Dot til’ you drop at our new and improved BabyShowerStuff.com!

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The photo scavenger hunt is not only a fun game for your guests at your wedding reception or birthday party, it’s a great way to save money on photography! Purchase at least one camera per table at your event. Include an instruction card with a list of photos you’d like to have. Before guests leave, collect the cameras to be developed. You can even offer a small prize, like two free movie tickets or a gas card (especially appreciated by out-of-town guests!) for whoever gets the most shots you’re looking for. You get the photos you want, and guests have a project that will help contribute to the memories you create at you event. Below is a short list of candid pictures you might want to collect at different kinds of events.

• Bride & Groom looking at their spouse from afar
• Children dancing
• Old/young couple kissing
• Everyone sitting at the table
• A child playing Pin the Tail on the Donkey
• The mad dash for the candy from the piñata
• Blowing out the candles
• Cutting the cake
• Bride & Groom laughing together
• A child dancing with their parent
• Cake-covered faces (adorable on kids, funny on adults)
• Wedding party making goofy faces
• Parents watching their child from afar (especially poignant at weddings)

For more ideas, try doing some Google Image searches of events like yours. Find pictures you love and ask guests to watch closely for those moments. You can even offer “bonus points” for those shots.

The main goal of the game is for your guests to have fun doing something meaningful for you. Let them have fun with it. Be prepared for at least a few pictures of people’s shoes. It’s inevitable. If you are adamant about getting a certain shot, and are unable to get the shot yourself, ask a close friend to make it a priority in their photo-taking. Many are happy to oblige if they know how much it means to you. Have fun, and be sure to put the photos together in a scrapbook or album so guests can see their handiwork. You can also get your favorites digitized to post on Facebook or in a YouTube slide show.

Have fun, and be sure to thank your guests for the memories they help you create and record!

Posted by Jillian, a Dot-arilla Blogger

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The average cost of a wedding in 2010 is projected to start at $30,000. It can be scary to find that your dream wedding will cost as much as your yearly salary! My wedding, however, cost my husband and I less than $1,000. While it’s not exactly easy, and does require some extra effort, it is possible to have a beautiful wedding that costs less than the car you drive. Here are some ideas to get you started:

Easy Ways To Save

1.  For a beautiful dress, don’t neglect the clearance rack! My gown was originally $1100. I bought it for $100. Did I sacrifice quality? Absolutely not. It was 100% Indian silk with a cascade of tulle accented with Swarovski crystals. It was a size too big, but because it was a corset top, I was able to tie it extra tight. Tailoring can be done for a song if you shop around, and will often cost less than having a gown custom made for you. Just make sure you’re purchasing up in size, not down. It’s easier to take a dress in than let it out.

2. Photography is often at the top of the expenses list. Instead, call your local university’s arts program and ask if there are any photography students willing to shoot your wedding. They work cheap (usually in exchange for using the shots as part of their portfolio) and will often spend more time with you, making sure you get what you want. They also have more knowledge of the latest photo-editing programs and can do some really cool stuff for your albums.

3. Have your wedding at a local park. It can cost less than $100 for a whole day, with the added bonus of playground equipment for the kids and natural decor (think beautiful flowers and greenery that you don’t have to pay for!). Call your local Parks & Rec Dept. for more information on reservations.

4. Dates to avoid: Valentine’s Day, June, weekends in July & early August. Vendors generally increase their prices around these dates because they know people will pay. If you are flexible, try for April, May, and September, when the weather is still beautiful, but the prices are down.

5. Check out hotel perks. Several hotels offer a free honeymoon suite, jacuzzi and all, if you book your reception with them.

6. Ask your parents to cover the cost of food as a gift if they are not paying for the whole wedding. And keep it simple. No one will remember whether you served lobster thermidor and filet mignon or chicken diane and pork medallions. We served hamburger and hot dogs at our outdoor wedding because the park where we had it had grills. Amazingly, many people enjoy this even more because there is no pressure of figuring out the right fork to use. It’s a fun family and friends event. Celebrate it!

