Oct 30, 2017

Brittany's Chinoiserie Shower




Brittany's bridal shower was at our home. 
 Barrett was beyond excited to take on this task and in fact insisted on it.
She is so good and has so much fun planning events.  

The theme and decor was based around the classic blue and white chinoiserie pattern,
with some pink, green and white touches. 

Barrett had ultimate say in everything. She made the banner, tissue flowers, worked with Brooke 
(the other sister who is a graphic artist) with the invitations. She also came up with menu 
and did the food prep. While she was busy with all of the baking and mixing, I did all of the 
decorating and set up. 


Brittany looked so pretty!






That is my veil hanging on the front door!






Since Brittany and B were going to Thailand on their honeymoon,
the guest book was a Thai cookbook.




I set up this little display of some of Brittany's baby things.
That is her dress and shoes she wore home from the hospital along with the gold bangle 
her daddy gave her. (Yes, he gave all three girls a gold bangle to wear home from the hospital! Sweet, right?) Also, there was her silver spoon, fork and cup - I even polished them! A picture of her in the hospital all dressed to come home and another picture of her "playing wedding" when she was about two was there too. 



The food was set up in the dining room.




Barrett strung pompoms on fishing line and made the cutest garland!





The menu:
curry chicken salad tarts
pickled shrimp
mushroom gruyere puffs (so good)
veggie and an oriental dip
cheddar cheese ring with strawberry preserves
caprese skewers
deviled eggs



















The beverage station and dessert table were set up in the kitchen. 

Drinks:
pink lemonade punch
pineapple limeade punch
mimosas










The sweets:
sugar cookies
pecan tassies
mini carrot cupcakes
mini banana puddings
vanilla macarons with strawberry curd





Look at how cute this cookie arrangement was!  Barrett was so meticulous 
about arranging them.  





It makes me so sad that my mom is not here to enjoy her grandgirls 
growing up and being a part of things like their showers and weddings. My mom 
died in 2010 (I still cannot believe it) from breast cancer. She was a HUGE part of their lives and loved them so much. She would have loved every minute of all of these events and would have loved rolling up her sleeves and helping. She made the best souther banana pudding and it was the girl's favorite thing about going to her house. She taught all of them how to make the custard from scratch and how to slice the bananas just right!

So, we wanted to include banana pudding at the shower, but wanted to have individual servings of it instead of a big dish of it sitting on the table. We found these small paper baking cups that were perfect for this!  
















Barrett 's perfect little macarons




We decorated the mantle in the living room as the backdrop for the gift opening.
With the exception of the banner, we were able to pull things from all around our house
 to create this look.





We found the PERFECT pack of scrapbook paper for the banner
and the pompoms brought it all together.






















 Lola - she is just one of the girls! 



Barrett officially welcoming and thanking everyone for coming



Of course, Brittany really enjoyed opening her gifts. She received some very nice things.
Brooke designed the monogram and crest that was used on the 
wedding stationary and signs throughout the reception
and as a shower gift, she painted (watercolor) it.  
We had it framed and used it at the reception also.
















Charlie was the entertainment! 
He is a C-L-O-W-N!





my girls


the bridesmaids












I love that my girls are older now and really love and are good at organizing and hosting things. 
(It sure does help me out!) 
I enjoyed this day so much, but pretty much felt like Lola when it was all over!





Oct 26, 2017

B&B's Engagement





I hope that the third tenth time is a charm. I have written this post several times
 and even posted it before I realized that, for some reason,  only photos were showing up and no words. I have tried over and over for several days! Nothing I write shows up in "saved" either! Fingers crossed that this one IS the post that actually makes it.

************

Well, anyway, I am so glad to be posting about Brittany's engagement and all things leading up to her wedding day! It is about time right? She and B have almost been married a year! I am glad to be back into blogging and can't wait to share all one million pictures!

Brittany and B started dating in high school, her junior year and his senior.  They went to the
Homecoming Dance together way back when and have been together ever since.  They had been dating for over ten years when they finally got engaged! 
She was sooooo excited to finally get to plan THE wedding she had been talking and dreaming about for years!


They had their engagement photos taken on a cold spring day in downtown Raleigh and at a park near by.
Our little sky line is growing and is so cute, don't you think? 
















Mr. B's mom and stepfather held an engagement party for them on 
their property just outside of Raleigh.  It was in a rural area and the perfect setting.  
There was a tent set up in the middle of a field with market lights hung, lanterns and a lot of candles. 
There was also a small band, lawn games and even porta potties!

Brittany could not wait to get ready! She was sooo excited and giddy the entire day.
She had waited for over ten years for this!







The party decor and food was based around a Thailand theme since that is where Brittany and B were going on their honeymoon.  












Brooke and E






It didn't rain - but there was a rainbow!


Britt and her bridesmaids


B and the groomsmen


My growing family minus Mr. E!


At the end of the party,
 there were even surprise fireworks. I did not get good
pictures of them though.










Later that night Brittany and B came back to our house to open a few engagement gifts they had received and of course, all of us girls reminisced about the night. 




Good times!
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