Baby Sprinkle

There are many opinions on having a celebration for baby #2. There's gender reveals, diaper parties, baby sprinkles, baby showers, sip & sees and probably plenty more that I'm not aware of. Some say it's greedy to have another celebration for a second or third child. Some say it's okay in certain circumstances like a large age gap between children or having a child of the opposite gender. I mean it really is hard to judge someone for having another party for a second child. Maybe the parents are going through a hard time and could use the support or maybe they experienced a loss and  this child is truly a reason to celebrate. Either way, I'm a part of the group that says who cares what everyone else thinks. I like to have parties and every baby is a reason to celebrate!

My husband seems to think that I find every reason to have a party. And well, that's probably true because when I found out my best friend was expecting again I just had to have another party for her! Just a week ago, I attended her gender reveal party. After taking a bite of some tasty cupcakes, we found out that baby #2 is a boy! Of course my mind started thinking of the perfect baby sprinkle. I have never thrown one before so I am super excited to do so! And the best thing about a baby sprinkle is that I will be able to reuse a lot of the decorations for future baby sprinkles.

Since baby sprinkles are usually much smaller than a baby shower, we are planning on a light brunch with fruit, coffee, juice and of course, sprinkled donuts! I love early showers too because it allows your guests time to enjoy the rest of the day. I can't wait to plan more!

Bridal Expo Labels

What many brides-to-be don't realize is that when you go to a bridal expo be prepared for carpal tunnel! Every booth you go to wants your name and contact information and soon enough you'll find yourself writing your phone number down 500 times. However, you just can't pass up all of the chances to win free stuff. I mean that's how I won a $2,000 photo booth package! Don't let this spoil the fun of bridal shows though, because I have the perfect solution for you. Before you go to a bridal show make labels with all of your contact information. Then, you'll be leaving the bridal shows with all of the goodies but without the hand cramps.

Here is a sample with the information to include on your labels!
If you already know the location of the ceremony and/or venue, feel free to add that as well.

An Outdoor Thursday Wedding

Last year was the first time I can remember going to an outdoor wedding, and I will never forget it because it was absolutely beautiful outside! It was mid October, so the state park was a collage of red, yellow and orange leaves. We sat on hay bales with cozy blankets as the bride and groom shared their vows. The atmosphere was quite surreal.

This wedding was also an outdoor wedding. Deep down I would have loved to have my wedding outdoors as well, but with a guest list of over 300 people and the unpredictable weather of the Midwest, we quickly put that idea to the side. So anytime we are invited to an outdoor wedding, which you can tell is few to none, I literally jump with excitement!

Both the ceremony and reception took place at Country Pines, which is an event facility and winery northwest of Lincoln. Chairs were lined up under shade trees for the ceremony and the reception was held in a covered pavilion. The weather was absolutely perfect for the setup.

The venue was very unique. I've never seen anything like it. Guests enjoyed their meals at round tables and cocktails at old wine barrels next to a garden. And check out that light strand! The whole pavilion illuminates with them at dusk.

The vineyard was a great photo opportunity for the bride and groom. Just look at the view!

And have I mentioned yet that all of this took place on a Thursday? Yes, I mean Thursday. I've attended a Friday wedding before, but never a Thursday. I definitely don't blame the bride and groom though. They shared with us that they reserved the venue for HALF price since it was on a weekday. And with the rising cost of weddings these days, you have to do what you can to cut costs.

I know what some of you are thinking, "A Thursday wedding? That's quite odd!" Well, with it being a holiday weekend I don't think the event inconvenienced many people. I personally enjoyed having a five day weekend with my little family. It's actually quite ironic that it was a Thursday wedding because just a few weeks ago CNN published an article about the rising popularity of Thursday weddings.

It doesn't really matter which day of the week you choose for you wedding. Your day will be just as special whether it's on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday or any other day. Houston didn't know what day of the week it was and he had a blast at his first wedding!

We also had another wedding on Saturday, and we still have two more this month. Tis' the season!

DIY Invitations

Despite the fact that I love being creative, the main reason I love designing my own invitations is because I save money doing it! You can spend $50 or more for invitations off online stores like Shutterfly or Vistaprint or spend less with store bought invitations but spend hours handwriting all of the details. Talk about a hand cramp! With designing your own invitations, you can not only design the invite to your exact liking, but also print them for way less!

My sister-in-law was the first one to introduce me to designing my own invitations. She told me about a free software that I could download to my computer called Inkscape. You can also use Photoshop, Illustrator or other graphic design softwares, but I didn't really want to spend the money to purchase one. I also didn't want a very challenging software that I would have to take a class to learn how to use.

So far I've had great success with using Inkscape! If I had any trouble figuring out how to do something, I searched for an online tutorial and easily figured out the steps myself. 

