how to host a stock the bar party | In My Pink High Heels

My friend and co-worker, Jenny, is getting married in November, and last week my co-workers and I hosted a bridal shower for her. This was no ordinary bridal shower. This was a ‘Stock the Bar” shower. Each person was asked to bring a bar related gift. And needless to say, we have the best admin team in the history of accounting firms’ admin teams and the shower was a roaring success!

Me and the beautiful bride!

Of course, I had to do a few DIY decorating projects for the shower that were perfect compliments to a stock the bar shower.

First up was a banner that said “Stock the bar”. Inventive, I know.

Items needed:

– Die cut letters (or a stencil to trace letters)

– 4×6 card stock

– Glitter pens

– Mini clothespins

– Skinny ribbon or twine

All I did was glue the letters to the card stock and then decorated with glitter. Boom. To assemble, I clipped the letters to the skinny ribbon with the clothespins. You could glitter your own clothespins, like I did here, or you can buy already glittered ones at Michael’s. The end result was cheerful and a great eye catcher at the party.

Up next were glittered wine bottles. These were the perfect decoration for a stock the bar party. So festive.

Items needed:

– Wine bottles

– Spray paint in color of your choice

– Glitter spray paint in a coordinating color

First, remove the labels on the bottle by soaking in warm/hot water with a bit of dish detergent for 20 minutes or longer. Then scrap off the label and sticky goop. Once the bottles are dry, spray with the spray paint until fully covered. I think I ended up with about 2 coats. Once dry (and this only takes about 5-10 minutes) apply glitter spray paint until desired glitter level is achieved. I used 1 can of silver spray paint and 1 can of glitter spray and covered 7 bottles easily, and didn’t even use all of the paint. At the shower we put a candle in each bottle. The light from the candle made the glitter twinkle.

And last but not least, cupcake picks.

Items needed:

– Toothpicks

– Label paper

I cannot take credit for this project. My friend Kirsten made these for my bridal shower way back when. I asked her for the template (which she was sweet enough to hand over) and I updated it for Jenny (W will be her new last name initial). You can do this with any design and any colors with a little basic MS Word knowledge. I used a variety of different fonts for the w’s and then printed the labels. Then, I folded the label in half around the toothpick to decorate my cupcakes…which were champagne cupcakes. Let’s just say when we pick a theme, we stick to it!

We had the shower at a historic house in Raleigh called the Pullen House. It is a sweet little 200 year old house with lots of character. We were so cozy in the sitting room and it was the perfect setting for our small shower.