There are many other ways to save. Keep watching for more ideas. And never, ever be ashamed if you can’t afford to serve Cristal, or even a decent Asti Spumante. The wedding is about you and your new spouse, not the food, the reception venue, or even the dress.

Posted by Jillian, a Dot-arilla Blogger

Pictures is of my husband and I on our wedding day!

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Picking a birthday party theme is easy when your kids are small. All you need to do is flip on Nick Jr. or PBS Kids and pick a character. You can easily find any party related item from napkins to candy to games featuring that character. Tweens? Not so much. In fact, pick the wrong theme and you are the worst parent ever, trying to ostracize your child and condemn them to a life relentless and perpetual dork-dom… or so they will treat you. So how can you pick a cool theme and actually have your tween enjoy themselves?

Do your research. Do not assume that you are tuned in to what is cool. Try scoping out your tween’s collection of magazines, or magazines targeted to their age group. (A magazine about kids will not be as helpful as a magazine or show for kids.) Now that you know what they might like or be interested in, talk to them. No one knows your tween better than your tween. If their ideas are not feasible because of budgetary constraints, try one the following ideas:

Tween Themes to Get You Started:
• All-night movie marathon: Allow your child and his/her friends to stay up all night watching movies*. Be sure to stock all of the movie theater amenities- popcorn, soda, nachos, etc. in moderation. Surely, most kids won’t make it all night, but they’ll have fun trying, and you’ll be cool for letting them try.
◦ Theme Within A Theme: High School Musical, Twilight, Harry Potter, Disney Movies

• Fashion & Make-over Party: Invite your daughter’s friends to bring over clothes they no longer fit into/want and let them exchange them amongst themselves. You can bring the leftovers to Goodwill as a charitable donation. Provide make-up for them to experiment with. You could even call a local hairdressing school and ask if you can hire a student or two to come over and do some styling. As favors, you can give manicure kits or personalized body butters, not to mention those “new” clothes!

• Charity Field Trip: If there is a cause your child is passionate about find out if there is a way to contribute to that cause. Do they love animals? Try walking dogs at the local animal shelter. Do they feel bad for kids with no books? Try Trick-or-Treating for children’s books and donate them to a literacy group or Boys & Girls Club. (Let neighbors know a few days in advance you will be doing this.) You can do cake and ice cream when you return home.

• Hotel Night: This one’s easy. Rent a room at a hotel with a pool. The kids can swim. You can order in pizza delivery for dinner and let them have a slumber party. Bonus points if the hotel has its own water-park.

• Vegas Night*: Have kids dress their best and teach them some games like roulette, Texas hold-em, and Blackjack. Use Monopoly money for kids to exchange for prizes like stickers, journals, candy, and card decks.

• Top Chef: Gather some recipes and let the kids take over the kitchen. They can even make the birthday cake! They will have a delicious time and have some some yummy favors to take home.

*Make sure that any movies or games you plan on having are okay with the parents of your child’s guests. The last thing you want is to get a child, or yourself, in trouble for compromising other families’ values or rules.

Run your theme ideas by your tween and get them involved in the party planning from the invitations to the location and decor. (The Trendy Flower theme from SimplyBirthdayStuff.com is especially popular for tween girls!) The more involved they are in the process, the more likely they are to enjoy the party. Remember, your tween is growing up and letting them make the decisions will help them feel that way, which may be the most important gift you can give your tween.

Posted by Jillian, a Dot-arilla Blogger

Pictures are courtesy of jo-anndilorenzo.com and amaterialworld.net.

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Shop our best selling themes…
You’ll love them as much as we do!

Planning a Bridal Shower? You will love our Bridal Silhouette Purple theme! The theme features a beautiful bridal silhouette with a dark rich purple that will leave an lasting impression on your guests.

