A Toddler's Simple Backyard Teaparty

My niece just turned 3. Despite my sister being sick, we decided that the little princess should have a tea party in the backyard with her family. She loves pink and purple, Barbies, tea parties, having her nails painted, putting on lips (lipstick, lip gloss, lip balm, butter), bouncing on the tramp, anything Dora and Diego, riding her scooter, and bossing her older brothers. She's a prissy little hellion! Instead of going all out and throwing a huge party for her like we did her brother the week before (unfortunately every picture had a child in it and I won't post pictures of kids without parental consent if I absolutely have to post a picture with them in it- so, no pictures of the huge party) we opted to keep it very small, very casual, and super simple.

I took my niece to the flower shop and let her pick out her flowers- she chose lime green button mums, purple statice, white carnations, bright pink roses, and yellow daisy poms. We found the pails on clearance and will reuse them later in Barbie pink room. In the meantime, they were great as centerpieces. My sister loves the shabby chic style for girls and so for the tea party we borrowed from that and used some great calicos I'd collected over the years and topped the large table with a lime green wool crepe scrap I had, and the small table with a napkin.

The menu was very simple- apricot thumb print cookies, lemon tea cookies, and chocolate filled wafers, egg salad finger sandwiches and cucumber finger sandwiches, strawberries and vanilla devonshire cream, and freshly made lemonade. This by far is not the fanciest party ever, but there is a very happy 3 year old still talking about her flowers and her tea party, and that is all that matters!

Carson's flowers in the making

Sometimes the work in progress and seeing the individual elements of the design is as interesting to see as the finished product.



Dahlia- large, surprisingly delicate, striking, and a definite statement piece. The buds are great for adding visual interest to arrangements


I don't really know what this is but I know it is not the Black Eyed Susan I ordered.




Almost all of the flowers used in the centerpieces laid out in a row


One of the centers in progress....but look at that dahlia off to the side!


The finished centerpiece


Look how happy those flowers are, even in awful late night flourescent lighting!

Carson's Wedding

I met with the bride and groom-Carson and Robert, at This Is the Place Park to discuss what she was looking for and to see the venue she had chosen. She had ideas for her flowers and the look she wanted- country, rustic, simple- kind of an old-fashioned country garden wedding party. Her wedding colors were sunny yellow, white, and brown. She wanted sunflowers and daisies, mason jars, and a just gathered from the garden look to the arrangements. She showed me a sample invitation she loved and I helped help customize one for her and Robert in a similar style.

She wanted wrist corsages for her bridesmaids and I suggested ribbon corsages, covered with Daisies and Black Eyed Susans, to be tied around their wrists. They turned out fabulously! What made it better? Her bridesmaids vintage dresses- the corsages complemented the classic feminine style perfectly! Carson wanted to tie in her color scheme to the mom corsages and originally wanted sunflowers for them as well but I suggested a fabulous alternative- Dahlias. I made simple corsages of a single dahlia and a small cluster of Billy Balls tied with a gorgeous chocolate brown satin ribbon.

Now for the bad news... I forgot to grab pictures of the bride's bouquet, the Mom's amazing corsages, the bridesmaid wrist corsages, and the groom's boutonniere. The mother of the bride promised to send me pictures of them and if she acutally sends them, I'll post them. In the meantime, enjoy looking at the pictures of centerpieces and the reception site. The other pictures will soon be on here too!

Most of the centerpieces were in mason jars but a few were in metal pails. We wrapped the chairbacks and newel posts on the porch with organza ribbon and tied sunflowers to them. The bride's mother provided the fabulous window with the bride and groom's name written across the glass pane.


The simple buttercream cake called for a hint of flowers.

Kylie's Wedding

This wedding proved a little difficult for me. Kylie is just about the
cutest thing you'll ever see. She knew exactly what flowers she wanted but she didn't know how she wanted them to look other than they couldn't look like her friend's wedding flowers. She wanted pale pink mini calla lilies and gerbera daisies with a pop of bright pink and she wanted her wedding colors of pink, light blue, and chocolate brown tied in as much as possible to all of her flowers. Light blue delphinium had to be included with everything. Based on our conversations and the pictures she sent me, I drew up some sketches of what I thought she wanted.

Her reception was a simple affair at the Garden Park Chapel in Salt Lake City. She wanted simple, casual and elegant. In the end, things turned out beautifully and she was quite happy with all the flowers.

The sketch that was the starting point for everything...


I think the fern curls added a fun elegance to her flower selection.


The Mother's corsage and other bouttonieres....


The bridesmaid bouquets were to be very small and simple- more casual than the brides, and as the bride said, "cute to go with the cute girls in their cute dresses."


The centerpieces were simple but went perfectly with the surroundings and the bride's taste. She provided the table linens, toppers, vases and the colored glass marbles in the vases.

Update

Ok, so my first two weddings and party are over and finished. I'll have pictures and stories up very soon.

And I have another wedding coming up in September. Get married people, or have parties, so I can help you!!!

Unfortunately, the party turned out cuter than it photographed, so even though fun was had by all, there will be no pictures. But it was fantastic. Candy buffet, ginormous bouncy castle slide thing, pony rides, and a photo booth! Plus, every picture had a child in it and that's a lot of permission to get in order to post!

Later that same day...

My favorite colors are in the red family. My least favorite is blue. I made a compromise and tried purple and came up with this. I love the calla and fig berry twigs- they were the color scheme inspiration. I think this turned out very nice, considering it's only the second bouquet and boutonniere I've made....ever!




These were my practice for the road ahead!

Just for fun

About five years ago, my sweet and somewhat frazzled aunt gave me a black and white tea service and hostess set for my birthday. It's cute and it's fun and I've never used it... until now. I think these turned out well! I love the reflective surface of the black table under it but the red cloth just makes it even happier!