Showing posts with label Event. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Event. Show all posts

Oct 30, 2012

The Book Themed Baby Shower

Library Book Inserts as Invitations
I had a big hand in my baby shower planning. My mom and aunt who were the actual planners would tell you that it’s because I’m a control freak. True that may be however mainly it’s because I love party planning. I haven’t done it professionally, and I’ve never done it with a huge budget or with my hours being paid for. The events are always bigger and better in my brain than when they are executed. My baby shower was an exception however.
 
I’ll start with the theme. Before I knew he was a boy, and therefore would be named Grayson, I knew I wanted to have a gray baby shower. The name Grayson is coincidence I swear. I had googled party images and the grays were always my favorite. So now I needed an accent color and I just loved the idea of orange. Many months ago I saw some pictures of a Harry Potter party and absolutely loved that idea. However it was revised because one, that’s not a baby book, and two because not everyone attending would understand.

So we decided on a book theme shower. There were hardly any touches of “baby” to be seen. I wanted to skip the typical baby bottles and carriages used for décor. I’m just not into typical anything ever. The touches of “baby” were tiny gray baby blocks stuffed into the napkins at each setting, as well as baby photos of me, dad, and our own kids. Everything else was made from books: heart confetti from pages, stacked books as a vase for flowers, book “fans”, book page placemats, book page name banner, book page vases, and other tiny touches. A lot of the ideas came from pinterest and can be found on my board here Shower Inspiration Board.

Like I said, it turned out better than I had thought. I put off doing anything baby shower until after my friend’s wedding. I didn’t want to switch gears in my brain until it was over. So that left us with one month to DIY everything. In that month I was pregnant and going to school on top of caring for two kids. Little time was left for me as well as my mom and aunt to meet together and craft up the décor. While facing those challenges, the fact that it still came out so beautifully leaves me so pleased.

I painted Harry Potter on the Cake.
My friend Brittany baked a two layer stack of books cake. I painted a Harry Potter for the cover. It was the pose from Order of the Phoenix if you’re curious, one of my favorite books. I am lucky to have a friend who likes to bake.

The games were a hit! We only played two because I’m not big on the games, but they were great. One was alternate book titles. I made them up to look like books for each guest however there is a free printable of it online Alternate Titles Game. We also played a game of “Mom or Dad”. I had my mom and mother-in-law tell me stories about me and dad. The cards were made to look like bookmarks and  guests had to guess he or she for each story. Some of the stories were hilarious and some were embarrassing. It was funny to see their faces when they learned that I was the one who used to trade toys everyday on the playground in second grade.

Can I say again I’m happy with how it turned out? I am so happy with how it turned out. I had a great turn out of family and friends in attendance. Appearance wise it was awesome. The games were fun. We received plenty of needed items for Grayson, and I was able to destroy and then re-use books that were wasting space in my closet in a box. I’m a proud kindle owner and therefore was happy to use my books for something more useful than sitting. (Of course I have kept my HP books. Those are special.)

The book vases were so pretty that I kept one as décor for fall in my home.

 




 
 
 
 

                                     

Aug 22, 2012

She's Almost a Housewife


By definition my friend Aleigha will not be a housewife when she gets married. She’ll take her honeymoon and like many modern wives, will return to work. She will work outside and inside the home of course. Mom’s/Wives never get a break!

I had a great time planning and executing her bridal shower. I admit that I love being a Matron of Honor. It’s exciting to assist the bride in her planning. I spent a year planning my own and then immediately began on hers. It’s been a fun ride. Much more enjoyable since I am not the one paying this time.

With a little more money I could have really ran with this shower theme. I had a million ideas stewing in my head but couldn’t really execute everything I had envisioned. Lucky for me, the bride-to-be didn’t find the event lacking.

Housewife Invite
The games were kept simple. To start we played “Famous Wives” game. Everyone had the name of a famous wife pinned to their back and they had to ask other guests questions that would help them guess who their famous wife was. I was the last to guess correctly despite having made the cards. It was funny to learn what people around me thought of my wife, Madonna. It was great for mingling at the start of the party.

We progressed to playing “The Worst Chore” game. Everyone writes their least favorite chore and why they dislike it so. Then the host reads the answer by saying “Julie hates sex because….” Some of the answers were “It’s never my mess” and “it always takes too long.

To wrap up the games we of course played toilet paper bridal gowns. How can you not right? It’s just what you do. Unfortunately for the guests, the pregnant host (me) forgot to bring the game prizes. Pregnant brain maybe? Well it was fun despite that and no one complained about missing a prize. 

All in all, it was a success. We enjoyed playing housewife.

Registry Card

 

Feb 15, 2012

Honored to be a Matron

I was asked to be my best friend’s Matron of Honor in her wedding on September 8th. The word honor is definitely fitting because I was truly honored to be asked. Since that moment I have spent a lot of my time researching inspiration and thinking of ways I can make this easier and more affordable for the bride. That’s my job; help the bride get hitched without a hitch.

I've designed her invitations and RSVP cards recently. We have the paper, so pretty soon we will print them. Her theme is Vintage so I have an idea about how to make the edges look old but still classy for her wedding. I cross my fingers it works out. We are also doing some cool things for the ceremony with wine bottles to hold candles and new postcards that appear old. It will be fun to post photographs of all of these after her wedding which is just 206 days away! It seems like an eternity when it's your own wedding. I remember that the night before my own wedding I thought wow this used to be 300 days away... and now it's HERE. <3

Helping plan someones wedding is much easier than planning your own. You get to be involved in all of the fun and be left out of the stressing side associated with prices. The wedding industry sure is a money maker. I almost feel like I should venture into event planning one day (because I like it, not just because of the money). I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the planning of her bridal shower and that is not for another six months. I wish I could share what I’ve come up with so far but I can’t tip off the bride to what I’ve got in store for her. Be sure to check back in September for some post bridal shower pictures.

Take a look at the soon-to-be Andersen family here: http://nicholasandaleigha.ourwedding.com/