Pop the Champagne…No More Ball & Chain™ Divorce Party

Have you ever been to a divorce party? Have you ever thrown one? When I talked to Online Labels about this theme last year I had a good friend getting ready to sign her own divorce papers I realized there really isn’t much out there when it comes to planning a divorce party. I wanted to create something fun, mature, girly, and a little sassy for ladies like my friends who just wanted to move on with their lives and celebrate their new found freedom. Since I love Champagne I came up with the tag line, “Pop the Champagne…no more ball and chain!™”

When Online Labels pitched a divorce party idea to me I thought it was a great idea. I have had a number of friends, unfortunately, go through a divorce and while we never had a formal party we did celebrate their new single status in one way or another. One thing I knew was that this theme would not be dark, or mean, or raunchy. There are plenty of ideas out there if you are looking for that kind of thing. I designed this with my own girlfriends in mind and I hope you and your friends have a lot of fun with it too.

I knew I needed some really unique images so I turned to my friend Sunny of Sunny by Design to create them. She is a true artist and after several late night Facebook sessions she showed me some sketches. They were perfect! Sunny is a pro and so incredibly talented and I’m so thankful for her vision and her gorgeous illustrations.

As always, the invitation came first and everything else was designed around it. I used Online Labels cardstock for the invitation too. Didn’t know they had cardstock? You will be amazed at all they offer! You can find this invitation as a FREE download over at Online Labels.

My friend and photographer, Maria of Maria Healey Photography once again did an amazing job capturing the details. We first worked together at my Marie Antoinette Party, then our “Elf” party, my daughter’s Frozen birthday, and now this. Maria is flawless every time and always gets the perfect shots. I have said this before, I am so incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work with so many talented people and wonderful companies.

My friend Shawna of Shawna Brockmeier Events, aka the Queen of Crowns, created this custom Divorce Crown. One thing I have learned from Shawna is that every event should a “Queen of Something” and she absolutely needs a crown! She made a crown for my Marie Antoinette party and a very special birthday crown for my daughter’s 3rd Frozen birthday.

These are my favorite water bottle labels… Weatherproof Gloss Inkjets from Online Labels. No smearing or smudging, you can dunk them in water, keep them on ice, and they will not fade. These water bottle label printables are also available as a FREE download.

(Notice the black and white swirly heart? Sunny created those to match the lollipops from Oriental Trading Co.)

The cap needed a little something so I used some silver washi tape I had and wrapped it around.

One of my newest party friends is Jen of Oh For Cake’s Sake. From the minute she walked into my house we were fast friends. She is unbelievably talented. We talked about a cake for the shoot and all I told her were the colors and the tag line and she came up with this tower of cake perfection. Seriously. She also made sparkly fondant snowflakes for my daughter’s Frozen party that were the perfect touch on her cake.

Those are hundreds of pearlized fondant bubbles and, yes, those are very sparkly silver edible stripes. So pretty we were afraid to cut into it!

If you are a regular here you’ve seen my friend Arlene’s work before. She is the artist behind She Wears the Crown and she amazes me every time I open her pretty box of delicious cookies. She took Sunny’s illustrations and brought them to life. Everything about them was perfect. Arlene is very humble and she wouldn’t tell you this herself but she took third place at Cookie Con last year with her Mary Poppins cookie. That is a huge honor and one she so deserved.

My girl Samantha of Evie & Mallow is one of my very favorite party people. She is talented, funny, witty, clever, and she has the best ideas. When we were kicking around ideas for the shoot I said, “What about something black with silver? Would that work?” She said, “What about black meringues with silver stripes?” Oh. Yes. Please. Have you ever seen black meringues with silver stripes? No. No you haven’t because Sam thinks out of the box and I love it! She’s my #trendsetter and I’m her #glittergoddess. Sam created the custom chocolate castles for my daughter’s birthday as well as the fondant toppers at my Marie party. She is too much…you just have to see them!

I’m sure you recognize the work of my friend May as well! She made beautiful Oreos for my Marie Antoinette party and Oreos and Rice Krispy Treats for my daughter’s Frozen Party. Simply aMAYzing is her company and she is simply amazing. She created these custom chocolate covered Oreos to match Sunny‘s designs as well and I was just in awe.

I doubt you’ve ever seen ball and chain ones before…this is a new “must have” at your friend’s divorce shindig!

Remember the gorgeous cake pops at my Marie Antoinette party last year? My friend Maria of MKR Creations made those and she made these Champagne glass and hearts and smooches cake pops as well! I have never seen cake pops like these Champagne glasses before…I am not kidding when I say I have the most talented friends! They were so yummy too!

Another thing that Maria makes are the most incredible-to-die-for tamarind apples. I first experienced one last year at another friend’s Frida Kahlo party and I was completely hooked. As a special treat for me she sent two along with these cake pops and I have to be honest and say I was completely greedy and did not share. I enjoyed every spicy sweet crispy bite!

