Ghanian & Sierra Leone Baby Shower with a Royal Roman Theme

This week my dear friend Meemee gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. His name is Roman....and he is absolutely beautiful..but let me back track for a minute. Meemee is one of my closest friends. She is more like a sister. We have been friends since high school. Although we live hours a part, we still try and play an active role in each others lives.

So when she told me she was with child, and wanted me to help with her shower, I was beside myself. Meemee is one of the sweetest, most intelligent, most beautiful women I know. And now she is a mother. Oh the joy!

Meemee and her fiancé Baff have been together since college. Now they have a beautiful family and I couldn't be more happy for them.

But let me tell you about the Baby Shower! Meemee and Baff threw, by far, the best Baby Shower I have ever been to in life. Meemee's family hails from Sierra Leone and Baff's from Ghana. Bringing the two African cultures together was simply amazing. From the music, to the food, to the décor, to the fashion it was just fabulous.

The dance floor was packed all night long. So many different generations of African culture filled the room. It was definitely a night to remember. You really just had to be there, but since you weren't I've attached some photos below for your viewing. Do swoon :)

By the way I did not plan this event but I did provide some décor services, to include the dessert table, and I designed the card box and guest book as well. (go me)

The dessert/cake table

The young kings cake

Loved this!

Table toppers

The Card Box made by your truly :)

Just some of the amazing food that was served!

The hostesses and Meemee

The Fellas

Family

Oh Yea!

Just a few of the queens who were in attendance

More dancing :)

The lovely couple 

In case you didn't know, when men attend baby showers alone...they bring diapers

Hope you enjoyed, do come again :)

Jungle Themed Baby Shower

There is nothing more precious in this world than life. I absolutely love coordinating showers for parents to be. A lot of people think a baby shower is just a way for new parents to be showered with gifts for their unborn child, but they are so much more than that. A baby shower is an opportunity for parents to be to share their excitement and enthusiasm about being new parents, with all of their close friends, relatives, coworkers, etc. It is also an opportunity for them to get great parenting advice, and most importantly to celebrate this great new thing called parenthood.

When I was approached about this baby shower, I was super excited. I had never done a jungle themed baby shower. I went to party city to search for decoration after many hours of rummaging through Pinterest, my go to inspiration gatherer. To my surprise, jungle themed baby showers were very popular as there was a hole section in Party City devoted to it. There were banners, lanterns, favors, napkins, the whole shebang, all adorned with baby jungle animals in pastel shades of blue, green, yellow, and pink. They even had jungle themed baby shower games which I did grab.

However, the other items were a little too generic for me. Anybody can go to a party store, purchase a bunch of decorations, and put them out for a party. As a professional event planner I pride myself in being able to create decorative displays from scratch and creating unique events for my clients.

So I decided to create an entire jungle themed display using cardboard boxes, wrapping paper, and other crafts I had around the house, in an effort to keep the budget down.

1. The Food, Favor and Dessert Displays
For the food favor and dessert displays I used recycled card board boxes (shoe boxes, food boxes etc.), and covered them in wrapping paper from the dollar store, and zebra print ribbon from Michaels. The tree poles are wrapping paper poles with small paper plates stapled to them. I then cut out leaves from construction paper and stapled them to the plates.

2. For the cheese and veggie kebabs, I purchased the kebab sticks at Party City and added cubed cucumbers, cheese cubes, and baby tomatoes. I wrapped an eco foam block, I purchase from Walmart, with the wrapping paper mentioned above and the kebabs stuck in perfectly.

3. To create the favors I purchased a case of mini brownies from Walmart and stuck birch designed straws I found at Party City, in them. I than wrapped them in favor bags also purchased from Walmart for, and lastly I tied them with balloon ribbon purchased from Party City for 34 cent.

4. As for the cupcakes; they were both purchased at Walmart. The large ones were around $13 for a dozen, and the smaller ones were on sale for a little less than $5. I purchased the "It's a boy" lollipops from Party City for $10 and they came with the printed stickers that read "It's a boy" and "Thank You".

5. The card box was purchased at Michaels Arts and Crafts  and I decorated it with craft paper and stickers also from Michaels. I sliced an opening in the top for cards to easily be slipped in to. I love making custom card boxes. It's a small token of appreciation to my clients for choosing me to coordinate their event.

