One way to tie a party together? Put a bow on it! Bows are always festive—atop presents at a birthday or holiday party, or to symbolize “tying the knot” at a bridal shower, engagement party or wedding event. They’re also a sweet touch at a Valentine’s or Galentine’s party or a baby shower. Everything looks better with a bow! It’s a fancy but fun idea for party decor.
First pick a color scheme—the images below are full of pink and rose gold bows, or what we like to call Rose Bows. Then, once you’ve decided to dress up your party with a bow, get creative with it! You can mix different types of bows, making them out of ribbon or paper in your chosen color, even icing them onto cupcakes.
But bows aren’t just for decor and dessert! You could ask every guest to come wearing a bow—it’s an easy item to tie around a dress or ponytail, or sport as a bowtie. Or have them craft bows at the party as a fun activity that becomes a favor they can keep. You might hot glue ribbon bows onto barrettes or headbands, for example.
In terms of decor, things you could finish with a paper, ribbon, or icing bow include:
Paper:
- Attach it to…
- The top of a party hat
- A straw
- A balloon
- A paper or plastic cup
- The top of a box
- String several together into a garland
Ribbon:
- Tie it around…
- The stems of wine, champagne, or water glasses
- A candlestick (but low down, not too close to the flame!)
- A favor box
- A cake
- A basket holding treats
- Or, glue it to the top of a party hat
Icing:
- Pipe a bow onto a cupcake, cookie, or cake
Here are some more bow ideas:
Paper Bows
Using our downloadable garland template, print paper bow sections onto metallic paper, cut out, and attach to form a garland. For the how-to, click here.
Download our printable bow template here, print, cut out, and glue to the top of a party hat. (Alternate hats with ribbon bows if you like!)
Use more bow-cut outs from our downloadable template by printing them, cutting them out, punching out a hole and slipping it them onto a paper straw.
Ribbon Bows
A single length of ribbon in your party’s color palette can be used to make so many bows! Pro tip: Tie bows using the “bunny ears” technique, where you fold two ends of a length of ribbon into loops, then tie them together to make a bow. This will give you a neater bow with evenly sized loops.
Tie a bow atop each party hat to give everyone a festive party accessory. (You can alternate them with paper bows a shown above.)
Tie bows around favors like these clear cubes holding candy. To personalize the favors, you can add photo stickers of the person being celebrated—it’s even more fun if you can find a picture of that person wearing a bow.
Knot bows around wine or champagne glass stems or coupes holding candy or ice cream. For a little variety, mix up the sizes and types of ribbon you’re using.
You can even use ribbon bows to accent cake like this one, which was decorated in swags of pink icing.
Shop for Bows
There are plenty of fun items you can buy that come already tied up in bows. Look at these cute cups!
