This year for in celebration of Mother’s Day, we decided to give-away a ‘Mom & Daughter’ make-over and styled shoot.  Everyone was so excited, that once the winner, Melissa, was chosen, we planned, executed and, Marethe, finalised the images within a month!
 
Thank you to all our lovely sponsors who just made it such a great day and did such a fantastic job – you are all rock stars!
To the winner, Melissa, and Mom, it was so nice to treat you, you were a pleasure to work with and you are both just the sweetest ladies (Mothers!). 
 
I hope you enjoy the pictures for years to come – you both looked lovely X

Planning, coordination and styling:  @planmepretty
Thank you to @marethegrobler for beautiful photography
@thebeautybrand.co.za l Make-up
@simone.pretorius.90 l Hair
@urbanbistro.za l Food
@vintage_on_main l Room and Gardens
@bellafiore_styling l Flower arrangement and crowns

Feast your eyes on this beautifully styled gold and pink, twinkle, twinkle, little star, themed first birthday celebration by Outlandish Events.  

My favourite details?
- The cake!
- The star and flower candy table backdrop
- The star shaped pinata!

​Enjoy and be inspired. 

We finally have some pretty pictures of the winner of our 'Win-your-Party'competition last year.  Happy birthday Princess Lenieke - hope you had a great first birthday!

This year for Mother's Day I am making a meringue lollipop for each guest which I will serve with some strawberry ice-cream, topped with sliced strawberries. You can use any fruit of your choice, or drizzle with a nice salted caramel dessert.

Four tips I can share:
1.  Follow the recipe to the letter.  I did and the meringues come out nice and crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside.
2. You can do them using a handheld beater, I did, and all went well!

Needed:
3 Large Eggs
150gr Castor Sugar (no other sugar)
Hand/bowl mixer
Gel Coloring
Piping Bags
Wax Paper
Piping nozzles to get different patterns in the meringue.
I used a large star tip nozzle to pipe the lollipop and small nozzles to add the detail.

Recipe:
​I used the very famous recipe by the Meringue Girls. 
The 150gr sugar with 75gr egg whites is the ratio I used and will be enough to do your meringue pops..
Once the meringue is perfectly mixed and not grainy anymore, transfer your meringue into a large piping bag with large star nozzle.
Pipe your pops from left to right onto a piece of baking paper.
Once piped, press your stick in (remember to pre-soak your sticks in water, and when piping, keep in mind how your lollipops on sticks is going to fit into the oven)
Remember to keep a little meringue separate to color for your detailed elements.
Carefully fold the coloring into the meringue.  Pipe detail and then add your sprinkles before popping into the oven.
Switch off your oven when meringues are done and let them cool in the oven.
Add your gold leave and Immediately transfer to a air tight container.  

Pink and silver and sparkling - what more could a girl want for her 17th birthday celebration?!

Ishrat's love and passion for her work really shines through in every function that she does, in every little detail.  Thank you for sharing.

Enjoy the pictures!​

Sigh, this pink ballerina first birthday for little Didintle was executed to pink perfection.  I love every little, perfectly pink detail! Thank you to Karin, Karin Meiring Photography for sharing this lovely party with us.

Enjoy the pictures! 

The Spring Rose Festival at Ludwig's Roses is one of my yearly highlights.  Who cannot look forward to being spoiled in such a special way? This year we were treated to a rose inspired menu paired with Kleine Zalze Bubbles and Wine.  The food was beautifully prepared by the on-site venue; The Rose Shed, led by chef Tony Barnett.
And to top it all of, each of us were gifted a 'Forever Delight' rose plant and a bottle of their Pure Rose Water. 

The official festival is on until Sunday, please treat yourself to this amazing assault on the senses, the rose smell is intoxicating, the floral decor details is something to be admired and the collection of VW cars and toy car collection is not something you will probably ever see for free in your life again (and also an excuse to drag hubby with!).

If you cannot make it this weekend, Heike (Mr. Ludwig's daughter) tells me that the roses is best viewed in the month of October, and they even have a tractor that drive visitors through the rose fields! So you can take your ouma and oupa too.

Images by:  Marethe.com ​

A Unicorn theme is always fun, no matter how many times you do it - this baby shower was done at a client's private home in Johannesburg, and captured by Becca Boo Photographic Studio.

My favorite details?
- Making the edible unicorn bark, with swirling color and lots of sparkles.
- Spending hours sticking paper circles and confetti to the balloon strings - but so worth it to achieve the final result.
- The little unicorn biscuits and cupcakes.

​Enjoy the pictures x

Lately I have been a little obsessed with the color combination of Rose & Indigo, and while working on our DONUT DIY a few weeks ago, playing around to create the chocolate brushstrokes, I just though to myself that all these elements and colors will make a beautiful theme for a bridal shower.  

And this is how the idea for our very first, officially styled shoot started taking shape.  I also wanted to use the opportunity to showcase the work of all the very, talented service providers in the Plan Me Pretty Directory, and in the end, it worked out so well.  Thank you to everyone for that! 

So I really hope that you find some inspiration (or a service provider!) from our work, but most of all, just enjoy browsing through these beautiful images. 

To all our readers, please let us know if this is something you would like to see on a regular basis. And to all our listed vendors, please let me know if this is something you would like to be part of in the future. 
​

There is something about pink, black and gold that just works! I love the color combination and a tried and tested color combination to create a sophisticated, but fun look.
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​Today we are sharing a baby shower that was styled by one of our listed party and event planners, Melabee Bespoke Events and the event was held at KCC La Vie and Rose, also one our our listed venues in Johannesburg.

Enjoy the pictures, I am sorry, I got a little out of control with the food photographs, but it all just looks so good! Especially those Nutella and Peanut Butter tartlets! 