6. The mini salsa cups were purchased at Party City. I had them filled with pico de gallo, salsa, and sour cream. I purchased tortilla chips to go with them.

7. The panda plates, which are a little outside of the jungle theme lol, were purchased at dollar tree along with the cups and napkins. I used old zebra printed fabric I had around the house, to secure the napkins.

8. The streamers are plain green streamers with leafs made from craft paper stapled to them, and the animal print flag was also made from craft paper and ribbon all purchased at Michaels and Walmart.

I had an amazing time putting it all together and it turned out better than I could have ever imagined. The expecting couple had a wonderful time and loved the decorations and games. This was a very successful event that I am very proud of! Until next time!

Jackie

Site visit review: My Visit to Fair Wind Farms

 
On Monday I decided to take a trip to VA Beach and visit Fair Wind Farms, where you can learn how to ride a horse, or have a fabulous barnyard wedding. I hadn't heard of the place until a colleague of mine mentioned that she'd be attending a wedding there soon and suggested I check it out. I was not prepared for the hour and a half drive I had to take to get there, but every second of it was worth it. This place is absolutely breathtaking. It sits right on the border of North Carolina and Virginia, but one visit to this place and you will understand why a bride would travel from the very deep south just to hold have her wedding at this venue.

 

 

The farmhouse is absolutely gorgeous. An amazing feature is the second floor opening above the stable, where the bride has been known to toss her bouquet from.  

 

 

The horse stable is an elegant, intimate reception venue, but you can also set up a tent right alongside it if your guest list is a bit larger.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Directly across from the farmhouse is a little piece of paradise where ceremonies often take place. It has an arched bridge, a beautiful weeping willow, a hammock and a tire swing. Your pictures are sure to be unique and full of laughter with all of the built in props. There are also two other small pieces of heaven in walking distance, where ceremony's can be held in solitude overlooking the lovely bay. There are just so many possibilities with this venue!

 

 

Perhaps my favorite part of all is Chris Rush, the owner. She was so very pleasant and I loved to watch her interact with the wild life on this farm. She truly loves her animals and the clients she serves. I give the venue five stars.

 

 

Photo Credit: Brittany Bryant Photography

 

Autumn Inspired Vintage Suitcase Card Box DIY

 

While at the thrift shop last week, searching for the perfect quaint, revivable kitchen set, I, being the distracted person that I am, found the most adorable wooden suitcase for only five bucks!!! :) It had to be at least 50 years old....ok I have no idea how old it was, but it was fabulous. I actually loved it just the way it was, but of course, I, almost immediately (on the drive home....at red lights...because I don't text and drive...) rummaged through Pinterest for some pinspiration (I think I made that word up...I'm claiming it). What I found is that vintage suitcases make the most adorable card boxes for vintage, rustic weddings. Of course as a wedding planner I already knew this....

 

 

Step 1. (Sanding)

Let me just be clear, I am not a perfectionist...or even close to being one. I'm a tad bit lazy (ok maybe more than a tad) and the me two years ago wood have completely skipped the sanding part, but I am trying to be more of a professional and not skip the semi-important stuff. So I sanded it the best I could having no experience sanding anything. And I think I did a good job :)

 

Step 2. (Staining & Painting)

Once I finished sanding I painted the outside with a cherry stain I found at Michaels. It was about $11. I let that dry for about 15 min (even though the can said an hour) because I'm impatient, and then I painted the inside blue. Yes I got stain all over me trying to paint the inside while the outside was still drying. No I would not recommend you try that.

 

Step 3. (Decorating)

I added my embellishments using fabric glue. (I've seemed to misplaced my glue gun). I'm so organized and well put together. I had a lot of fun hand-gluing all of the decorative leaves, adding the sentimental wedding phrases, tying and stringing together the flag pieces, fixating the flowers in just the right places, etc. I really had a blast creating this card box and the autumn colors really gave me a warm, melancholy feeling while working on it.

 

 

 

All of the inside embellishments came from Michaels Arts and Crafts store and many of them came from the $2 bens. With everything combined I probably spent about $40 on this DIY and I will offer it as a Wedding Prop rental for any brides using Jacquelyne Edith Events, LLC coordination services...and I am willing to travel :)

 

As always I hope this was helpful or at least entertaining to someone out there. Until next time!

