for your function – this will depend on your theme, and how casual the event is.

Nosy Guests

Party cups from worldwidefred.com, that give you different noses. This is a fun way to break the ice.

Highlight of the Night

These shot glasses from envious.com light up for 6 seconds every time  you tap it on a hard surface.

Night Lights

Rather than the risk of making a decorated room look to ‘busy’, stick to one simple decoration and use a lot of it. Imagine filling a room or back garden with 25 of these lights from asianlantern.com (at around two dollars each, this is affordable!).

Casino Night

Here is a fun hanging decoration from partymakerdiscountsuperstore.com for a Casino-themed Jack and Jill or Bachelor Party. This would even work for a reception if the couple is going to announce they got married in Las Vegas!

Love Beyond Measure

I love these measuring spoons – a great favor for a bridal shower or a wedding (if the bride and groom work in a bakery?). You can order them from everythingfortablefavors.com.

Gloom Groom

This shirt from thinkgeek.com is perfect for the groom who wakes up on the surly side of the street every morning. If there’s no chance you’ll get him to wear a costume, dirty saying shirt, or anything that remotely identifies him as the guest of honor – have him try this shirt on for size!

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Last week we looked at some fun prizes/gifts for Bachelorette parties and Bridal Showers. This week we feature gift ideas for the guys…

Most of the gifts featured in both of these articles would work well for a Jack and Jill party, too.

The Portable Pole Dancer

Available online at stupid.com, you plug her into your USB port and watch her dance. She also works with an iPod or MP3 player.

BBQ Sauces

You can buy a gift set of barbecue sauces or make your own gift basket, perfect for a bachelor party or jack and jill shower – particularly if the party theme includes grilling. Include tasty bottles of barbecue sauce, hot sauce, and an oven mitt. Stick with the theme and give out a funny apron as another prize.

Cultural Kitsch

Celebrate the groom’s cultural background with fun gifts, just make sure it’s not offensive.

This tee from wackyplanet.com is also the perfectly embarrassing shirt to force the groom to wear out on a pub crawl to Irish pubs!

Jack and Jill party? No problem! They also sell this shirt for the bride to wear.

This book from bachelorette.com is a fun gift, and will also keep the guests entertained during the event – I’m sure it will be passed around.

On a classier note, this sterling silver key ring from danforthdiamond.com is a great grand prize for a group fishing trip. It would also be a great gift from the guys as a memento for the groom of his bachelor party trip.

Fun badges for all of the party guests, available at the-inspirations-store. They also have some other appropriate items, such as collapsible pint glasses, talking coasters, and beer holsters.

These drink coasters from elsewares.com are made from real vinyl records and are perfect for a music lover’s party or a themed party.

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Here are some ideas for party gifts and prizes. Check out the next post for prizes and gifts suitable for Bachelor Parties (Stag parties).

TASTY PRIZES

Big Candy Ring

A big candy engagement ring is tasty bling for a bridal shower or casual engagement party. You can order the one pictured above at kidspartyfavorstore.com.

Novelty Chocolates

Tom and Sally’s Handmade Chocolates (tomandsallys.com) sells chocolate pasties, as well as chocolate thong underwear. The pasties also come with a peanut butter applicator, which I thought was a nice touch.

CLASSY PRIZES

Bracelet

Here’s an amazing grand prize if you are holding a pre-wedding fundraiser. This tiffany-style sterling silver bracelet looks like it is worth a lot more than its $50 price tag and would make a great door prize or grand prize. The heart charm fits into any wedding-related theme.

Charm

Another fun idea – give prizes away at the wedding rehearsal dinner related to the pre-wedding events. This is a fun speech to make at a rehearsal dinner (this is only appropriate if it suits the tone and if everyone there has a sense of humor!). The person acting as the Master of Ceremonies at the wedding reception can give away prizes to members of the wedding party at the rehearsal dinner. For example, he could give the groom a pair of warm woolly socks in case he gets cold feet.  In the example above, an angel charm would be appropriate for the most well-behaved guest at the bachelorette party. The MC could show the prize and say what it was for but then complain that there wasn’t anyone to give it to. Instead, he could give it to the flower girl. This is also a unique and fun way to hand out the wedding party gifts.

