I styled this Kentucky Derby Bridal Shower for Everyday Party Magazine. My color palette was purple, plum, lavender, lime green and gray. I really focused on horses and roses because of the famous “Run for the Roses” at the Kentucky Derby. I love how it turned out!
Celebrated Party Features:
- Coffee Filter Horseshoe Wreath hand-dyed in matching party colors
- Cupcake “Grandstands” holding yogurt parfaits and mint julep cupcakes
- Mint Julep Bar for guests to create their own special drinks
From the design concept I started with, I knew I wanted to create some kind of grandstands surrounding the horseshoe shaped cake I had planned to make. Believe it or not, I made the cake out of styrofoam! I cut the horseshoe shape from a foam block, tinted icing light purple, and piped on swirled rosettes. I thought it would be fun to add the horse cake pops into the cake to showcase the horses running for the roses! TIP: The foam block was necessary to hold the heavy cake pops.
My husband was sweet enough to build the “Cupcake Grandstands” for me that I found a tutorial from Hello My Sweet. They were perfect! They sported mint julep cupcakes with purple fondant roses and a mint leaf. Beautiful rose cookies dusted with silver, French macarons with a rose on top, and chocolate covered Oreos were also served.
Plum and lavender colored roses were added to the fabric garland bunting to look like winner’s ribbons. The backdrop was a “Bride to Be” banner and a hand-crafted horseshoe shaped coffee filter wreath. The coffee filters were dyed matching colors of the theme, dried, then cut and shaped into roses. Such a fun DIY project. See the wreath tutorial here. It took me 2 days to create, but it was worth it!
A close up of the coffee filter wreath. Can you believe those were regular white coffee filters?!
A Mint Julep Bar was created with fresh mint sprigs, ginger syrup, and mint syrup. I created straw flags and wrapped them around lime green chevron paper straws to use in purple colored glasses. Such a fun way for your party goers to create a derby drink their own way.
Kentucky Derby Bridal Shower Ideas
Vendor Credits:
DIY Horseshoe Wreath, Cupcake Grandstands, Cake – Celebration Lane
Elena Reitberger says
How did you make horseshoe out of coffee filters do u have instructions
Katie Farmer says
Hi Elena! It’s been on my “To Do” List to write-up the tutorial, and I will try to get that posted this week! I have step-by-step photos on how I created it. If you need these exact colors, message me because actually this beautiful piece available. :) Thank you!
moranda says
Is there a tutorial for the horseshoe wreath? Thanks!
Katie Farmer says
Hi Moranda! I am actually working on adding it to the blog this week. Please check back soon!
moranda says
Where do I look for it at? :)
Katie Farmer says
The tutorial is finally up, Moranda! See it here: http://www.celebrationlane.com/2015/04/10/coffee-filter-wreath-tutorial/
Liziane says
Hello! I like it very much.