Marc Jacobs DOT Girls Cocktail Party #MARCtheDOT

Thursday, April 25, 2013

DISCLOSURE:  As a member of The DOT Girls on Crowdtap, I was chosen to host a party to promote DOT by Marc Jacobs.  I received a party kit that included free samples and a free full sized bottle of the fragrance.  All opinions are my own.

I had been in the need of a new fragrance to wear for awhile.  I hadn't had any perfume to use in months.  So, sometime before Christmas last year, I was in Ulta looking for something to buy because I had reward points to spend.  There was a promo going on where if you spent at least $30 on any fragrance purchase, you got a free robe.  I decided to treat myself to something new.  I tried several different scents, including ones from Vera Wang (Lovestruck) and Philosophy (Falling In Love).  But, I kept going back to the DOT by Marc Jacobs bottle.  The bottle was so cute and the perfume smells so good!  I had sprayed my arm and kept sniffing it as I walked around the store.  Finally, I decided to go ahead and buy it.

DOT by Marc Jacobs has definitely become my favorite fragrance to use.  I wear it pretty much everyday.  Even if I'm not really going anywhere.  I just like to smell it on my skin and clothes.

It's a light scent.  It has top notes of red berries and coconut, with mild notes of jasmine and orange blossom and base notes of driftwood combined for a bold, feminine scent that's perfect for every occasion!

Recently, I was given the opportunity from Crowdtap.com to host a cocktail party to promote the DOT by Marc Jacobs fragrance.  I jumped at the chance to spend some time with my friends and family and share with them my new favorite scent!



Party hosts were sent a kit that included:
  • Marc Jacobs DOT Eau de Parfum Spray 1.7 oz bottle
  • Marc Jacobs DOT Eau de Parfum Spray 0.13 oz bottle
  • 12 Marc Jacobs DOT fragrance samples
  • Blottercards
  • DOT by Marc Jacobs headband
  • DOT by Marc Jacobs scarf
  • Polka dot nail decals
  • Tablecloth
  • Polka dot balloons with curling ribbon
  • Red confetti
  • Party guide
The party guide included recipe ideas that incorporated some of the notes in the fragrance, like an Orange Vanilla Punch and Creamy Coconut Cake with Orange-Berry Sauce and Jasmine Whipped Cream.

As soon as I found out I was selected to be a party host, I started a Pinterest board to bookmark party ideas for decorations, food, drinks and clothes.  I wanted to have a polka-dot theme and incorporate the different fragrance notes in what I served at the party.


Since one of my sisters and I are pregnant and because my Mom and Aunt don't really drink alcohol, I decided to do mocktails instead of cocktails.  Because of time constraints, I ended up hosting a Sunday brunch instead of an evening cocktail party.

I had plans to make a lot of things for the party, but because of the small amount of guests actually being able to come and the fact that shortly after being accepted into the party, I was put on bed rest, I didn't get to do as much as I would have liked to do.

Since it was supposed to be a cocktail party, that was one thing I focused a lot on.  I pinned a lot of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks to my Pinterest board, but only ended making two drinks.  I would've made three, but I ran out of time.  Plus, there wasn't going to be that many of us at the party.

The first drink I made was a Blushing Mimosa.  I figured brunch and mimosas go hand in hand.  And this was a nice reddish drink to go with the red and black colors of the DOT fragrance.

Ingredients
2 cups orange juice (not from concentrate)
1 cup pineapple juice, chilled
2 tablespoons grenadine
1 750-mL bottle of Champagne or sparkling wine, chilled (I substituted 2 12oz cans of ginger ale)

Directions
1.  Stir together the first three ingredients.
2.  Pour equal parts orange juice mixture and Champagne into champagne flutes.

* I went ahead and combined the ginger ale and orange juice mixture into a pitcher.

The second drink I made was a Virgin Sangria.  I love regular Sangria, so I had to make a non-alcoholic version for my party!

Ingredients
3 cups grape juice (I used organic Concord grape juice)
3/4 cup apple juice
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 lemon, thinly sliced, with peel
1/2 lime, thinly sliced, with peel
1 medium orange, thinly sliced, with peel
1 small apple, cored, sliced into 8ths, with peel
2-3 cups sparkling mineral water or club soda, to taste (I used Deer Park Sparkling Spring Water, feel free to use flavored)

Directions
Combine the fruits and juices in a pitcher.  Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.  Add mineral water prior to serving and stir together.

I also had planned on making a Sparkling Strawberry Lemonade, but didn't have enough time.  My Mom and sisters had actually thrown me a baby shower the previous evening and so I didn't get back home till 11 at night.  I only got the Sangria done before I decided to go to bed!

For food, I wanted to have some brunch food as well include things that went with either the polka-dot or cocktail theme.  All while not making too much food -- which we usually tend to do for parties!  To make sure people didn't leave hungry, I made a Breakfast Casserole and some bacon for the brunch foods.  I also made a Fruit Salad to represent some of the berry notes in the fragrance.  To go with the polka-dot theme, I also bought some Munchkins from Dunkin Donuts!  Here's a picture of all the food and decorations:

In addition to the decorations included in the party kit, I went out and bought these super cute ladybug lights.  I should've bought two though since it was shorter than I thought.  We actually still have them up almost a week later because they're adorable!

I also wanted to make some cupcakes for the party.  Instead of making ones that went with the polka dot theme, I thought it would be cool to go with the cocktail theme and make Strawberry Margarita Cupcakes!  I got the recipe from The Baker Chick blog.  I wanted to make little lime wedges to stick on top of the cupcakes, but I ran out of time and limes!  So I just sprinkled some red sugar on top.


I wanted to have a couple games for the guests because I intended on giving away some of the items in the party kit.  Since I already owned a full sized bottle of the fragrance, I decided to give that away.  I bought a bag of pom-poms from Michael's and put them in a pitcher and had the guests guess how many were in there.  The person who guessed the closest would win the fragrance!


The party kit came with a mini deluxe bottle of the DOT fragrance.  I set it out with some of the blotter cards.  On the back of one of the cards, I wrote "You won the scarf!"  Whoever picked that card would win the Marc Jacobs scarf.

I told guests to come dressed in polka dots.  But, being pregnant, I couldn't fit into any of my regular clothes with polka dots and I hadn't bought any maternity clothes with polka dots.  I spent a lot of time stalking eBay and checking other sites that sold maternity clothes to try and find the perfect dress.  I really wanted a red dress with black polka dots.  And yay, I found one!  I probably spent more than I should have but I thought it was perfect.  Here I am with my 2 year old.  He loved the polka dot balloons!


And some pictures of some of the guests in their polka dots:

After eating, we played the games.  My Mom ended up coming closest to the correct number of dots in the pitcher.  There were 300 and she guessed a little over 300.  I decided not to penalize for anyone going over.  She was so happy!  Before the game, she told us, no matter who won, they had to give her the perfume because she really wanted it!


My Aunt ended up winning the scarf!

Next, it was time to give out the goody bags.  I bought little polka dot bags from the party store and included a fragrance sample, the polka dot manicure decals, a polka dot nail file, an eyeshadow crayon and a Twix egg chocolate.

Ha ha yes, that's my Dad with a goody bag.  He didn't actually take one, but he wanted to be in the picture!

The party was a lot of fun, even with the low turnout.  Everyone thought the fragrance smelled really nice.  There weren't any negative comments about it.  Thank you Crowdtap and Marc Jacobs for an awesome party!

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