Mother's Day Extravaganza

I haven't posted in a while because times were very hectic with preparing for our Mother's Day party. And since then I have had a mild case of post party depression but I am finally coming back to normal!!

Mother's Day was amazing!!!!! It was everything I wanted it to be & more. All the hard work paid off & everyone had a great time. Thanks to my husband, we have lotsa pictures to capture the day. Now that it is over I can divulge the special things I did. First, I want to say I was very honored that our friends & family chose to come to our house so I wanted to make them feel extra special. I took quotes about moms by some famous people, then decorated & placed them on cardstock & put them everywhere - in the bathroom next to some flowers, by the bar area & the food, even hanging from some plants. I showed my geekness when I fell in love with.....paper easels which held my quotes up on the tables. There were bunches of flowers & each Mom received a corsage when she arrived. I also made up gift bags for each Mom which included a little bottle of wine, a candle I bought from Publix & then decorated differently, a Starbucks gift card for $5, a package of gift tags, & a chocolate bar. We also had a raffle to give away a bouquet of flowers, a bodyworks type of package with lotion & bath soap, & a gift bag of flowers.

We all just had a wonderful time. The weather was beautiful, everyone was feeling great & the food and cocktails were in abundance. Enjoy the pics.....

All the ladies had a corsage waiting for them when they arrived.

My Mom & Terry's Mom - We surprised them with a Harry & David mixed bag of things plus our first ever professional family photo of me, Terry and Tristan.

Tammy & Me - we enjoyed this day even more because this was right at the end of our very successful buddy weight loss challenge. She was my motivator & on this very day I got below my goal weight, so I surprised her with a gift card to a spa.

Nice large spot of water right before everyone came. I remember being frantic at finishing up last minute details. While I have stupid smile on my face & my lips have all but vanished I was happy I fit into this dress I wore on my honeymoon 5 years prior.

Flowers were placed everywhere as well as the quotes I decorated & placed on cardstock.

These paper easels from the craft store were just what I needed.

The 3 quotes above were my favorite that I decorated & placed on cardstock. Click to enlarge & see the beautiful sayings.
More ambience.
Above: I put a little bouquet of flowers in a small vase & then placed it in a gift bag. I also loved how this purple quote turned out.
I actually played around with the bar area for at least 2 weeks prior to the day. The Key Lime Martini was the featured drink so I had a little note propped up with directions on what to do so guests wouldn't have to wonder.

The menu - grilled pork tenderloin, fried asparagus, eggplant parmigiana (made by mom Gloria), potato gratin, mediterranean quiche from Emeril, tomato mozzarella salad, spinach dip, artichoke dip and onion pepper relish dip. For dessert - white chocolate raspberry tart, banana pudding (made by mom Sandy) & a chocolate fountain below. I labeled little tags so everyone wouldn't have to ask what was being served.
The kids really enjoyed it all!

Above are the pastel gift bags which I filled with an assortment of cutsies for the Moms to take home.


I actually decorated this plain brown gift bag & loved how it turned out. Very simple!

I was elated at this point to actually sit down & enjoy some of my food at my new bistro table I had bought just a few days prior! It was an awesome day!!!!!