Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts

Saturday, September 14, 2013

New Orleans Bridal Shower Luncheon

One of the reasons I was away from blogland for a while (aside from being a lazy slug) was my eldest daughter's wedding.  Anyone who's planned a wedding knows that it is not a one night affair.  There are MANY pre wedding parties and events to host and/or attend....and the planning...and shopping....and DIY projects...and waiting for RSVP cards to arrive...and organizing gifts.  It is SOOOO much fun, but man, it does keep you busy.

Anyway, I thought I'd revisit the New Orleans Bridal Shower which was in June of 2012.  I say New Orleans because there were also several Mississippi wedding events, since that's where the groom is from.  If I can find some decent pictures, I'll do separate posts on each of those. They were FUN!

But back to this one, it was held at Ralph's on the Park which is a gorgeous restaurant overlooking New Orleans City Park.


Of course, you can't have a New Orleans Bridal Shower....or really any event in New Orleans, without a bar!  Your choice of Mimosas and other champagne cocktails, red or white wine, Brandy milk punch.....all on a gorgeous balcony overlooking City Park.


Speaking of bars and balconies....you just knew that's where I'd find the Bride and her maids....


But I digress.....the favors were small almond scented soaps bought locally from Bayou Soap Company (check out their Facebook page).  Oh my, did they smell delicious....like wedding cake.


They were super simple to decorate....a length of lace ribbon, a length of raffia, secured on the back with a round sticker with the phrase "From Megan's Shower to Yours" and the date.  Super simple.


Over a bottle or two or three of wine at my house the day before, the groom's mom and one of the bridesmaids did the floral arrangements...hydrangeas, roses and calla lilies.  I cut some ginger lily from my yard to help give the bottom of the vases some interest, and we filled the others with pearls.   We also sprinkled Mercury glass candles on the tables and around the room. 




Another fun thing was "Date Night" suggestions.  Each table had a frame explaining what to do, and cards and pens for the guests to share their suggestions.



The cards were then placed into a tulle filled Apothecary jar located on the gift table.

A good way for guests to get to know the story of the bride and groom is by playing the "Left/Right game".  There was a gift on each table.  At a designated time, the Maid of Honor got up and read the comical story of the bride and groom....how they met, their courtship, engagement, etc.  Each time the words "right or left" were used, the gift was passed around the table in the appropriate direction.  At the end of the story, whoever held the gift got to keep it.  It was hysterical.


We also played the "What's in your purse game?"  Talk about getting to know people better....who knew someone would actually have extra underwear!

The bride decided to be traditional and open her gifts at the shower.  And man, did she have some gifts to open!


The dutiful Maid of Honor (baby daughter) kept track of each gift.


and the cake......


Oh man....the cake was from Ambrosia Bakery, a Baton Rouge bakery that my daughter fell in love with while a student at LSU.  It was traditional white wedding cake with Pecan Praline filling.  My husband, being the devoted Dad he is, made the 2.5 hour round trip trek to Baton Rouge to pick up the cake.  No, those girls don't have him wrapped around their finger at all....noooooooo.

All in all, I think a good time was had by all. 



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Thursday, October 13, 2011

Exactly one year from today

These two


will say...


...and these two families will be
over the moon with love and happiness
(and probably champagne)!!


Let the wedding countdown officially begin!!

Monday, September 26, 2011

Where did the time go???

I'm not sure when or how it happened,
but at some point I blinked and this


grew into this...



21 years ago today, a perfect, beautiful 9 lb. 8 oz. bundle of
joy joined our family


We named her Devan Kathryn and she's had a smile on her face,
and brought smiles to our faces, ever since.


Our Devan's always had more personality than she
knows what to do with...


and has always had such a happy, positive outlook on life...


As she "officially" enters adulthood, my hope is that she never loses
that positivity, that glass is 1/2 full attitude...


and that she always knows how very, very much she's loved.


Happy 21st Birthday baby girl.  With all my love....Mom

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Raise a glass - it's time for the Engagement Party!!



Finally, after months of waiting....this past Saturday we hosted an engagement party for our oldest daughter, Megan, and her fiance, Matt.  In case anyone missed my shouts from the rooftop, they got engaged back in March on a trip to New York City and I've been basically planning this event in my head since then. 

