I cannot even begin to describe how much of a wonderful day we had for Madeline’s baptism. I have already done a separate post on the actual ceremony, but I definitely wanted to also do a post of her luncheon. We decided to host it at our home, which I would highly recommend. A lot of people do not like having people over, but if you are organized, I believe it really is much easier. Bradley and I were able to make the majority of the food the day before and already have it in their designated containers, so all we had to do when we got home was set it out. This is something really important when you are hosting a party. Think of how the dishes need to be prepared (do they have to be cooked right then, are they served hot, etc…), and select things that are easy to do ahead. We were at the church the whole morning, so we had to serve food that required little time the day of the event. Not only did this ensure less stress in preparation, but it also helped with keeping our house clean. 🙂 We did everything the day before, so we had plenty of time to clean our kitchen before our guests arrived.
The first thing we worked on was the flowers. Flowers from a florist can be super expensive, so we just bought several bunches from our local grocery store and arranged them ourselves. We did a combination of daisies, carnations, roses and tulips, and had them all in white. I will warn you if you use tulips – pretty much as soon as your fix them, they start drooping!! 🙁
Luckily, we were able to stick a lot of the other flowers around them, so you couldn’t really tell in the final bouquet (below). We had a main flower arrangement, as well as some basic white carnations in small bud vases throughout the tablescape. The vase below is Simon Pearce, and it was one of our wedding gifts. 🙂
I still do not have a dining room table, which actually worked in our favor. The buffet piece below is typically located on the opposite wall, but we moved it in front of the window so we could have enough room to set up an 8′ table. The buffet is where we placed the majority of the desserts, as well as some decorations. We also borrowed a frame from Madeline’s room and put her baptismal invitation in it for some added pizzazz. 🙂 The serving pieces are from the “Berry & Thread” collection from Juliska, which were also wedding gifts.
Here is a picture of the whole set up. While it did look fancy, we really didn’t have to buy a ton of materials. The tablecloth is actually silver, and was one that I already had. I really wanted a white one, but I couldn’t justify the purchase price when I already had one that was close enough. All of the vases, silver pieces and dishes came from my existing collection, and then I just filled in some space with pieces of Madeline’s baptismal wardrobe. I hung her gown up, put her bonnet on one of her hat stands (borrowed from her room) and then put the invitation out for display. This is a really nice and cost effective way to decorate your table. While I do have nice things, I use them over and over, so I am not constantly repurchasing things. Always use what you have first, and then go out and buy things. It will save you a lot of money in the long run.
Below are my cookies that I proudly made on my own!! 🙂 If you want to see the recipe and what I did, then click here. They don’t look perfect, by any stretch of the imagination, but they were MUCH cheaper than ordering them from a bakery. They were also quite tasty, and were all gone by the end of the lunch. 🙂 The “vase” on the left is actually a glass from my Juliska collection, and the vase on the right is Simon Pearce and was a gift from my parents years ago.
Since we are talking about baking, below are my pink chocolate crosses that I made to top my homemade cupcakes. Using melting chocolates is a fantastic way to make super cute and inexpensive decorations for your party. Another bonus is that you can make the toppers way in advance, and simply store them on your countertop in an airtight container. All in all, I spent roughly the same amount of money on all of these that I would have on just two of these cupcakes at a bakery. Yay!!! 🙂 These are two cake plates stacked on top of each other from the “Berry and Thread” collection by Juliska. One of these was a wedding gift, and the other was a Christmas gift from my mother. 🙂
For those of you who know me, know that I LOVE BONNETS!!! This was actually my favorite part of Madeline’s outfit. I mentioned this in my last post, but just in case you missed it, Madeline’s gown and bonnet are both from Pieces By Tam. They do beautiful custom pieces for a variety of formal occasions. I decided that the bonnet would also make a beautiful table decoration, so I simply placed it on the table with one of Madeline’s hat stands. The stands are from The Beaufort Bonnet Company, which is my absolute favorite!! 🙂
I will do a separate post on the food recipes, because it really was all delicious. These best part about it was that it was quite inexpensive, which was necessary for us since I am still on maternity leave. I am constantly collecting pretty tableware, so I was able to not have to purchase anything (table-wise) for this party. Hooray!!!
Sweet little Madeline received SO MANY GIFTS for her party, which was so kind of everyone!!! Here is a picture of her examining some of her new jewelry from her grandparents. 🙂
We were able to have a few children come over for her party, and they had a big time playing in our living room. It is so precious to see them playing with each other, and I am so happy for her to have some sweet friends to grow up with. XOXO!!
All in all, it was a beautiful day for our family, and I am so happy that we decided to host a party. With a little creativity and help from friends, we were able to throw her a beautiful affair for not a lot of money. Stay tuned for a final post concerning the food that was served. We have some simple and yummy recipes that are great for an impromptu gathering and are also nice on your budget. Have a great week! 🙂
Want to see more posts on Madeline’s big day??? Click here, here and here!
XOXO,
Tiffany
