Quantcast

Bower Power

· 71 Comments

Dinner Party Shower

Uncategorized

Yesterday we were working in this space:

I know.  We are constantly switching gears on you.  Sometimes we are working on the nursery, sometimes the basement bedroom, but now, something more important popped up.  Or should I say ‘popped out’?  As in belly…

Let me explain.  You see, two of our best friends, Luke & Austin are expecting a baby…or two.  Let’s go with two. Because I don’t think that one of the babies would want to stay in there.  And I am 100% positive that Austin wouldn’t want that.          

So what does that have to do with our basement?

Well, in honor of the our friends and their soon-to-arrive twins, we decided to get our little group of close friends together to have one last dinner party shower.  And to make it extra special, we moved all of the furniture out of our basement living space and moved in a long table for 5 couples and a serving table. 

The set up was fairly simple.  Jeremy moved everything out except for the rug (all of the furniture got scooted into the adjoining laundry room) and the folding tables were borrowed from my parents.  We rented the chairs from a nearby event facility for $1.50 a piece.  Is that a good price?  We never rented chairs before.  But since our dining room set is bar height, we needed to bring in seating that the guests knees wouldn’t be higher than the tabletop.  That could be moderately uncomfortable 🙂     

Besides our guests of honor – Luke & Austin,

there were these crazy people,

you might not recognize the names.

There.  Much better.

There was also Jade & Julia.  Julia acted as co-host. 

Among our friends, we always try to co-host showers and events.  It makes it a lot easier.  And cheaper.  And less stress on my boyfriend.  And that’s no joke.    

We also invited our good friends Brook & Kent.  You may recognize them from here.  or here.  Us four couples have been getting toether for quite some time.  We have game nights and movie nights and celebrate birthdays together.  It’s quite fun to have friends.  I would know.  I was homeschooled.      

And fairly new to the group is Rob & Kate.  They are avid Seinfield fans.  And so obviously it was just matter of time till we included them in every single group activity. 

 

That was the guest list.  Small.  But perfectly sized for a dinner party. 

And any good dinner party needs decor.  Enter flowers.

I picked up a few dozen roses to add a splash of pink to our tablesetting theme which was dominately blue.  At $3 per dozen, the price was divine. 

I would always recommend finding a grocery store that discounts their flowers the day after major holidays (like Valentines day) and picking up a bouquet or two even if you don’t have a dinner party planned.  It’s a really great way to add a splash of color to your rooms & make you smile for cheap. 

 

Our table was layered in blue tableclothes and then I used silver chargers and blue and white dishware to achieve a monochromatic look.  The silverware was rolled up in a napkin and a pink & white ribbon secured them.  The finishing touch was a trimmed rose tucked in for a pop of pink.     

In other dinner party planning details, the food was served buffet style.  My rule of thumb for dinner parties is to plan for only 90% when it comes to food.  I tend to cook too much food in general (leaving me with lots of uneaten food and a higher grocery bill) so this way, I can not overcook and spare my fridge from leftover overload.  For those of you that like details, we served honey-balsalmic chicken, alfredo fettucinni, asparagus, caesar salad, bread and bruschetta.   

After eating, we moved upstairs and Austin opened her presents.  I didn’t get many photos because I was too busy stuffing my face with chocolate covered strawberries & cheesecake.  I did however get a girl group shot. 

Which actually would look like a very awkward photo without a bit of vital information. 

All of us girls are pregnant. Yup, something is definitely in the water here.  And because I know someone out there will ask….no we didn’t plan this.  It just happened.  We aren’t THAT good of friends. 

So that is what we have been up to.   Cooking, cleaning, flower arranging…and enjoying a great time with friends.  Anyone else out there host a dinner party lately?  Or a baby shower that you wanna link to?  Please do!  Or maybe you have a tidbit of helpful info on chair rentals, or meal planning, or bouquet buying that needs to be shared?  Or perhaps all your friends are preggo too?  Uncoordinated pregancies of course….because that would be just sort of too weird to have that conversation with your friends.  Can you imagine that phone call?  “Hello?  It’s Katie.  Yes, I feel very fertile.  Call your husband.  It’s go time!”

0 Shares

Comments

  1. My twin sister and I are both pregnant and our due dates are exactly one week apart. So you already know the #1 question that we get. Just for kicks I think we should start telling people that it actually was planned. 😉

  2. A group of friends and I have seriously joked about trying to get pregnant at the same time. Our hypothetical plans involved secluding ourselves up in a cabin for a few months to sync our cycles. We’re totally hardcore. 🙂

  4. Oh my!!!that belly of yours is huge!!!are u sure you’re not expecting twins???haha, you look beautiful of course, you really got that blow thing everybody talks about. COngratulations to all the mumys to be in that group, you’re gonna have such a fun taking the babies to the park all toguether…

  7. Hilarious that you are all pregnant…are you SURE you’re not trying to copy the high school girls that did this??? haha – you all look great. Looks like a fun time!

  8. Love it! My two best friends were due within 2 weeks of each other (but they didn’t know each other until after they were both preggo…I introduced them). And somehow I avoided whatever was in the water. : )

    Also. I was homeschooled as well and love your homeschooler jokes, so please keep ’em coming!