What can I say...I'm totally in love with this theme. It suited the the mom-to-be perfectly. I can't believe that in December last year I styled her bachelorette and now her baby shower. It was truly an honour to be part of yet another milestone, Nicolette Pesev you are beautiful both inside and out, and wish you and Orce only the best memories with your bundle of joy.

Today I am sharing the birthday party of 3-year old little Ivy, who is one lucky girl, because mom, Nicky, put together the most precious Enchanted Fairy Forest themed party for her.  I just love the floral elements and the crochet mushrooms are the best! 

I really have enjoyed planning my daughter Ivy’s birthday parties for the last few years… But this year has probably been my favourite. 
Firstly, because now that she is a bit bigger (she turned 3), she understands the concept of her birthday and her party so much more- there has been SO much excitement during the last few weeks, leading up to the “big day”. I am a bit of a sucker for online shopping- and every single parcel that arrived she very excitedly asked “Is that for my party!?”… Luckily, most of them were! 
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Secondly, I absolutely loved the theme this year. We initially decided on a “fairy princess theme” – Ivy loves anything “pretend & pretty” and dressing-up is one of her absolute favourite things to do. I wanted to do a theme that would allow us to create a fantasy world for her special day, so decided to add “Enchanted Forest” to the theme. Making it her “Enchanted fairy forest party”…

I think it might be something in the water - or maybe creative souls attract creative souls, because today I am sharing the party of a friend of Mom Lisa from the Magical Unicorn Party​, Nicole, who created the cutest ice-cream themed party for her Annabel's 3rd birthday celebration.
Soon I will be featuring another one of their friends' party  - just as stunning!

An Ice Cream Parlour theme for my daughter Annabel’s 3rd birthday party, was an easy choice as she loves Ice cream, and has a sweet tooth just like her mommy:) I love birthdays and thoroughly enjoy putting together a special & memorable celebration for our special poppet. 

While I’m still able to have a say in the party theme I obviously like to go with something that Annabel will love, something that is a little different and at the same time allows room for creativity, fun, interesting decor & other elements that make it an extra special day. I loved working with the beautiful soft pastel colour palette that this theme lends itself.

As October month is Breast Cancer Awareness month I wanted this months printable to be something that could help raise awareness and funds for cancer research and breast cancer screenings.

So with the creative design of Monique from DESIGN LOVE, we came up with this stunning Cuppa for CANSA Tea Party printable set. Something to inspire you and help you to host a Cuppa for CANSA and rasie funds to offer free Breast Cancer Screenings for women who cannot afford it or towards Cancer Research in general.

Cuppa for CANSA runs every year from June to 31 October.  I know we are a little bit late with this set, but two weeks is plenty of time to get your girls together for a quick, fun morning or afternoon tea.  You supply the treats and tea and they make a small donation towards CANSA.  Two flies!
And the set will still be here next year, ready to download and print and prettify your tea party.

R10 000 Le Creuset Voucher up for grabs.  If you host a CANSA Tea Party before 31 October your can stand a chance to win a R10 000 Le Creuset voucher!
​Details here.

We would love to share your best Cuppa for CANSA picture on the blog, so please send your 3 best pictures to info@planmepretty.co.za.

Thanks you to DESIGN LOVE once again for the gorgeous designs!
Set includes:
- Glass Coasters
- Paper Placemats
- Invitation
- Water Bottle Label
- Serviette Ring / Name Card
- Cake Topper
- Thank You Gift Tags

​Click on picture below to download.  

Last week I attended the opening of Ludwig's Roses 45th Spring Festival, which runs till Sunday, 9 October. All around happiness as we were treated to lots of bubbles, yummy treats and beautiful blooms - how much better can a Thursday morning get for a girl? 

This year was extra special as the opening of the Spring Festival was paired with the unveiling of The "La Fleurette" rose, named after a JC Le Roux 'Vivante'variety.  This is the first time in the world that a rose was created and named after a sparkling wine - and seeing the rose next to the salmon pink foam of the bubbly I can tell you it is a perfect match!

​THE OCCASION
​'The 'La FLEURETTE' rose is being named as a tribute to celebrate and honour the artistry of South Africa's leading name in sparkling wines and MCC - The House of JC Le Roux. And it is also fitting that the rose was created by Mr. Ludwig himself, who founded Ludwig Rose's in 1971 and now grow the largest selection of rose varieties available anywhere in the world. Such a proudly South African moment!
Read more about the event and occasion here:  http://bit.ly/2dTYqwj-LaFleuretteRose​ 
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Today I am sharing the most beautiful of birthday parties.  Mom Lisa wanted to create a magical world for her daughter, Charlotte's, 3rd birthday as she loves everything whimsical and make-believe.
And she completely nailed it!  Who would not love a party like this?!

Details I love?
- The Unicorn head (alice) bands are my favorite!
- The unicorn cupcakes are also very cute.
- The floral '3' used as the backdrop for the candy table is stunning!

"​The party was for my daughter Charlotte Beatrice Hunter who turned 3 years old
 
She is taken with everything magical and make believe , and so it was her choice to have a unicorn party as she is in love with My Little Ponies and so this theme was a definite for her.
I searched pinterest and most of the Unicorn parties are rainbow in colour which I definitely didn’t want as I wanted the party to be tasteful and elegant , so I went with soft pink , mint and gold as my colours and built things from there."

One of our listed party planners, Melissa of Ever After, recently celebrated a very special occasion - her little girl's second birthday.
I love this pink and gold, Minnie Mouse themed birthday celebration, because not only is it cute and fun, but also has a very sophisticated look, an unique trademark of Melissa's work.
Thank you for sharing Melissa and congratulations! 
Look out for the Minnie Mouse cake pops, too cute!