Online Labels makes Hershey Nugget sized labels as well which I think are the neatest thing. I used the White Gloss Inkjets and you can see here how vibrant the colors are. These too are available for FREE download on their website.

Credit actually has to go to my sorority sister, Leslie, for coming up with this adorable sign. I told her I was making Champagne Jell-O shooters but didn’t have a name for them yet. Later that week she texted me and said, “How about ‘Untie the Knot Champagne Shots?” I have such clever friends. Thank you Leslie!

I used Online Labels cardstock for all the little signs as well. You can see that the colors are crisp and the images not blurry at all.

These super cute Diamond Ring shot cups are from Oriental Trading Company. Traditionally used for bridal showers or bachelorette parties, I knew I had to use them for Champagne Jell-O shots! You can find the recipe here.

Many of my now divorced friends have had choice words for their exes but “tool” is one that has come up many times. I thought it would be really fun to have chocolate tools as party favors. I had a pretty clear vision of what I wanted and Cynthia of Sprinkles N Stuff nailed it! Get it? Nailed it?! Sorry, had to be done. These are pink, sparkly, yummy, and so original. Cynthia is much more than a chocolate tool maker…she has a great baking supply shop in Torrance with some really unique things. They also offer classes!

I am a lipbalmaholic. I have lip balms all over my house so when thinking about a party favor I would like and use I thought immediately of custom lip balms. I bought a bunch at the dollar store, took off the labels, slapped on my new ones that I created using Online Labels Weatherproof Matte Inkjets, and added glitter tape from my local craft store to the cap. “Kiss Off” is so versatile that it just works for so many situations don’t you think?! My party guests loved them.

I loved these black and white swirly lollipops from Oriental Trading Company as soon as I saw them and thought a “Suck it, Sucker” would look really cute. I used the Online Labels cardstock for these as well and just trimmed around the edges. These are available for FREE download on their website too.

Of course I had to bring the glitter! I glittered these Champagne and wine bottles and loved how they came out! I am pretty sure these are going to show up again at a future party. I love this lip illustration from Sunny! I think it pretty says it all.

The Champagne bottle labels are available as a FREE download and I used their Weatherproof Gloss Inkjet labels.

One of the things Sunny & I talked a lot about were the little details. “Should the cage be rounded or rectangular?” “Should it be pretty or more like a prison cell?” “Black, pink, or silver?” That is how great Sunny is…she doesn’t stop until it’s just right. I just love her and am so appreciative she took on this project with me.

The wine bottles labels are also available as a FREE download and I used these Weatherproof Gloss Inkjet labels.

Oriental Trading Company had so many cute things for me to choose from. These black and white striped dessert plates tied in the stripes in the background and on the printables perfectly.

I really had to have these personalized napkins as soon as I saw the Champagne and glass image. I was so thankful my tagline fit! Oriental Trading Company has a great selection of personalized napkins to choose from which really add that custom and unexpected touch.

I made these mini ball and chains using Oriental Trading Company 4.5″ black lanterns by adding a paper chain with black cardstock. The silver fringe was made out of silver tissue paper and Martha Stewart’s fringe scissors.

I placed a couple ball and chains on the table as well.

I had a lot of Champagne Jell-O shooter mix left so I used some cute pink shot glasses from the dollar store and mini silver plastic spoons embellished with rhinestone stickers.

Now it’s time to pop the Champagne!! We had one take with the champagne bottle and Maria and her expert skills got the shot! I love this picture! Yeah, Maria is just that good…you should hire her!

The Champagne flutes are also from Oriental Trading Company. You can easily dress them up for any theme by adding embellishments like ribbon. The black and white stripes were featured throughout so I was really happy that I found this ribbon.

I made pink lemonade ice rings with the Diamond Ice Ring mold from Oriental Trading Company. They did melt pretty quickly but looked so pretty in the glass of bubbly!

“Cheers girlfriends!” Since I had so many wonderful treats, and Champs, I invited a few girlfriends over to celebrate with me. Once the pictures had been taken and the sun started to set we sat down and ate, drank, and laughed. Amy of Perfectly Sweet Designs and Maria introduced me to the “selfie song”…my daughter thanks you girls!

“Thank you” never seems adequate enough to say to all of my vendors and to the companies I get to work with. I so appreciate all of them for trusting me with their products and for sending me the most wonderful things.

A huge thank you to my friend and photographer, Maria Healey. Maria and I have been friends for only about a year but she has quickly become of my dearest friends and I miss her terribly. She is coming back for a quick trip this October and I just can’t wait!! Will you do me a favor? Will you post a message on her Facebook page? Just tell her “Kylie says go home!” She’ll know what that means!