Throwing a Birthday Bash? Check out the hottest theme of the year, Modern Ladybug. This cute little ladybug will crawl her way into your heart. What little “ladybug” wouldn’t love to have this themed birthday party?

Celebrating the arrival of a new baby? Be a party planning hero with our Mommy Silhouette baby shower theme. The Mommy Silhouette theme is an elegant yet modern way to welcome a new baby! Your baby shower will be sleek and stylish with our fun whimsical silhouette design.

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MENOMONIE, WIS., February 2010 – SimplyWeddingStuff.com, a leading online provider of unique wedding favors and bridal shower invitations, introduces the addition of Fabulous 5 Bridal Shower game to its product offering. The Fabulous 5 bridal shower game provides five fun-to-play bridal shower games on one, beautifully printed sheet, and is available in elegant black and white, brown or pink colors.

“Our Fabulous 5 game is a modern spin on traditional bridal shower games. It is beautifully designed with a gorgeous bridal silhouette, a cute whimsical poem and the option to personalize the game with the bride-to-be’s name,” says Sherri Yukel, founder of BigDotOfHappiness.com.” The best part is that the hostess does not have to do a lot of preparation work. We also offer a variety of prizes for the winner of the games and favors for the guests to create the perfect bridal shower.”

The Fabulous 5 shower games comes with five games: “Famous Couples” challenges guests to match the famous celebrity bride with her groom; “Heavy or Light Purse” is a fun way to see which guest has the most items on the list in her purse; “Who’s Your Mate?” tests shower goers on the name of each animal’s mate. The “Wedding Word Unscramble” is a great marriage related brain teaser, while “How Well Does The Bride Know Her Man?” is a bridal shower favorite. The minimum order for Fabulous 5 is 20 cards.

In addition to the new Fabulous 5 game, SimplyWeddingStuff.com carries a wide variety of original wedding theme styles, wedding favors, bridal shower favors, bridal shower invitations and bridal shower party supplies to suit many different tastes and styles. SimplyWeddingStuff.com also features a Design Concierge Service that allows wedding and party planners to get even more creative with additional customization options to create the perfect bridal shower or wedding.

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MENOMONIE, WIS., February, 2010 – SimplyBabyStuff.com, a leading online retailer of baby shower invitations, baby shower decorations and baby shower favors, introduces Fabulous 5, a new baby shower game that provides five fun-to-play baby shower games on one, beautifully printed sheet, in “it’s a girl” pink, “it’s a boy” blue or neutral lime, for those keeping baby’s gender a surprise.

“We have put a modern spin on baby shower games with our Fabulous 5 game by adding personalization and having 5 games printed on one beautifully designed sheet,” says Sherri Yukel, founder, BigDotOfHappiness.com. “With our Fabulous 5 personalized, pre-printed baby shower game, the hostess spends less time organizing games and more time enjoying the party. In addition, we offer great ideas for prizes and gifts to create the perfect baby shower.”

The Fabulous 5 shower games can be personalized with the name of the mom-to-be and each game sheet comes with five games: Famous Families – Match the famous celebrity with their child; Oh Baby! – See how many songs, phrases, or movies your can think of that use the word baby; Who’s Your Mommy? – Guess the name of each of the animal baby’s mommy; What’s Mommy Wearing? – Be the best at remembering what the new mommy is wearing and Baby Busters – Decide if the 20 pregnancy statements listed are fact or myth. The minimum order for Fabulous 5 is 20 cards.

In addition to the Fabulous 5, SimplyBabyStuff.com features a variety of unique baby shower games. “Sweet Mess” baby shower game comes with four candy bars for melting in diapers and 24 player sheets. “Bun in the Oven” pull-tab game includes 20 cards per pack and is the hottest new baby shower game in town. Always a favorite among shower goers, “The Clothespin Game” includes 24 clothespins in colors to complement any shower.

