Happy Belated Canada Day to my fellow Canadians - it was a wonderful long weekend.  And tomorrow I wish all my United States subscribers a Happy 4th of July!

Are you having a July 4th party tomorrow?

Simplicity is a key to July 4th celebrations.  Families want to spend time with each other not decorating and fussing.  Remember this with your decorations!  Use balloons anchored throughout the area (of course, in red, white & blue), have them filled with helium and tied with ribbon so they flutter in the wind.  Streamers are also a favourite American tradition for decoration so use them everywhere! 

Table decorations and centrepieces should be bright and informal also.  Take a simple arrangement of red carnations and embellish it with flags, stars and an assortment of greenery.  Depending on your budget, you could substitute the carnations for red roses or even blue roses. 

Let your snacks guide your table decorations.  Blue corn chips and red salsa served in painted (red, white and blue) baskets can serve two purposes for you.  Also place jugs of lemonade and ice tea on the tables (consider adding red and blue food coloring to the drinks).

For your tablecloths, consider going with all white tablecloth and then add blue and red streamers to act as table runners.  Secure the streamers at the middle of the table and let the ends of them blow throughout the night.  Place blue and red candles with red, white and blue balloons in the center. Or instead of white tablecloths, use red and white-checkered tablecloths, which are considered a symbol of the American picnic.  If you love this holiday – why not celebrate America’s Birthday and your wedding together next year?  We have a Dazzling July 4th Wedding that offers tons of different ideas for you to incorporate the two together!  That's another wonderful thing about this book - you can use the ideas for other occasions also!  Just take out the wedding aspects and you can instantly create theme parties for any event!

For more great wedding  ideas, make sure you get your copy of Unique Theme Weddings to create a wedding like no other!