Dinner Party Shower

Yesterday we were working in this space:

I know.  We are constantly switching gears on you.  Sometimes we are working on the nursery, sometimes the basement bedroom, but now, something more important popped up.  Or should I say ‘popped out’?  As in belly…

Let me explain.  You see, two of our best friends, Luke & Austin are expecting a baby…or two.  Let’s go with two. Because I don’t think that one of the babies would want to stay in there.  And I am 100% positive that Austin wouldn’t want that.          

So what does that have to do with our basement?

Well, in honor of the our friends and their soon-to-arrive twins, we decided to get our little group of close friends together to have one last dinner party shower.  And to make it extra special, we moved all of the furniture out of our basement living space and moved in a long table for 5 couples and a serving table. 

The set up was fairly simple.  Jeremy moved everything out except for the rug (all of the furniture got scooted into the adjoining laundry room) and the folding tables were borrowed from my parents.  We rented the chairs from a nearby event facility for $1.50 a piece.  Is that a good price?  We never rented chairs before.  But since our dining room set is bar height, we needed to bring in seating that the guests knees wouldn’t be higher than the tabletop.  That could be moderately uncomfortable     

Besides our guests of honor – Luke & Austin,

there were these crazy people,

you might not recognize the names.

There.  Much better.

There was also Jade & Julia.  Julia acted as co-host. 

Among our friends, we always try to co-host showers and events.  It makes it a lot easier.  And cheaper.  And less stress on my boyfriend.  And that’s no joke.    

We also invited our good friends Brook & Kent.  You may recognize them from here.  or here.  Us four couples have been getting toether for quite some time.  We have game nights and movie nights and celebrate birthdays together.  It’s quite fun to have friends.  I would know.  I was homeschooled.      

And fairly new to the group is Rob & Kate.  They are avid Seinfield fans.  And so obviously it was just matter of time till we included them in every single group activity. 

That was the guest list.  Small.  But perfectly sized for a dinner party. 

And any good dinner party needs decor.  Enter flowers.

I picked up a few dozen roses to add a splash of pink to our tablesetting theme which was dominately blue.  At $3 per dozen, the price was divine. 

I would always recommend finding a grocery store that discounts their flowers the day after major holidays (like Valentines day) and picking up a bouquet or two even if you don’t have a dinner party planned.  It’s a really great way to add a splash of color to your rooms & make you smile for cheap. 

Our table was layered in blue tableclothes and then I used silver chargers and blue and white dishware to achieve a monochromatic look.  The silverware was rolled up in a napkin and a pink & white ribbon secured them.  The finishing touch was a trimmed rose tucked in for a pop of pink.     

In other dinner party planning details, the food was served buffet style.  My rule of thumb for dinner parties is to plan for only 90% when it comes to food.  I tend to cook too much food in general (leaving me with lots of uneaten food and a higher grocery bill) so this way, I can not overcook and spare my fridge from leftover overload.  For those of you that like details, we served honey-balsalmic chicken, alfredo fettucinni, asparagus, caesar salad, bread and bruschetta.   

After eating, we moved upstairs and Austin opened her presents.  I didn’t get many photos because I was too busy stuffing my face with chocolate covered strawberries & cheesecake.  I did however get a girl group shot. 

Which actually would look like a very awkward photo without a bit of vital information. 

All of us girls are pregnant. Yup, something is definitely in the water here.  And because I know someone out there will ask….no we didn’t plan this.  It just happened.  We aren’t THAT good of friends. 

So that is what we have been up to.   Cooking, cleaning, flower arranging…and enjoying a great time with friends.  Anyone else out there host a dinner party lately?  Or a baby shower that you wanna link to?  Please do!  Or maybe you have a tidbit of helpful info on chair rentals, or meal planning, or bouquet buying that needs to be shared?  Or perhaps all your friends are preggo too?  Uncoordinated pregancies of course….because that would be just sort of too weird to have that conversation with your friends.  Can you imagine that phone call?  “Hello?  It’s Katie.  Yes, I feel very fertile.  Call your husband.  It’s go time!”