Once I finish the invitation, I save it as an Adobe File and print them myself on card stock. If you don't have access to a printer or have the time to cut out each invitation, you can also print them at a local library, print shop, photo shop or online store. I plan on printing my son's birthday invitations through Davenport Printing. I haven't used them before but have heard great things about them and they are relatively cheap. Happy designing! 

I Do BBQ

This past weekend I had the pleasure of assisting with a couples shower for my friend. I'm already assisting with her wedding in September, so I was super excited to help with a bridal shower for her!

The bride requested a casual outdoor bbq for the event. We held the shower at one of the hostess' house. Her finished garage and large backyard was perfect to set up tables and chairs and backyard games! There were bags, ladder golf, badminton and even giant Jenga.

My favorite entertainment of the evening was the picture frame. My dad was able to put it together and hang it from the tree in the backyard. It was a great way for guests to have a little keepsake from the shower.

With the theme being an outdoor bbq, the menu consisted of hot dogs, brats, chips and cookies. I think the selection went over very well, especially after having a few drinks.

As for the decorations, we covered the tables in gingham tablecloths and added mason jars with flowers and metal tins with snacks. Lanterns hung from the tent and the ceiling in the garage.

I actually borrowed a lot of the decorations from a friend. She used them at her wedding and was so ecstatic to see them being used again! She even decorated the chalkboards for me.

Since it was a more casual event, we requested the guests to not wrap their presents. This allowed the bride and groom to greet the guests and personally thank them for the gifts instead of spending time opening the gifts in front of everyone. The gifts were then displayed on a table for everyone to see. I also purchased a wooden mason jar off of Etsy for all of the guests to sign. I always liked having a little token to take home from my showers to remind me of each one.

On the fence we hung a personalized banner. Unfortunately a little rain made the pennants curl by the time the shower started, but it's the thought that counts! On the other fence we hung photos of the couple with clothespins. What a cute timeline of the couple from the time they started dating to wedding planning!

Thankfully the rain held off for the evening and everyone seemed to have a great time! There was definitely plenty to do and lots of laughs to go around!

QC Fall Bridal Fair

Are you planning an upcoming wedding? 

Bridal fairs are a great way to find local vendors for your wedding in one place at one time! 

There are over 50 vendors currently slated to participate!

QC Fall Bridal Fair

iWireless Center

Sunday, September 18th, 2016

10:00 AM - 2:00 PM

$5 Admission

Although I'm a member of the Jaycees Bridal Expo committee, I'm a little partial to this bridal expo since the year I went I won the grand prize! 

Stay tuned for more information on the Jaycees Bridal Expo! 

You won't want to miss out on the largest bridal expo in the Quad Cites!

Woodland Baby Shower

This past spring I had the wonderful opportunity of putting together a woodland baby shower for my friend. This was certainly a special baby shower, as her fiancé is best friends with my husband AND they were expecting a baby boy just months after our little one arrived. It was such an exciting time!

I got together with her sister, friend and mother-in-law to start planning the event. The first thing was to find a venue to hold around 75 guests that wasn't too expensive and allowed us to bring in our own food (which initiated my list of venues). One of her friends just recently had a baby shower at the McGehee Center in Silvis so we looked into it. All I can say is this place is a hidden gem! The place is neat and clean, spacious enough for 75 guests, allows you to bring in your own food and only charges $25 per hour. The only downfall is that you have to be a Silvis resident in order to rent the space.

After we found the venue, we split up the remaining duties. I chose my favorite tasks, invitations and decorations! Ideally I would have designed and printed the invitations myself, but with being on maternity leave with a one month old I couldn't find the time to do it. I went with my second best option of purchasing a customizable invitation off of Etsy. I printed the invitations myself, created address labels (handwriting 100 invitations with a newborn wasn't happening) and sent them off! I've saved a lot of money over the years by doing invitations myself!

When it came to the decorations, I wanted to make something useful for the mommy so I decided on mini diaper cakes. To make the cakes fit in with the shower theme, I turned them into trees by using craft sticks, pom poms and craft paper. They were pretty inexpensive to make and I received numerous compliments from guests!

I also put together a trail mix bar for the dessert table. I was able to find glassware for the snacks at Goodwill for cheap, cheap, cheap! I purchased some scoops from Hobby Lobby and added a chalkboard with a cute phrase.

I can't really take any credit for the sign-in table. The mommy's sister and friend made the chalkboard, diaper cake and guest book. Didn't it turn out just amazing? They also brought envelopes for all of the guests to fill out for thank you cards. This would have been a huge help for my baby shower!

There was a great turn out for the shower and I think the mommy got just but about everything that she needed!