  12. You guys look so cute! Hey, you did a great job on the table setting! Looking at your food reminds me that I need to cook…Have you ever tried the parmesian bread seasoning from Publix? It’s like the seasoning that Carabba’s uses with olive oil for dipping their bread (umm umm good!!).

    have a great day!

  14. The pic of you girls is priceless, how wonderful to share this experience with your close friends. And you can turn your dinner parties into playdates without anyone feeling left out! ; )

    PS Beautiful job on shower decor, as always!

  15. That is too cute! I know at least one person due each month from now until October! I’m due in June 🙂 There must be something in the water here in Seattle, too… for us and our friends, 2008 was the Year of the Wedding, and 2010 is really shaping up to be the Year of the Baby! Very exciting.

  16. I loved everything about this post, but especially the punch line: that all of you are pregnat!
    Do you all realize how absolutely WONDERFUL it is that you live close enough to get together for a dinner party? Your children can grow up with a passle of unrelated brothers and sisters, built-in friends, pals and co-conspirators!
    How lucky for those little babies!!!

  17. I always look forward to reading your posts and you never disappoint, there are always interesting and hilarious. Thanks for sharing your world to us.

  18. What a great table scape! Will you post the recipes? Everything sounds delish and I’m actually trying to eat the computer 🙂 and I’m not even pregnant

  20. Boyfriend and Bighead was my favorite part of this entire post…until I read that you are all expecting…I am SO jealous! I don’t have any friends that are currently pregnant…I am hoping that it happens some time down the road with my second or third (if we are lucky enough) but that is so fun for you!!

  21. when my bff got pregnant last year she begged me and all of our friends to “take one for the team!” she was soooo desperate to have someone else going through the pain with her she even went as far as jokingly asking her cousin, who has no man in site, to have a one-night stand and get knocked up with her! lol.

  25. I work at a True Value in Maryland and we rent the same type for $1.25. Brown ones are cheaper, for $1.00 each. So you didn’t do too bad with your rental! That is pretty much the range for plastic rental chairs (at least that is what they said at the True Value Rental show I went to last month in New Orleans!) The nicer chairs are priced higher (not sure if you had that option?) so good job with getting a good deal!

  26. L. Duncan,
    I haven’t tried that but I will now! Carabba’s is one of our very favorite places to eat out! If only it was a little closer, I am sure we would go broke eating there. But now that you said there is a seasoning mix at Publix, I am gonna be the favorite wife & daughter…yay for me!
    XO -KB

  27. Jen,
    Here are the recipe links –
    Honey Balsalmic Chicken
    Oven roasted asparagus
    Alfredo Fettuccine

    And for the caesar salad, we used romaine lettuce, Ken’s creamy caesar dressing, caesar croutons and some parmesan cheese. To make the bruschetta, just get sliced italian bread and brush it with olive oil, place sliced tomatoes on top and sprinkle with parmesan cheese, garlic powder, salt & pepper and bake for 8-10 minutes at 425 degrees. When it comes out, sprinkle it with sliced fresh basil….hmmm….delicious!

    XO – Katie

  29. So I know this doesn’t matter. And I know this is besides the point. But I just have to ask – do people in the south call it ‘alfredo fettucinni’? Because here it’s ‘fettucinni alfredo’, and I’ve never heard it the other way around. Lol, sorry, I’m really curious!

  30. i just know this page, nice blog you have,
    i will visit this web more often and read about your post,
    i like ur topic specially about
    Dinner Party Shower

    Cheers

  31. Oh. My. Lordy. I thought that picture of all you girls was a ‘let’s joke around and stuff our shirts with pillows’ kinda pic. That’s amazing. Something is DEFINITELY in the H20!

  33. Cute Photo!!!!

    Move the stool next time, it looks like you have on some sort of weird two tone skirt! Hehe

  34. I love that you used your trifle bowl as a vase…I have the same one and now I’m inspired 🙂

  35. I share the same due date with Kate. Although I recently read that the average pregnancy lasts 42 weeks. Another reason I’m glad to be having a homebirth…avoid pitocin at the 40th if it doesn’t happen right away.

    Very pretty dinner party. I am actually skipping a shower and having a party after the baby’s born. It might be cultural, but although I did have wedding showers, I feel awkward opening gifts up in front of others showcasing what they bought and how much they spent, and asking for gifts in general. I just want people to see and love my baby!

    But I do love the time of other people gathering around and sharing this special time with us, which is what hopefully most showers achieve besides gift giving.

  38. Hi Allison,
    Those dishes were actually given to me from my mom. I think she got them at Goodwill. I guess that is where I get my thrifting passion from 🙂

    XO – Katie

  39. haha oh my gosh that is ridiculous!! I can’t believe all of your friends are pregnant, too! Remind me not to drink whatever it is you ladies have been drinking :p

    The flowers are beautiful, and at that price, I might have to go pick some up!

    Would you mind sharing your recipe for bruschetta?

    I love the little flower in your hair 🙂

  41. Katie thank you so much for answering my question so quickly. Can’t say enough good things about your blog!!!! Love it!!!!

