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Picnic Week on A Well Crafted Party

 

In honor of this weekend’s Portland Bloggers’ Family Picnic I decided to make it Picnic Week here on the blog. Use the ideas gathered here to create a fun Summer time picnic at home or, if you are in Portland, bring your newly found ideas to the meet-up! I’ve already shared my favorite picnic supplies and a quick pasta salad recipe, there is so much more coming though! So, pop back in throughout the week for more picnic goodness.


My Favorite Picnic Posts

photos via: BashPlease.Com featured on Design Sponge / How to Wear DIY from Adventures in Dressmaking / Butcher Paper Picnic Basics from Oh Happy Day! /Ombre Picnic Blanket from Design Love Fest / Italian Pressed Sandwiches from A Well Crafted Party / Sweet Potato Chips from A Beautiful Mess

My Favorite Picnic Posts Round-Up

I’m not the first, nor will I be the last, to post lots of pretty pictures and great ideas about picnics. Below is a list of some of my favorite picnic themed posts found across the internets. Can’t get enough picnic goodness? Then follow along with my Picnic Pinterest Board for more inspiration as I come across it.

Pretty Picnics to Inspire

  • I love the look of this “Magical Dinner Party in the Woods” that Lauren from The Little Things We Do posted last year. 
  • Oh, Hello Friend’s Picnic Themed Wedding still makes me swoon. I love everything about it and think I’ll hit up a few thrift stores for supplies before Sunday’s picnic!
  • This gorgeous outdoor movie night featured on Design Sponge is made even more beautiful with a lovely picnic spread.
  • This “simple” evening from the Fresh Exchange is just magical.
  • This family picnic set up from a REAL family picnic is making me think I should have planned decorations for this weekend’s event a little more carefully!

DIY Picnic Projects

  • These great butcher paper picnic baskets from Oh Happy Day! look super easy to make and downright adorable. 
  • These simple “pockets of fun” are a perfect way to wrangle and hand out picnic utensils, straws, and salt & pepper!
  • Almost Make Perfect shared a quick geometic print DIY picnic blanket that I love.
  • In the same fashion as the above picnic blanket, but totally different style, Design Love Fest created a tutorial for an awesome ombre picnic blanket.
  • Another picnic blanket that I’m loving is this DIY “girly” portable picnic blanket. It rolls up and can be worn over your shoulder!

What to Wear to a Picnic

  • My friend Suzannah has written a few posts with ideas of what to wear to a picnic. I love her styling of this DIY gingham dress. She also recently wrote a whole post with a TON of ideas of DIY picnic wearables
  • You want to be comfortable, yet cute, at a Summer picnic where cameras are coming out… this simple bright yellow dress combo is perfect for a picnic.
  • Hats are a fabulous for protecting skin and giving a sweet, relaxed vibe to a well-chosen outfit. Love this look from The Sweetest Occasion.
  • While I think dresses at picnics are adorable… sometimes, they just aren’t very practical! I love this cute shorts and tank outfit.
  • What will I be wearing to this weekend’s picnic? I’ll probably do similar to last year’s picnic and wear a maxi dress.

Picnic Food

  • I love the look of these pressed sandwiches for a picnic meal. I loved it so much that I made some of my own for my son’s first birthday. They turned out great and I will be making them again!
  • This list of 50, yes, FIFTY, picnic food ideas spans from nibbles to desserts!
  • The pressed sandwiches would go nicely with some Homemade Sweet Potato Fries.
  • Some people won’t even call it a picnic if there isn’t fried chicken involved. These potato chip fried chicken tenders would be perfect.
  • This great post titled “The Perfect Picnic” pretty much sums it all up with great recipes and beautiful styling.

Whoa! That was a lot of picnic fun… Now I’ve gotta go get to work on prepping items for the Portland Bloggers’ picnic. I have no idea WHAT I am bringing after checking out all the fun inspiration on this list one more time.

Tell me about YOUR favorite picnic experience!

As part of my Summer Entertaining Series I’ve asked several of my favorite bloggers to share tips, parties, recipes, and ideas for great Summer parties. Today I’ve got one of my FAVORITE bloggers’ sharing her advice for Summer wedding attire. Please welcome Ting from Cup of  Ting! This is especially relevant to me today as I don my own Wedding attire as I enjoy my sis-in-law’s wedding! 


Hi, I’m TING!  Jenni was sweet enough to invite me to share some sunny fun with you while she’s out getting her vacation on.  I suppose you might want to know a little about me, so here I go…

I play house for a living!  I’m a foodie who loves all things stripes + I still play dress up.  As a dancing queen + healthy lifestyle cheerleader, I read cookbooks in my spare time + am not your typical stay at home mom.  Come play with me sometime in this little blog world of mine called Cup of TING… giving you a sip of my Fashion, Food + Fun!

