The weekend was a complete whirlwind and all in the best ways possible. It was one filled with family, friends, and lots of love! While I’ve been busy planning a bridal shower for the past few weeks I was also keeping a huge surprise…our oldest son was flying home to attend the shower!
This was a big deal! Our son is the Man of Honor in his best friend’s wedding. Backstory – my husband and I are best friends with her parents; in fact, we met in their wedding. Our kids have grown up together and are so tight. But keeping the secret was a huge undertaking- we told NO ONE – not even my mother. In fact, here’s a picture of my mom when she saw that Nolan was at the shower!
We did surprise the bride to be on Friday night and gave her the best gift – her Man of Honor! We lured her over to my sister’s house telling her she needed to help decorate! She was so stunned and got teary eyed.
Here’s the deal – I love hosting a party! Especially one with a theme or purpose. Scouring Pinterest and creating all the fun and festive decorations is so much fun! But with the state of things (I’m looking at you, Covid-19) we needed to be mindful of space and comfort for everyone. So, I hosted the party at my sister’s house!
The Menu
We decided on a champagne brunch and served chicken and waffles, bacon, quiche, fruit salad, pancakes, macaroons, cupcakes, cookies, and of course mimosas! Everything was homemade with the exception of the cupcakes (Walmart) and the cookies – I hired a local baker to do those.
If you follow me on Instagram then you know I spent the better part of last week making waffles (I used this mini waffle maker) and made over 40 waffles and also made 9 pounds of bacon (in the oven). On Saturday morning I made the pancakes for the pancake bar and cooked chicken tenders. My best friend made the quiche and the fruit salad.
I did not get photos of the hot food bar! But the pancake bar included fresh fruit, whipped cream. maple syrup, pecans, and chocolate chips.
Table Settings
I tried to keep the table setting simple yet elegant. I ordered white tablecloths from tablecloths.com. These are simple to wash and don’t require ironing. I’ve ordered from them before and find that once I put the tablecloth on the wrinkles work themselves out. I paid $30 for 6 and love that they’ll be in regular rotation around here.
The sequin table runners came from Amazon (2 in a pack for $10.99) and I spray painted mason jars to use for centerpieces. The flowers were from Michael’s (I pulled apart small bouquets that were on sale) and added real leather leaf fern from our neighbor’s yard. Actually no one knew the flowers weren’t real!
We used clear glass plates that have been in our family for almost 30 years. My mother bought them ages ago at the dollar store so we could use them instead of paper plates. Much to my mother’s chagrin we did use plastic cutlery but it looked like metal and was gold in color.
Decor
First of all my sister’s home is breathtakingly beautiful (as is the bride to be!) so we didn’t need much decor but that’s not how we roll. I found a cute Mimosa Bar kit on Amazon – I highly recommend it – it came with EVERYTHING we needed to set up the perfect station. I made the most beautiful ice cubes with this ice cube tray. It only made 8 at a time so it took all week to get enough cubes but it made such an impact. Please note these ice cubes are decorative only and not edible.
The day could not have been better – the sun was shining, there was a cool breeze, and we had the best time!
After the shower we had dinner reservations at one of Orlando’s oldest and best restaurants. We had never been there (hard to believe) and they take reservations weeks in advance – I made ours a month ago as soon as we knew the boys would be home. After all, Friday had been my husband’s birthday and we wanted to celebrate him too!
After the most delicious steak dinner I have ever had we came home and had the birthday cake I made (seriously I was a cooking FOOL last week – ha!) and watched a movie – The News of the World with Tom Hanks.
Sunday morning it was time for goodbyes. We had to get Nolan to the airport and Collin had to to hit the road back to Gainesville. My mom stopped by to see the boys and we took a few pictures.
And that’s a wrap! I bid goodbye to the weekend with a full and happy heart. As much as I wish my boys were here all the time – or at least lived closer – the time we are together is so special.
Next month is Collin’s birthday and we’ll head to Gainesville to see him unless he can get away and come home. As an architecture major there are so many design projects coming due as the semester wraps up. Nolan will be home for the wedding in April so we’ll see him then and I can’t wait!
I hope your weekend was a good one too – any special highlights?