  44. Too cute. I swear all these baby posts are breaking out hard core baby fever. No thank you.

    Where I work went through baby heat craze 3 years ago. Nine of us were pregnant, a friend of mine and I had the same due date. That was fun, all the “whats in the water” comments. We planned it, for sure. 😉

    You look great though! Kinda hate you for that! 😉

    xo

    Rachelle

  46. …save yourself too much online searching (or questionable results) and look up the “pregnancy pact” 🙂

  47. I love the picture of you and your pregnant friends! All of those pregnant bellies makes my uterus ache.

  48. Katie,

    The seasoning is located in the bakery @ Publix. you’ll see a display with it and publix olive oil (DO NOT BUY THAT OLIVE OIL…ewww)!
    I just wanted to give you the heads up so you weren’t looking on the seasoning aisle like I did the first time!
    have a good nigt!

  50. Hi Katie! I love your blog, but have never commented until now. Your dinner party looks beautiful. I just love your tablescape! Where did you get your ottoman? We have been on the search for one, but can’t find one with a price that we are willing to pay.

    You look really great. My baby is 10 weeks & I wish we had more pictures the closer I was to delivering.

  52. Holy Cow….y’all are all pregnant??? I hope the church nursery is gearing up for a massive attendance increase in the near future! YAY for all of you; kinda makes me jealous, but just a little 😉

  53. It’s so great to see a practically put together dinner party– some blogs out there set the bar too high for me to reach! This, however, is both beautiful and doable. I typically host my get-togethers outside, but I love the idea of clearing out a whole other space (like the basement!) for your guests. Thanks for sharing! I’ll definitely be borrowing some of your ideas!

  55. Em!!!
    I haven’t had a shower yet…but I did just receive the invite to my first one 🙂 I am really excited about it…mostly because of the gifts. Let’s just say it how it is 🙂

    XO – K

  57. Hi, Katie~ Great post as always! I have a some-what personal question related to something you mentioned in your post. Do you have any regrets about being home-schooled? Is it something you would consider for baby Will? I have 2 boys and was a teacher before they were born, so it’s an idea I’ve toyed with many times. Just wondering how you felt about it, though I know it’s a very personal decision for each family. Thanks in advance! Lori

  58. You really do look great Katie!!!

    And you are blessed to have friends pregos with you! When I had my first everyone else was still in the newly married phase so we were lone parents in a sea of dinner parties and date nights. It was a tad isolating.

    But now that we are on our fourth (due aug 9th) it is so fun cause 3 of us closest friends are pregnant with together and 2 of us even go to the same midwife so we plan our appts and carpool! Fun times!!!

  60. I’m stealing all those recipes!! Yum! The same this happened at my job 9 women pregnant in one year with a company of only about 50 people!! There was definitely something in the water!

  61. What a lovely party (and a lovely bunch of moms-to-be)! I’m so jealous – I always wanted a pregnancy buddy (just one!) But my friends and I are not all operating on the same time table. It is ok though – I’ll have lots of awesome hand-me-downs to look forward to. Now I’m off to make some try some of that chicken (the ‘zaar is my favorite recipe site, I always find good stuff on there). Thanks for sharing!

  63. Hi Lori,
    Regrets about being homeschooled? Hmmm. Lack of prom. That’s about it. Other than that we had a huge regime of non-school activities with other homeschoolers and other-schoolers. And yes, I would totally consider it for Will….especially if our school district had curriculum or teachers that were less than par. I would also say that I am ALL about mixing in a little homeschooling with a few years of public or private school. In fact, that is actually the way my parents did it…we all did all three so I feel well equipped to have an opinion. Plus it means that I get to make fun of all different types of schooled peeps 🙂
    XO – Katie

  64. Thanks Katie! Somehow I had a feeling that was the source. Can I borrow you and your mom for a weekend so some of those thrift store super skills rub off on me?

    The blue dishes look so great with the silver chargers. I’m a little jealous.

    Love the blog!

  65. You look adorable! How FUN! I was just preggers (my daughter is now 3 months old) with my 3 best friends- so special to share that time in your life with those you love. And the party setup looked FABULOUS!

  66. You are so adorable and look amazing! I can’t believe how big you are already! I love that all your friends are pregnant at the same time. How fun!

    Can’t wait to try those recipes you gave!

  67. Haha…..I am dying over the last bit of this post. I do think it is really cool all of you all are pregnant. Great dinner party too! 🙂

  68. okay- what I really want to know is where did you get your awesome shirt?? You look GORGEOUS in the white- and with the big white flower- LOVING IT. I just had my 3rd (5 weeks ago)- and as we want a big family, i am ALL about finding cute maternity clothes. uhhh…not that we are considering going at it again any time soon… But when a girl feels huge, at least she can feel beautiful! 😀

  69. Hi Tawna!
    ah thanks girl! The white shirt is from Target…pretty great design for a chain store! It was Liz Lange design…and the best part is that it has a tie back right above the belly for that perfect fitted look! Plus, it’s tunic length so I have been able to wear it from early pregnancy all the way through…gotta love a versatile piece that lasts!
    XO – Katie

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Get the latest via email!