A Not-Fancy Backyard Get Together

A few months ago, Dustin told me that he’d like to throw a little get-together for some of his employees & co-workers. If you know me, you know I love to throw a party, so I’m all, “Hell, yeah!” Not so fast there fancy pants… He wanted me to throw a party for him, but I wasn’t allowed to “make it all fancy & decorate”. Cue the record scratch. Whaaaaat? I mean, we’ve been married for 15 years now, I’m assuming he knows me. But, considering it was his party & it was for his co-workers, I figured he knew best. He gave in and let me decorate to a certain extent because, let’s be honest, I don’t care who you are, when you show up to a party it’s always nice if it looks decent. I’m not going to lie here, I had a really hard time with this. I was more stressed out about this party than I was our vow renewal! I mean, I don’t go for “themes”, but I do need some type of creative borders to work within when I plan a party. A mood, or a style, if you will. I had no clue what to go for here. I procrastinated an unusually long amount of time (basically until the week of) & then went shopping. At this point I had a general idea & had ordered some succulents & a massive roll of kraft paper for the tables, but other than that, I was struggling. I hit up Target & Party City & bought a bunch of different styles of plates & napkins. I’m so glad I did because I was able to play around with them all once I got home to figure out what worked. Once I put these Wit & Delight plates down, I knew I had my plan. And once I have my plan? I’m on fire. I’m really, really, happy with how it all turned out. I think it looks nice, but not fancy. Masculine, but still pretty. In other words, exactly what I was going for. I just didn’t know it….

I had a couple of outdoor seating areas set up too. I love the idea of bringing the comfort of inside to the outside. I also really love lamps outside. I didn’t get any evening pictures, but it just adds a lot of warmth to have those lamps lit while people are mingling around.

The actual meal was catered by D&R, who also catered our vow renewal. Everyone raved about their food then, so I decided to go with them for this event as well. I’m smart enough to know that you don’t mess with a good thing. Especially if that good thing is food!

Carrot cake cupcakes from Something Blue Bakery. Their cupcakes are, no exaggeration, the best that I’ve ever had. Yes, including the famous Magnolia Bakery cupcake. SO good.

I’ll be honest, I’m not loving the way the bar photographed. In real life, I loved the way it looked, but it’s coming across pretty meh here. Side note… Dustin made me that table for one of our anniversaries from old scraps of our house & barn. See the doorbell there at the front of the table? Pretty great, right?

More Wit & Delight fun with these napkins.

I tried to source as much of the party as I could locally. There was actually another wine from Wildcat Creek Winery called Harvest Cranberry, but it was long gone by the time I took this picture. It was insanely good. Here’s another fun fact for you… My sister & brother-in-law have started the first commercial hops farm in Indiana (Hopknoxious Farms) and People’s Brewing actually used their hops to create a beer called Local Farmer Harvest Ale. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get any in time for the party, but it’s still cool though, right? Right.

One fun little last minute addition that we added to the party was a Whiskey tasting bar. We’ve accumulated quite a collection of Whiskey/Scotch/Bourbon & this was a fun way to share some of them. I’m pretty sure it was a hit.

Details:

Catering – D&R Market

Cupcakes – Something Blue Bakery

Tables, Chairs & Linen Rentals – Midwest Rentals

Wine – Wildcat Creek Winery

Beer – People’s Brewing Co.

White Plates & Silverware – Party City (plates link, silverware link)

Grey Plates – Wit & Delight

Cocktail Napkins – Wit & Delight

Straws – Kikkerland

Gold -Target (I can’t find it online, but I just bought it two weeks ago in store, so it should still be there)

Succulents – Amazon (Who knew?)

Terra Cotta Pots – Hobby Lobby