Did you guys catch our ultra cozy holiday party a few weeks ago? It was one of our favorite at-home gatherings ever, and it totally captured the essence of spending a lazy fall evening with loved ones. These days however, our social calendars have us doing anything but kicking back on the couch — instead, it’s travel planning and present shopping and parties, parties, parties. Which brings us to today’s story: the most glamorous, rock & roll cocktail party we’ve ever laid eyes on.
Inspired by FOX’s hit show Empire and its leading lady Cookie, we pulled out all the stops to host this one of a kind holiday cookie party. If you love the show like we do, you can imagine how thrilled we were when Hulu came to us with the challenge, and I feel like we totally captured the larger-than-life hip hop world that we love peeking into each week. Click through for all the details just in time for your holiday partying, as well as some must-bookmark recipes.
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Planning on having a cookie spread at your holiday party this year? Look for an unexpected surface to set it all out, like an antique armoire, scattered on different side tables, or, as in this case, on the top of a gorgeous baby grand piano.
If you’re a fellow Empire fan, you know the significance of a single red rose. Of course, even if you’re not familiar with the show’s dramatic plot line, you can likely appreciate the classic beauty of a perfectly blossomed crimson rose. We arranged a few small bunches in different glass containers and used them to add a pop of holiday cheer to the party space.
Perhaps the most fun part of planning this party was coming up with decadent cookie recipes, and then brainstorming clever Empire-inspired names for each one.
Click here to get the recipe for our Peppermint Brownie Plot Twists!
Also on the menu…
- Platinum Topped Baby Cakes
- Cookie’s Spicy Gingerbread
- NYC Black & White Cookies
- Luscious Lucious Salted Chocolate Pretzels
- Jamal’s Jam Sandwiches
Any empty space on the piano top was filled with a lush greenery garland, winding gold tinsel and an assortment of decorative Christmas trees.
Once we gave in to the glitzy look and feel of this party, we couldn’t get enough sparkle. How fun are these diamond placecard holders?
These gilded side plates we perfect for loading up with cookies and holding while we mingled. Perfectly on-theme with our glamorous look, I even thought the black and gold pattern was reminiscent of gold records!
Camille whipped up this delicious milk punch, and it was the perfect libation for washing down all those sweet treats.
Click here to get the recipe for our Honey Milk Punch!
We checked an item off our bucket lists with this detail: a champagne tower! If you’ve been too intimidated to give this party trick a try, we highly recommend going for it this holiday season. These short-and-wide champagne coupes made it a lot less scary that we originally anticipated, and come on, how amazing does that look against this fun graphic wallpaper?!
Our champagne tower was just four levels high and contained a total of 30 champagne glasses. We can’t wait to replicate it on New Year’s Eve!
Our friend Katie Kime was generous enough to let us style this party at her beautiful home, and it could not have been more perfect. That black and white wall is actually made up of two sliding barn doors that lead to Katie’s bedroom, and those chairs? They’re the amazing Leopard Maurice Chair from Katie’s own line.
Easiest holiday decor idea ever: pile ball ornaments into a glass dome to instantly add color and shine to your space.
Camille kicked back in our lounge space to swipe on some red lipstick, a must-have for cocktail party season.
Shoes off, party on!
We took a break from the party to put our sight-reading to the test and bang out some holiday tunes. Don’t plan on having a piano at your holiday bash? We’ve rounded up the perfect Empire-inspired playlist just for you!
For an easy favor idea that guests will be grateful for long after the party ends, simply adorn miniature bottles of bubbly with gold ribbon and trim. Word to the wise: you might want to stock a few extras, since I have a sneaking suspicion partygoers might be grabbing more than their share of these!
