My friend Priya did not want a club. She wanted the movie. The first one, where Mia falls off the bleachers and Grandma Clarisse makes her sit up straight. So we did a pajama version in her apartment, eight of us on the floor, and I was on print duty because I always am.
A Princess Diaries night is sneaky easy on the wallet, which is the whole appeal. Slippers, a foot spa from the drugstore, a stack of printed games, and somebody’s tiara from a Halloween two years back. The trap is buying a kit online for forty bucks that ships in three weeks and arrives flat and sad. I printed almost everything the Thursday before instead, at the FedEx on Crenshaw because my home printer eats anything with a dark background.
These are the bits I’d grab again. Some I used at Priya’s, a couple I’ve reused since for two other parties. A few links below are affiliate links, so if you grab one through me it tosses a little something my way. Doesn’t cost you anything extra.
Heads up, some links here are affiliate links. Grab a template through one and I get a small cut, no extra charge to you.
The bingo cards that ran the whole night
We did mimosas and the movie, so brunch bingo fit without me changing a thing. I printed eight cards on regular paper, one per person, and we used dried lentils as markers because I forgot to buy chips. Worked fine. Spilled some.
What saved me was that it’s a bundle, so nobody got the same card and there was no fighting over who called it first. I trimmed the borders with my mom’s old paper cutter, the one that’s slightly off square, and you genuinely cannot tell once they’re spread on a coffee table.
One gripe. The squares run a touch small if you print at the default size, so a couple of older guests squinted. I bumped it to fill the page next round and it was readable from the couch.
A goofy paper thing that became the photo prop
This one I almost skipped. A 3d papercraft of a cheeky tongue-out face felt random until I printed it on cardstock and folded it during the boring middle of the movie. Then it was the prop everyone held up for photos. Mia would approve, honestly, she’s all awkward faces.
I did it in cream cardstock, scored the folds with the back of a butter knife, and glued it with a stick glue that I thought was dead but wasn’t. Took maybe twenty minutes while half-watching. It’s sitting on Priya’s bookshelf still.
Fair warning, the score lines need a real fold or it puffs out lopsided. My first attempt leaned like it was tired. Second one stood up straight, very Grandma Clarisse of it.
The bachelorette graphics I slapped on everything
I used this set for the little stuff. A sign for the door, a couple of cup labels, one tag for the gift table. The PNG dropped straight into the same template I use for everything, names typed in, done.
For a Princess Diaries spin I paired the bachelorette wording with a tiny crown clipart I already had, so it read royal without screaming Vegas. Printed the door sign on the heavier cardstock, the 110lb stuff, and taped it up. It fell down once. Re-taped with the good tape.
The one thing I’d flag, the file comes with a bunch of versions and it’s a little much to scroll through at 11pm. I picked two and ignored the rest. Less stress that way.
The invite I sent before anyone forgot
Before any of this I needed to tell seven people where to show up. This flyer template did it. I typed the date, Priya’s address, and “pajamas mandatory, tiaras encouraged,” and texted it as a photo. Nobody printed it but me, which is the point.
I ran one test page on plain paper, held it across the kitchen, squinted. Read fine. So I printed two copies on real paper for the fridge and the bathroom door, the classic two spots people actually look.
My nitpick, the default font shipped a bit thin and Priya’s hallway is dim, so I bumped the weight before the second print. One wasted page. Cheap lesson, I keep relearning it.
A rebel-edge graphic for the not-so-princess crowd
Not everyone at a Princess Diaries party wants pink. My friend Dani is more boots than ballgown, so I used this barbed wire bow cowgirl PNG for her cup and a couple of stickers. Gave the soft theme a little bite, which felt right, Mia does crash a fancy dinner eventually.
I printed the stickers on a sheet of those full-page label things from the office store and cut them by hand. Slightly crooked. Dani stuck hers on a water bottle she still uses, so the crooked one travels now.
Heads up, the transparent background needs a printer that handles fine lines, the barbed wire goes muddy on a cheap one. Mine streaked it, so the label sheets went to FedEx with the rest of my stack.
The champagne stitch for the one friend who sews
This is the outlier and I’m keeping it. It’s an embroidery design, not a print, and I do not own a machine. But my coworker Bea does, so I sent her the champagne file and she stitched it onto a little cosmetic pouch for Priya as a bride gift.
We planned it loose, no big production. Bea did it on a Sunday, cream pouch, gold thread, and it photographed better than half the printed stuff I sweated over. Priya keeps her rings in it now.
The catch is obvious. If nobody in your group sews, this isn’t your buy. But if one person does, it turns a five dollar pouch into the gift everyone asks about. Bea got a lot of credit. Deserved it.
A paws design that snuck in for the dog mom
Priya’s whole personality is her corgi, Biscuit, who was not invited but was discussed constantly. So I grabbed this “my best friend has paws” SVG and made her a mug sticker as a side gift. Off-theme, very on-Priya.
I printed it on a small label, cut around the paw, and stuck it to a plain mug from the dollar store. Took five minutes. She gasped, which is more reaction than my carefully planned bingo got, so.
My one complaint, the SVG scaled a little odd when I sized it down for a mug, the paw got chunky. I nudged it thinner and it was fine. Biscuit, for the record, ate a slipper that night anyway.
Questions Brides Ask Me
What is a Princess Diaries bachelorette?
Honestly? It’s just a movie-night bachelorette dressed up. Tiaras, pajamas, the first film on the TV, and a quote or two about being a princess by accident. Priya wanted hers because the movie is her comfort watch, not because she’s fancy.
No club, no sashes that say bride if you don’t want them. We did face masks and bingo and yelled at Mia for being mean to Lilly. That was the whole event and it was a great night.
What games fit the theme?
Bingo carried ours, the brunch bundle I mentioned up top, since we were drinking mimosas and watching anyway. Easy to run, no setup, nobody had to explain rules.
A friend asked me this and I told her to skip anything that needs the bride to be embarrassed. Keep it gentle. We also did a quick “royal makeover” with the foot spa and sheet masks, which counts as a game if you let it.
What do I print?
Less than you think. I printed the bingo cards, one door sign, a few cup labels, and the invite flyer. That covered it. Everything else was stuff we owned.
I learned the hard way not to print on a dark background at home, so the moody pieces went to a copy shop and the plain ones I did on my kitchen table. Test one page on regular paper first, hold it across the room, squint. If it reads from the couch you’re good.
Before You Hit Print
Priya’s night cost us almost nothing and she still brings it up. The expensive part was the wine, not the printables, which is how it should go.
If you do one thing, run a test page before you print a stack. I’ve wasted enough cardstock at midnight for both of us. Grab a tiara, queue the movie, and let it be a little silly. That’s the part that lands.