father's day brunch

Today Ben & I made a very yummy Father's Day brunch at our place for his Dad! His Mom, my Mom and my brother came along too. And for my Dad, we had to be a little more creative since he's away in Africa. SO all six of us took photos holding words that described our Dad. I put it all together in a mosaic format and emailed it to him last night because that was his Father's Day morning. It's not the same as a warm cup of tea celebrating around the dining table with your wife and kids but hopefully it felt just as good. I know it did for us.

Brunch this morning consisted of Ben's waffles and fresh whip cream, an abundance of organic strawberries, grapes, orange slices, organic vanilla yogurt, lemon & lavender scones, and rye crackers with the world's best Comox Valley Brie cheese! I was aiming to have lots of wild flowers in bright hues and I bundled them all in my favorite mason jars. I also decided to try placing a bunch or two in wine glasses, which I thought looked pretty cute. I placed all the cutlery in an over sized glass canister and we were able to use lots of our serving ware we received for wedding gifts. I love our white serving tray my best girlfriends from high school gave to me for my bridal shower. It's so pretty! Today was a lovely day with a ton of just right breeze and we couldn't have asked for a better day for a Father's Day patio brunch. Ben and I both have amazing Fathers who have both contributed countless hours of love and support to us as we've grown first on our own and continue to now as we grow along side each other. Happy Father's Day to our Dad's!

DIY Dinner Party Decor

Tonight Ben & I got organized for our dinner with our families tomorrow night. I have an abnormal psych exam on Thursday morning that shamefully enough, I haven't really even begun studying for yet due to lots of other assignments that seem to be piling up all too quickly. So it was nice to have Ben's help. He picked up the table and chairs, cleaned the house and helped me set everything up. I must say we make a pretty good team when it comes time to rise to the challenge.

 When he went to get the chairs, they handed him bright yellow chairs. He said his first thought was something along the lines of "Uhh - Jessica is gonna freak!" He said his second thought was something like "Do you have any grey ones back there or something ... " I had purchased bright yellow flowers for the table at the same time unknowingly - luckily! Otherwise we would have had some really bright misplaced yellow chairs beneath our bums. Yes we are going to eat in the living room! We have no dining area, however, it turned out very pretty! We're really looking forward to having our family all together for dinner tonight.

Here are a few of the details I included in the decor which were all DIY projects:

** A banner made of cream fabric doilies with slate blue fabric in between each doilie. I strung it on twine **

** Flower arrangements consisting of long grass, other greenery, yellow ball-like flowers that I don't actually know the name of! The arrangements also included cream tulips. Hint: To make you tulips stand more straight rather than sloped, place a penny in the bottom of the vase. Sometimes the slope look is perfect but other times it works better to have them standing tall (which I chose this time) **

** I tied the same slate blue fabric from the banner, around the mason jar vases as well. I tied it into a shabby looking bow. Hint: The fabric came from a really pretty cloth napkin that I've had forever and have never used. Thought it might be better put to use this way instead & turns out it's pretty darn cute! **

** I used a vinyl table cloth found at Superstore. The pattern included a cream base with slate and navy blue leap like stencils. I bought a 12 inch roll of burlap and fitted it over the table cloth to create a more rustic feel. You can find burlap at any garden store or somewhere like Home Depot. Cheap & pretty = perfect **

** I also tied the slate blue and paisley fabric in bows around the middle of my cupcake tier which I'm going to use to put the French Macaroons on tomorrow **

** I tied the paisley fabric around the stems of the wine glasses **

** I made a small  circular paper garland to hang in the corner off of our paper lanterns **

Paper Bag Menu

Perfect idea: Using a brown paper bag for your dinner menu! Clipping it with a wooden clothes pin is even cuter. I'm taking note. But for now I have to go take note in my Psychology & English classes. 

burlap beauty

What I already love about today: plenty of sunshine with a mix of strong wind. It feels like a true late winter day - beautiful! I wanted to post one more little bit of inspiration before I attempt to decorate our dinner table with a touch of burlap. I didn't realize it was so inexpensive. For a 12 ft bundle, it was $10 although you can probably purchase it in 24 ft bundles as well. I think I'll probably have to put cream table linens underneath it & I'm still not sure if I'll use it for a table runner or over the whole table. I'm going to try a little mock up of the table before next Wednesday's dinner.  We'll have to see. But so far I'm excited!

DIY: Bottled Candles

This was supposed to be posted a month ago but I guess I forgot to click 'post' so here it is. I picked up three boxes of white wine bottles to serve water in for the wedding the other day. I ended up buying quite a few more than I'll need so my Mom is going to use the rest to fill with blush wine she's making for the big day! There is so much you can use the pretty clear bottles for. Perhaps to hold long stemmed candles like the photo below!? Clutter them together to add a rustic, eclectic mood to your table. If you're stumped on where to find items you might need for your event, check out places like EBay, Etsy or Craigslist (which is where I found my bottles for $20!) Isn't this pretty pretty!

Table for ... 8

How simple is this? Definitely a laid back way to have a place card at a casual dinner party. We are having both our families at our place for dinner in two weeks. Our wedding caterer is coming to cook the meal we will be serving at the wedding. Yes in our condo that currently has no dining table (we eat at our bar mostly). However, I am determined to make it work and make it look - yep you guessed it - pretty! I have a few ideas in mind. Burlap seems to be on a ton of tables this season - cheap, rustic, what more could you ask for. Ideas for fun table settings?? I checked out Real Simple & Country Living.

pretty plates

Just a little pretty inspiration on a sunny Friday afternoon. Wouldn't this be a sweet idea for a small reception? Small reception ... oh how I wonder what that might feel like. I am starting to see just how quickly the dollar signs can soar while planning your wedding. Although it's been a lot of fun getting into the creative aspect of the whole day, some days I wish we had taken a trip and done our nuptials over seas ... somewhere hot & sunny and of course beachy! But I am very much looking forward to seeing all of our hard work come together on our happy day and I can`t wait to see all the people we love huddled into one place. Happy weekend all!