They're having a largish formal wedding in the fall of 2012, so I decided to go in the exact opposite direction with the engagement party.  Meg loves the whole "barn/rustic/mason jar look", so that was my jumping off point.  Unfortunately, I don't have a barn, but I can collect jars and boy, have I collected (and bought) jars in the last few months. 

You can't have a party, especially in our family, without sweets.  I opted for cupcakes rather than a cake...3 different kinds, cause you can never have enough cupcakes, right?

Chocolate Bavarian cream filled yellow cake with fudge frosting,
lemon poppyseed with cream cheese frosting,
and strawberry with strawberry whipped frosting
...oh and petit fours...chocolate and white...mmm
...more cupcakes...I said you can never have too many...

...and mini sugar cookies

....and Hershey's kisses....

A sideboard with a variety of cheeses, crackers and a
make-your-own bruschetta station. 
We also had an array of hearty foods in the kitchen that I completely forgot to take pictures of...jambalaya, crawfish pasta, the best chicken gumbo furnished by our dear friends Mike and Darren, meatballs, mini muffulettas, salad, stuffed mini peppers...
I sure hope nobody left hungry. 
We decided to set up the bar on the patio outside.  The kids are big wine afficionados, so I opted for the "wine crate chic" look
both inside and outside. 

Lots of Prosecco

...and a variety of red

and white wines.

The "signature drink" for the night was a "Something Blue"...

a dash of blue Curacao with Prosecco.

Everything was set up just before dark, and then the
guests started to arrive. 

The outside tables had plenty of mason jar candles

 lots of tiki torches, twinkle lights, the wine bottle torches that we made a few months ago.  Thankfully, Mother Nature cooperated and, while it was a bit warm, there was no rain. 
Less than 24 hours later, the skies opened up.  Whew...


Rather than a guest book, we did a "Wish Tree".  Can I just tell you that the day after the party, I literally stood in front of the wish tree...all by myself...reading the kind, touching words that people had written, and I sobbed like a baby.


 ...and since none of us got to witness the actual engagement, Matt was kind enough to reenact it for us...with a giant
bling ring that was part of the decor.


...and here's to the happy couple.  Steve and I had such fun planning and putting together this party for these two "kids" that we love so much.  It was truly our honor and pleasure to host our family and friends and have them share in our happiness.


Meg and Matt, this is only the beginning of the
celebration of your upcoming marriage!  We love you both!!

Cheers!!!





Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Lazy Days of Summer



Ahhh....doesn't that conjure up images of margaritas, red skin and relaxation?  Well, that has NOT been my summer...lazy...uh NO!


We got the baby girl moved back up to college a few weeks ago.  The big girl and her fiance have finally finished the bar exam (fingers crossed...no results until October) and they're preparing to move out this weekend. 


Now I'm in the midst of planning the upcoming engagement party.  Yeah!!!  Now that they've got that pesky law school stuff behind them, we can again focus on important things like THE WEDDING. 


So....while I have been very lazy with my blogging, I have not been lazy in general. 


If I close my eyes, I can almost imagine that I'm on that beach with a drink in my hand...almost...wait, let me try a little harder....come on, concentrate....focus...deep breath....who am I kidding? 

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Whew.....Pomp and Circumstance...it's Graduation time!!


We have been running nonstop with lots of fun activitites....no time for blogging lately.

Two straight weekends of Jazz Fest ran into the fun of Law School Graduations... not to mention that pesky think called work...add those together and I have been MIA!!

Friday we drove to Jackson, MS to see our future son in law graduate cum laude from MS College School of Law.  We had a wonderful time with the future in laws, plopped into bed after a wonderful dinner and a lot of laughs, and then got up early to drive back home.


Arrived with just enough time to shower and head out to see our eldest daughter graduate magna cum laude from Loyola Univ. School of Law.  I told you it was a whirlwind weekend of graduations.  The future in laws also drove in (we are doing our part to make the oil companies even richer) and we had another wonderful evening of drinks, dinner, more laughs and less sleep.  Woke up bright and early Sunday morning to prepare a brunch to celebrate the graduates accomplishments with the grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc....more eating, laughing...you get the picture. 


Another milestone in the books. 
We couldn't be prouder of our two future lawyers.