As if this was not enough stress, I was responsible for co-hosting a Valentine's Party on Saturday night. At our church, the couples married in each decade has a Valentine party, i.e. If you were married from 1990 -1999, you are part of the '90's party, etc. Each year, 2 couples are nominated to host next year's party. Last year year my husband and I were nominated with another couple. This year our group had 19 couples, 17 of which attended. 34 people to cook for and feed.....
When I began planning the party, I mentioned on Facebook that I was planning it and promised to show you pictures when it was all over. Well, my brain was on overload and much to my disgust, I forgot to take pictures. *hangs head in shame* I even had my camera THERE. Grrr! I cannot tell you how mad I am at myself. So, I will attempt to tell you about it and fill in with pictures taken AFTER the party.
I was responsible for the decorations and wanted to use as many things as I could that I already had. I had a bucket of glass insulators in the garage that I had gotten at an auction. I paired them with some rusty bed springs and viola! Votive holders. I added some epsom salt inside so the votive would peek out the top a little. I tied a double red twine bow around them to give them a little something extra. It was an easy and cute project.
The party was held in our school gym. It is very bright and impersonal. In an attempt to 'soften' the atmosphere, I hung drop cloths on the volleyball net. This divided the room in half and gave it a little cozier feel. For the meal, we turn the overhead lights off and ate by candlelight. In addition to the votives on the table, I also made 4 sets of these:
As you may have figured out, the colors were red and aqua. For the tables themselves, I used 2 sets of 4 (8 tables) of the 8' plastic banquet tables. The tables are only 2.5' wide so I put 2 side by side and another 2 end to end making a total table size of 16' L by 5' wide. For table cloths, I used 4 6' X 9' drop cloths from Lowes. They worked out perfectly! Down the center of the table I ran a red burlap runner. Burlap is cheap, especially when you can get it on sale with a coupon. One length of fabric did both tables as I split it in half length-wise. In the very center of each 16' table I had an aqua jar with red roses.
For place markers I made these blocks personalized for each couple. (I made 18 of them.) I had seen the idea on Pinterest but there was no link, just a picture uploaded by user. I will attempt to give some idea of how I made them in case someone wants to try it for themselves. :)
For the block itself, I used 2X3 lumber from Menards. To weather it, I used the vinegar/steel wool method that is all over Pinterest. For the top and bottom I used screen stock from the millwork section of Menards. It's 1 3/4" wide. I stained this with darker stain because the 'weathering' process didn't darken it much.
I cut the 2X3's 7" long and the screen stock 7 3/8". Using small finish nails, I nailed the top and bottom on to secure the boards together. For the date and the ampersand, I used silver metallic linen woven paper from Hobby Lobby and for the heart, I used aqua weathered board scrapbook paper, also from Hobby Lobby. I used my Cameo to cut them out and matte Mod Podge to apply them. I wanted more dimension for the letters and since I had very little money invested at this point, I decided to splurge and I bought these awesome rusty letters from this Etsy shop. The service was OUTSTANDING! I emailed her for a quote on Tuesday night at 10:00 EST. She answered me in 15 minutes. I emailed her back saying I wanted them and she set me up a separate listing. All within half an hour. THEN, I had my order in the mail that Friday all the way from Washington state. I did pay a small rush charge since I needed them by a certain time but she went out of her way to see that I got them by when I needed them. Awesome service!
Anyway, back to the blocks. I tacked the letters on using small carpet tacks that I had on hand. I also applied clear wax to seal everything BEFORE I added the letters. The couples got to take these home as a keepsake.
For the appetizer/dessert table decorations I used my chippy white picket fence behind and hung it with a heart-shaped grapevine/berry wreath that I made. I couldn't find a heart-shaped grapevine wreath at Joann or Hobby Lobby so I bought a wire heart form and used some of our grapevines. I added berries that I had gotten on clearance after Christmas and a burlap ribbon bow.
This table also had more of the votives and a larger spray of roses in a larger aqua jar.
This pretty much sums up the decor. There are a few more things we used for props but they have taken down and I can't get pictures of them. I'm very sad that I didn't take pictures before the guests began arriving because this doesn't really give you a true idea of what it looked like.
If you have any questions about anything, please ask!
From the farmhouse,