Baby shower themes, banners and tableware in a variety of styles add that extra special touch and because no shower is complete without gifts and party favors, SimplyBabyStuff.com offers some of the most unique shower favors, gifts and prizes available on one site.

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Check out our new squiggle baby shower and birthday tableware. New Little Cowboy Tableware and All Star Sports Tableware is available at BabyShowerStuff.com, SimplyBabyStuff.com and SimplyBirthdayStuff.com! The new tableware coordinates with our Little Cowboy and All Star Sports baby shower and birthday themes. We are now accepting preorders, the estimate arrival date (ETA) is March 10, 2010.

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Introducing our new Big Dot Shop, TheShowerFoundry.com. Dot Til’ You Drop at all of our Big Dot of Happiness Shops.

TheShowerFoundry.com: The Big Dot team is excited for our new adventure of adding a seventh web site to our family, the more the merrier! TheShowerFoundry.com has everything you could possibly imagine for your shower including a wide selection of bridal shower favors and baby shower personalized favors.

SimplyBabyStuff.com: From functional to fantastic, this site has it all! This site provides a bounty of wonderful gift ideas for babies, baby shower ideas, baptisms party supplies and favors; as well as something for the older siblings and the new mom and dad.  Come in and look around, you are sure to find that perfect something.

SimplyWeddingStuff.com: Featured on this site are bridal shower items, bachelorette party favors, wedding supplies and much more. This site includes bridal shower invitations, wedding favors, personalized wedding and bridal supplies, and bachelorette party ideas . Excellent party planning site for that special day!

BabyShowerStuff.com: This is our baby shower event specialty site. Truly, the one-stop for baby showers with our baby shower specialists, or as we call them Expert Experts here to guide and assist you in planning the perfect baby shower. You’ll find all your baby shower needs and more at this adorable baby shower stuff web site.

SimplyBirthdayStuff.com: Everybody celebrates their birthday and why not celebrate in style! The best part of the birthday site is that we keep all the parents in mind who just don’t have enough time in a day to plan or throw the party that they wish they could. We are here to help you with all the details to help plan the absolute best birthday party ever. We can be your best kept secret!

BigDotOfHappiness.com: All your party event needs under one roof! Are you planning a baby shower, bridal showers, wedding, bachelorette party, birthday party or a baptism? We love helping you look like a well trained party planner! We see our job as making “everyday heroes” out of everyday people. We figure, why not make every day events into extraordinary events with extraordinary ease! Not to mention with many unique and Big Dot original lines you can’t find anywhere else! Our Expert Experts are waiting to help you!!

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We loved this recent customer feedback from one of our customers, in fact it was so good that we had to share it with everyone.

“Everything I purchased was cute and affordable. I went with the “Monkey Girl” theme. I purchased the mylar balloon ($5.99), mini candy bar wrappers (20 for $5.99), and personalized baby shower sticker labels (24 for $5.99). Applying the labels to small candy bars was simple. I had “Nicole’s Baby Shower” written on them and they were included in take home candy bag favors. I used the sticker labels on a homemade diaper cake that was easy to make and more affordable than purchasing an already made cake. Each label said “Nicole’s baby shower”, and the date. I included the mylar balloon with my purchase of a 12 pack bag of pink and brown balloons ($2.99) to make an adorable balloon bouquet. The mylar balloon was huge (24 x 34 in). It cost me a dollar a balloon to fill with helium at a local store and attach colorful pink and white curling ribbons with a bright pink weight. I also purchased a roll of brown and pink streamers ($.99 each). The total purchase price was under $25.00, and delivered to my doorstep by UPS for a minimal fee a few days later. My daughter was thrilled, and thought I spent a fortune on her “personalized” shower! I will use “BabyShowerStuff.com” for all of my party needs in the future.” – Cheryl P.

Thank you Cheryl for your amazing feedback and ideas on how to plan a baby shower on a small budget.

Enjoy planning your personalized shower on a small budget!

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