Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Smooth Sailing

I've been talking non-stop about the lovely weddings we attended in the past two weekends, and idly promising pictures, but the truth is that I don't really have many to show you. Two of my main personality traits/hobbies (namely, my pushiness with my help whenever someone has a party, and my full-throttle enjoyment of parties while they are going on) conflict with my ability to take pretty pictures of said parties. It seems I'm always either too busy preparing for the event or too busy sampling the libations and doing the room once the party starts to bother with shutterbugging it. So, for actual wedding pictures, you may have to wait until I can get my hands on the real photographers' shots. However, I managed to put down my drink and take a few shots at my brother- and sister-in-law's recent Rehearsal Dinner, which I helped my lovely mother-in-law design and plan. It was in a gorgeous old house overlooking a harbor in Cape Cod, so we (fittingly) chose a nautical theme. Happily, my in-laws indulged (and embraced) my party-planning gusto, while managing to keep me from going... well, overboard. Here's to a lifetime of calm seas and smooth sailing for the happy couple, and to the best kind of ships- friendships- for us all. (Did I just make you cringe? Good.)




Clockwise from top left: The floral arrangements where made by Courtney's Floral Creations in tall metal floral buckets which we decorated with bows of grosgrain ribbon. The soon-to-be-weds arrive at the party. We placed pretty metal lanterns tied with ribbon around the property to light the way when the sun went down. Each escort card was decorated with a different sailboat design. The tables were decorated with striped fabric tablecloths, and each napkin was tied with a square knot. The escort cards were displayed alphabetically in a box filled with sand, seashells and sea glass.


Clockwise from top left: The centerpieces contained daisies, button mums, viburnum, grasses, and rosemary. Each one was topped by a striped flag displaying the table number. The first course was a delicious heirloom tomato salad. The beautiful view from the lawn was decoration in and of itself. Hand-designed sailboat-shaped sugar cookies were an appropriate party favor for guests. Each guest's placecard was decorated with a little cording knot. Me, enjoying the party with, from left to right, my mom, Sharkey, my baby brother-in-law, Christian, and my mother-in-law/party-planning partner-in-crime, Marta.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sharkey is gorgeous! Wow-- hot stuff!!

Lily said...

Wait, is that you, Dad?

jenn from muchtomydelight said...

Wow--that is one of the loveliest rehearsal dinners I've ever seen. Love the nautical theme!

Lindsay N. Strickland said...

Love your lobster dress, I bought it awhile back and think it's so fun!! Have you seen the Cape Cod line of Lobster bags from Kate Spade? I'm (more than) slighly obsessed with all things lobster at the moment and couldn't resist it!

The party looked fabulous!

Lily said...

@Jenn- Thank you! It was also a lot of fun.
@Lindsay- I'm totally with you, and obsessed with the lobbies, but as decoration and as food. It happens to me every summer- I spent the whole weekend on the Cape looking for lobster rolls and devouring them. Yummers.

Christine said...

Gorgeous - loving it! Brought back memories of spending my childhood summers with my grandparents on the Cape :)

Anonymous said...

There's something about Christian! yummo

Lily said...

Wait, is that you, Christian?

Is it just me or is there a Lily's Relatives Appearance Appreciation Society forming on this comment thread?

Muffy said...

HA! I love a good pun.