My First Soiree

This weekend I had the pleasure of planning and executing my first real life "event." Let me explain.  I was approached by someone very close to my family to help plan a rehearsal dinner for a friend.  Of course I said absolutely.

I love planning anything and everything especially wedding related.  A few days later I met my new client and from our first meeting I knew I was going to love every minute of planning this event. The rehearsal dinner took place at Tellico Yacht Club.  A place very near and dear to my heart because my very good friend Suze got married there two years ago this June.

My client wanted to go with a beach theme because her son had proposed to his now wife at the beach. Perfection. Now there are a number of way you can go with a beach theme so first and foremost I wanted to learn as much as I could about this couple, the wedding, and of course the brides style.  After carefully looking though the couple's engagement pictures I could tell "L" had awesome style and she favored a vintage or shabby chic look. We could probably be best friends.  Anyway, I found an inspiring centerpiece idea and my client "S" and I were on a role.

Via Pinterest

From there I was ready to create our invitations (arguably my favorite part).  L's wedding invitations incorporated a light blue and brown color so I decided to keep the rehearsal dinner invites consistent. I also wanted to incorporate the vintage glam with the beach theme.  Here is what I came up with:

From there I designed favor tags, place cards and menu's consistent with the design from the invite.  I was so happy with how everything turned out.

For the centerpieces I tracked down some small crystal vases to use.  I then created a flower arrangement similar to what the bride would have on her big day.  I combined white hydrangeas, pink lilies, monkey grass, and a mixture of purple and white tulips. "S" found these large conch shells that I later filled with sand and shells. My favorite part however was a collection of shells that "S" had from a number of deep sea fishing excursions.  They were the perfect addition to the tables and added an eclectic mix.  Lastly, I added small glass votives for ambiance and we were done and done.

Flowers up close

Complete centerpiece

Fabulous shells

I literally had the best time ever planning and executing this event.  When "S" showed up after the rehearsal I was so excited to see the look on her face when she saw the final product. The night was a huge success and one of the busiest Friday nights I have had in awhile. :) 

On another note....we had quite the eventful weekend after this as well. A birthday celebration, incredible wedding, and mother's day.  Doesn't get much better.  I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend.

Happy Monday Friends!!

xoxo,