You should know, by now, I’ll find just about any reason to throw a party! When my best friend, Christina, suggested that I do a launch party for the blog, I was surprised I hadn’t thought about it myself! She suggested this on a Tuesday, I decided on the Wednesday that it would be that Saturday…so that meant I had less than 3 days to pull it off!
I knew right away what kind of party I wanted: a small, intimate brunch with a couple of my closest girlfriends! I asked my hubby if he would be willing to make us breakfast…and he was! I knew I wanted eggs benedict, but not just any kind, the kind we had had in Montreal on our visit last year. It was the most incredible combination: bacon, avocado and brie cheese benedicts…which they called the B.A.B. I will do another post later this week with the details on that! You will NOT want to miss that!
I headed to the party store to search for a jumbo 36 inch balloon, to add as a nice backdrop for our brunch! I then made a tissue paper tassel to dress it up. I will be posting a DIY tutorial on how to make that in the next week!
I went to my local thrift store to find candle holders for my centerpiece…and boy did I ever hit the jackpot! I was tickled pink when I found these beautiful brass and silver holders! I just love mixing metals right now! I loved it so much, they are currently still set up like this on my kitchen table!
I went to Chapters to search for party favors and when I found these monogrammed mugs, I just fell in love! I did a combination of the gold plated and black (mainly because I couldn’t find everyone’s initials in one color!) and then I filled them with popcorn and finished it off with washi tape!
I can remember when we were registering for our wedding, almost 10 years ago (wow…seriously?!)..and the lady at Hudson’s Bay really encouraged us to register for fine china. As young adults, we couldn’t imagine anyone spending over $100 on ONE place setting. But she kept saying “Someone will want to buy this for you! Just pick one and put it on there. Trust me!” At that point, I also didn’t understand the importance of needing/wanting fine china. All I have to say now is am I ever thankful for that lady who steered us that direction! My husbands Granny, who is unfortunately no longer with us, bought us 5 place settings for our wedding gift and then over the next few years, she continue to add another setting on each anniversary til we reached 10 sets. Especially now that she has passed away, it’s even more meaningful when we pull out the fine china and remember Granny Joy!
I used to watch The Nate Berkus Show, when it was on the air a few years back, and I always remembered Nate talking about using your fine china, as often as you can. He would encourage his viewers to not just leave them packed away all year long, but to find reasons to pull them out and celebrate with them! I loved that! And since then, I’ve tried to use our china even more! There is something about eating off a fancy plate that makes you feel just a bit classier!
I decided to try my hand at what’s called “The Naked Cake”. One weakness of mine is cake decorating. It’s actually something I would LOVE to get better at. I see those incredible cakes online or on TV and I’m just fascinated with the attention to detail and precision work! But I can’t do that! I can barely ice a cupcake properly! So when I saw this naked cake trend on Pinterest, I knew this would be right up my alley! So easy…just put frosting in the middle layers and some flowers on tops and you’re done! Perfection!
We added in an assortment of cheeses with red pepper jelly and some fresh fruit with some chocolate clusters and we were set!
To drink, we had coffee and tea (of course!) and some sparkling wine for a toast, which we later mixed in with orange juice to make mimosas! Yes please!
When I was planning this party, there was no way I was going to get away with not including my 4 year old daughter, Leah. The apple truly does not fall far from the tree in this case…she is her mother’s daughter and she also loves to party! A few years back, I decided to buy some matching Corelle dishes (you know, the unbreakable ones) that matched our fine china, so that our kids wouldn’t feel left out whenever we wanted to use our fancy dinnerware! So I pulled that out and set a place for Leah, complete with her own monogrammed mug and sparkling ginger ale!
One final thing I want to add in here is about including your kids. Life is crazy. Life is busy. Kids make it chaotic, I understand that. I have three kids under the age of 4. But my husband and I strongly believe that they need to be included in everyday lives. That means when we throw a party, they are invited. I would never imagine it any other way. Ya, they kept picking at the food and yes, my daughter spilled her ginger ale all over the floor, but that’s real life. That’s amidst the chaos. The beauty of this party was not only celebrating with my closest girlfriends, but having my daughter sitting amongst them. She is growing up so quickly and looking up to all of us women. And I’m so honored to have amazing friends that she can look up to as well. It was such a treat for her to be involved and not just an afterthought, but to be treated the same as my other guests. And I wouldn’t have it any other way!
My sons Gabriel and Jude also made an appearance and enjoyed some treats!
Finally, I will leave you with a few more pictures of the party! I hope you enjoy looking at these and getting some inspiration for your next event! Why not invite a few friends over this weekend for brunch and make it fancy? Doesn’t take that much work, just a little extra effort and you’ll be amazed at what you can come up with!
Love & Blessings,