Now, summer is a coming + do you hear what I hear?  Oh yeah, it’s wedding bells, champagne bottles popping, cheers + laughter all around.  Here’s the age-old dilemma though… what to wear.  My go-to for any summer wedding is the classic Little Black Dress.  Here I’d like to share some options to jazz up YOUR little black dress attire.

Planning what to wear to a bevy of wedding events is difficult enough without adding in the extra challenges of limited space and weight restrictions. I’m one of those people that will get EVERYTHING to fit into one bag rather than pay for extra baggage fees. In order to still be prepared for looking the part at all the wedding events and still being able to pack light, I’ve come up with a list of rules that I need to apply to my wedding trip packing.

Summer Wedding Travel Tips from A Well Crafted Party

Tips & Tricks for Women’s Travel Ready Wedding Attire

First, you will need all your every day clothing items as well as the specialty items for wedding events. At the wedding I’m attending next week I’ll need a special outfit for a bridal shower, rehearsal dinner, and the wedding itself. Second, you’ll need all the accessories that go with your outfits!

My Rules for Packing Wedding Event Attire:

1. Get more than 1 use out of EVERYTHING (unless of course you are required to wear a bridesmaid dress… that can only be used once for this particular trip!). Other than that though, it does not go in my bag unless I can wear the item more than one time.

2. Limit the heavy/large items. Normally I’d be looking to multi-purpose my clothing items by switching out the accessories. However, when traveling, I do the opposite. I try to cut down on the number of shoes, bags, and heavier jewelry items that I bring with me. Packing shoes/bags/jewelry that can be used with several outfits is ideal.

3. When in doubt— leave it OUT! I’ve gone on WAY too many trips where I didn’t even touch half of the items in my bag. I had thought “maybe” and left the items out. I’ve never once come across a time where I couldn’t make something else in my bag work or pick up a needed item for a reasonable price.

A Glimpse of my Suitcase:

Travel Attire for Women from A Well Crafted Party

I have several events that I have to pack for in my upcoming trip for my Sis-in-law’s wedding. Not only do I have to pack wisely for myself, but for my husband and son as well. We are TRYING to pack everything in one large checked bag that has a weight limit of 40 lbs. I honestly don’t know if we will be able to do it. But, we are certainly going to try! We’ll need outfits for 7 days along with outfits for three wedding events. Thankfully, there is a washer on the premises of where we are staying. So, we will be able to wash a few items if needed. Here is a quick glimpse of the items I plan on packing in my suitcase.

Vacation Outfit Ideas for Easy Packing

***The following product links may be affiliate links. (*) marks an Affiliate Link. Note: Links updated in 2024 are not exact matches, but as close as I could find. ***

Lightweight Summer Clothes for a week in Texas. I like having longer pants in case we go into restaurants or other venues that are COLD. They know how to use air conditioning in Texas. But, temps will also be in the high 90s for most of our trip, so I’ll keep all of my clothing thin and lightweight. I’m packing two pairs of pants, three tops, and two pairs of shoes for 7 days of wear (along with the special occasion clothing). Some days I will only be wearing an outfit for a short amount of time because I’ll be at wedding events that get different clothing considerations.

Clothing items for all of the above outfits (as close of finds as possible):

Pants:  Black Skinny Ankle Pants*,  Distressed Boyfriend Jeans * (capri length)

Tops: White blouse*, Pocket Tank*, Black Tee*, Chambray Shirt*

Shoes:  Grey Flats*Black Sandals*

Accessories:  Brightly Colored Earrings* or these earrings* are also so cute!,  Gold Bangle Bracelets*, Long Silver Necklace*, Brightly Colored Scarf*, Sunglasses*, my Oregon necklace* (I’ve gotta show the state love!)

women's wedding attire for traveling to a summer wedding

Wedding Event Outfits— I am attending a bridal shower, rehearsal dinner, and wedding during this trip. I am a bridesmaid so I have a dress and shoes already chosen for me for the wedding. The tricky part will be multi-purposing the items I’ve already packed along with a few dressier items to keep my baggage space in check.

1. Bridal Shower:  Pink Maxi Dress*, black sandals, brightly colored earrings, and gold bangles

2. Rehearsal Dinner: Black Cocktail Dress*Grey Heels*Tear Drop Silver Earrings*

3. Wedding: Green Bridesmaid Dress and grey heels

Hopefully you can visualize how I am reusing certain items to help with baggage space, but still feel like a put-together human on my trip. Check out my post on Travel Basics as well!

How do you plan your packing for an event-busy trip?