Spa Gift Certificate

A spa gift certificate is always appreciated. Everyone likes to get a manicure before the big day, even if they are a guest and not the bride.

FUNNY PRIZES

Magic Frog to a Prince

You can order this cute party gift at stupid.com.

Man Voodoo Doll

Pictured above, the ‘bad boyfriend’ voodooo doll from flashwear.com – complete with 10 pins.

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Jack and Jill parties are getting more popular every year but there seems to be some confusion about what this means.

Actually, the term can mean a few different things (some are x-rated) but here we are going to focus on Jack and Jill parties as they relate to weddings!

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Jack and Jill wedding events – basic guidelines

1. The bride and groom are both guests of honor (thus the name).

2. The event is not usually a surprise – the couple may even be involved in the planning.

Jack and Jill Shower

One type of Jack and Jill wedding event is the Jack and Jill shower (in fact there are also Jack and Jill baby showers, too). Contemporary couples think to themselves, ‘why should the bride have all the fun?’

This mixed shower is also great for couples who share the same group of friends or brides who have lots of male friends. The traditional dainty pastries and semi-formal clothing of a bridal shower is replaced by a barbeque, picnic, or house party with blender drinks, beer, and food that will appeal to everyone.

Gifts are ‘his and hers’ items or things that will appeal to both of them, or may be intended to tie in to the party’s theme. Sometimes cash gifts are requested but this isn’t very common and is not really appropriate (requesting gift cards is more acceptable) – see our etiquette tips below for more exceptions to this rule.

Jack and Jill Stag or Bachelor Party

Again, these parties work well if the couple shares the same group of friends. If not, make sure the bride’s friends and the groom’s friends will mix well together (this isn’t always the case).

The venue for this type of Jack and Jill may also be a house party or barbeque, but could also take place at a bar or even take place over a weekend excursion of some kind (camping, renting a houseboat, trip to Las Vegas…).

Jack and Jill Fundraiser

More recently, the Jack and Jill party has been used as an event to raise money for the couple’s wedding expenses. Today many couples pay for their own weddings rather than receiving a budget from the bride’s parents. The maid of honor and best man (or some other family/friend) organizes the event and all proceeds go towards the wedding (or honeymoon) budget. In some cases, the bride and groom organize the event themselves.

Examples: A casino night, a sports tournament (golf, foozball), or a poker tournament. Other options: guests pay a flat fee for drink tickets and a chance to win door prizes at a bar or organizers put a package together for an outing (refreshments, chartered bus, tickets to a concert or game) and build in a profit margin. Popular games for fundraisers are: casino-style games (with play money and prizes for the biggest winners), 50-50 draws, and coin tosses. Wine lotteries can also raise a lot of money (if friends and family are all wine drinkers).

Etiquette:

It is more appropriate to organize a fun event to pay for a wedding than to directly ask family and friends for money, unless the event is raising money for one specific aspect of the event. For example, asking guests not to bring gifts but placing a jar at the Jack and Jill party for donations to the couple’s honeymoon fund is okay. Asking guests to come to the party with extra bottles for the reception so that the couple can provide an open bar might also work. Asking for cash to pay for the wedding rings is not appropriate – these items should be paid for by the wedding couple or their families. Likewise, raising money for anything considered overly extravagant (an ice sculpture, release of doves, etc) would be in poor judgment – it’s important to remember that attending a wedding can already be quite expensive: guests often have to pay for travel expenses, lodging, appropriate attire, the wedding gift, etc.

theplatelady.com

Other definitions of Jack and Jill:

1. A nursery rhyme

2. A cash register.

3. Slang term for the drug Ecstasy.

4. A bathroom that connects two bedrooms.

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