Celebrating

Emily and I have been friends since college, and she's one of the most amazingly generous people I know - the sort of friend who shows up at your house with takeout and champagne on a Wednesday, just because you're having a bad week. I knew that a traditional shower would make her exceedingly uncomfortable, but her friends and I wanted to plan a party that would honor her, show her how much we love her and celebrate this moment in her life. It wasn't a surprise (surprises are a complete no-go, for both of us) but we kept all the details completely secret.

We ended up with an intimate and leisurely lunch for twelve, with good drinks, plenty of food and lots of talking. Absolutely no games, and I don't think anyone missed them. I didn't get as many pictures as I normally would, because I was busy hosting, but here are a few snippets. And for those of you who want details, I'll give additional info at the bottom.

{invitation}

{welcome table}

{drink tags}

{getting started}

{china - photo from Emily}

{dessert}

{cat in a globe!}

:: I made the invitations using a wash of watercolor and some gold accents, which set up the color scheme for the party. The text and envelopes were grey and I used patterned gold paper to line the envelopes.

:: Our apartment is upstairs and in the back of the building, so I set up the welcome table at the top of the flight of stairs so guests could see it as they arrived. It made it easy to spot the correct apartment and it gave me a location for the drinks (my apartment is a decent size, but there aren't all that many places to set up various stations!).

:: Do the drink tags look familiar? D made the template for Thanksgiving dinner, and we used it again but printed them out on some leftover watercolor paper that I had used for the invitations. I love drink tags because it lets you keep track of your glass as you move around the party.

:: Appetizers - roasted asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, dates stuffed with chevre and wrapped in applewood smoked bacon, rosemary and sea salt roasted almonds and a selection of marinated olives and cornichons.

:: Food (not pictured because we were busy eating) - Several varieties of grilled cheese sandwiches and a large salad. We had a seated meal, which I think makes conversation so much easier. Grilled cheese sandwiches are sort of a thing for us, so I was determined to make them even though I knew it was a little impractical because they had to be grilled at the party. It worked out fine.

:: The table decorations came together very randomly. I'd seen this post and marked it because I know D would kill for a squirrel candleholder (and now I've ruined that surprise - oh well). And I like to tease Emily about turning into a crazy cat lady, so I thought it would be funny to incorporate cats into the decor. The closest thing I could find at the party store was "baby jungle cats" so I sprayed them gold and stuck them in these globes that I already owned (they're from CB2 and I bought them before the holidays) along with a little confetti.

:: My philosophy with party decorating is that you want a few high impact areas rather than trying to hide or modify your entire space. I made liberal use of gold fringe backdrops and crepe paper (more info on the lanterns coming soon, I promise) and I bought the cat figures, but that was it really. D made the letters for me after I mentioned I wanted some but completely ran out of time. He just printed them out, traced them on cardboard and then wrapped them in crepe paper.

:: DESSERT! Clearly, the most important part of a party. I made an ombre cake (you'll have to pop over to E's post to see it) mostly because I've had various images of those marked for ages and this is the best possible excuse for that sort of craziness. A good friend made a dulce de leche and mexican chocolate crepe torte that was to die for. And we also had white chocolate chip cookies (because they're E's fave) and brownies to go with the ice cream. Because yes, we had a full ice cream sundae bar with homemade hot fudge and salted caramel. Except it ended up being more of an ice cream free for all because I ran out of time and just plunked everything down in the middle of the table and let everyone pass it around. It's more fun that way, right?

Whew. Sorry for the extreme wordiness. I had so much fun planning and thinking of ways to make it perfect for Em. And now I can't wait for the wedding!

Update - drink tag template is available here. And the invitation tutorial is right here. Fringed lantern tutorial is here. Cherub's cup drink recipe is here.