Surprised

I'm not really a fan of surprises. Surprise, right - a control freak that doesn't like surprises! My mom is even less of a fan. Again, shocking. Back in November my friend Mary was down for a visit and Cora's Baptism. She told my mom, in passing, about the 40th Wedding Anniversary Dinner she and her siblings hosted for her parents. My mom, (probably just being polite), said and I quote "Oh, How nice. I wish my children would do something like that for me." And with those few words a Surprise 40th Anniversary Party was born. Since my parents were married Labor Day Weekend of 1972 and we live in the South - the weekend of the actual anniversary wasn't going to work. Football rules and seriously maybe 5 people would have come to the party. So, with football opening early September I chose the last weekend of August for the event. Although there were many moments I thought the surprise was out of the bag. I am happy to report that they were indeed surprised and the party was a great success!

Walking into the party - See, surprised!

The Wedding Party, back together again

Mom and Me, I am wearing her Rehearsal Dinner dress. For a woman that doesn't keep anything - she held onto this dress for 40 years. Luckily I was able to swipe it from her house without her knowing AND fit into it.

Family Photo

Good Friends

and Family

The decorations I did after Connor was in bed each night (because he cannot keep a secret for 2 seconds!). Each night I would work and work and then put away what I had finished only to bring it back out the next night. Plus, I had to hide the evidence from my mom, who is over here often helping with the kids. As with everything on Pinterest - easier in the photo. I made wood block photos using some old photos from the wedding and a few new shots. These were super easy and actually worked like the video said it would.

Close-Up

Before the party, setting up the tables

I tried a photo-to-canvas DIY. Honestly, it didn't look as good as the one on Pinterest but it did the trick. I can probably do another one and it will turn out better. Here is the link

This was the biggest undertaking. When I initially saw the initial I thought "perfect", then I went looking for the actual letter. No luck. JoAnn's was out of D's and J's. I waited and waited. One day I went online and checked again. D's and J's were in stock! So I ordered 2 J's and 1 D for my parent's monogram. Once I started working it occurred to me 1. I should have painted the letters black before beginning and 2. I should have done the D first in case I ran out of pictures/time. I did the J first, then the other J, then the D In the end, I'm glad I did all 3 because it looked really cool above the fireplace (which I didn't know was in the room) and it was far enough away to hide the imperfections.

Finally the food. Delicious with plenty to spare

and favors (Neal, my immensely talented brother-in-law created the artwork for the wine-bottle coozies) The explanation of the graphic (broom and a rose) will have to wait for another day... August left me exhausted. 3 parties and school starting back (did I mention I am the Room Mother?). Stay tuned. The blog is about to start rolling again!