 

Jackie

5 Amazing Apps For Networking On the Go!

 

It's 2014 and most of us have created virtual residencies in cyberspace. We do almost everything online, especially networking. We live on the internet. While face to face networking still proves to be more beneficial than social media networking, sometimes we have to work with what we have and sometimes that's just us...in our vehicles...on the highway...stuck in traffic. http://www.inc.com/ss/10-apps-to-up-your-networking-game#4 list 10 great apps for networking on the go via the internet and http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/26-mobile-apps-to-improve-your-business-and-networking/ list 26. I have identified my top five favorite and posted their names as well as a brief description  of what they do below. Enjoy :)

 

Hashable

This is one of the easiest ways to manage contacts and to facilitate meetings on the fly. Simply download the app, then use the hashtag to communicate messages via Twitter. Specified hashtags can introduce associates to one another—and if they don't have Twitter, it's OK: Hashable can send messages internally. Use the #intro hashtag to put two people in touch, or propose a #meeting at a #restaurant with a new acquaintance.

 

AIM

To keep in step with the technological advances since its inception, AIM now allows you to chat with contacts on other services such as Gmail chat and Facebook. You can also stream your Twitter feed through AOL Lifestream which can also be accessed via the app.

 

CardMunch Business Card Reader

Have you been holding onto a whole bunch of business cards from the last conference you went to? Looking for a solution for the cards you collected at Social Media Marketing World in San Diego?

Convert business cards to address book contacts and add them as connections on LinkedIn. CardMunch provides card-capture functionality for faster card scanning.

 

Meetup

Is online time usurping much of your day? There’s still nothing like the face-to-face experience.

The Meetup app will help locate meetups around topics of interest to you including social media, tech, business and entrepreneurship—and of course a range of fitness, hobbies, community, parenting and dog meetups, among others.

 

Instagram

Taking photos on a mobile phone offers users spontaneity plus the ability to visually transform a picture and share it immediately. Instagram includes filters and borders, blur effects and easy sharing to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr and Foursquare.

 

For more information on applications that allow you to get in some networking fun while on the go, visit one of the two websites listed above. Also if you are ever in Hampton Roads or the surrounding areas, be sure to get in some real face to face networking by visiting my weekly networking event, The Networking Games. http://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-networking-games-tickets-12138571795?aff=eorg

Marvel Themed Birthday Celebration

 

This coming Monday my super amazing man-friend is celebrating another year on this earth...but not with me. He will be spending the weekend with his mother, (because all amazing man-friends love their mothers) and I will be in Northern VA, attending a Baby Shower for one of my dearest friends. Why does this matter? Well, since we will both be out of town this weekend, we decided to celebrate his birthday last weekend....Marvel Style :) We invited our closest friends and asked them to dress up as their favorite super hero or villain, or to create their own. Of course I turned to Pinterest for some much needed guidance. The super moms had struck again. I was overwhelmed with all the Marvel greatness I had stumbled upon. It was very clear to me that I needed to create the best Gotham City backdrop my small budget and limited apartment space would allow.

 

 

Poster Boards have become my friend. They are so versatile you can pretty much create any backdrop from them. They're cheap, reusable, and they stand on their own. I found a royal blue one at Michaels and went to work. The most tedious part was cutting out all of the windows for the sky scrapers, but once I got past that it was smooth sailing.

 

As far as the food, I had found the cutest mini burgers on Pinterest and decided to attempt to recreate them. Unfortunately, mini burger buns were nowhere to be found. So I decided on Hawaiian Sweet bread and used meatballs and mini cheese slices to create the mini burgers displayed below. I don't eat meat, but I was told they were yummy :)

As for the rest of the display, I went with the classic candy jar, and flat glass display also filled with candy from Party City. The Hulk cake from Scratch Bakery acted as the center piece. Beside it sat the homemade fry display made from a recycled box and scrapbooking paper, and also on the table were mini mason jars with straws and name labels, and plastic utensils and silverware.

 

We played a few adult party games found on http://www.queen-of-theme-party-games.com/funny-party-games.html. The paper bag game was a hit! Each player had to pick up the paper bag on one leg using only their mouth. After each round everyone folds their paper down and it just gets more and more difficult and more and more hilarious. By the way, it pays to be short sometimes :)

This party was a lot of fun to put together, and fairly easy. All in all we had a great time and that's what matters most. Ok you party animals, until next time :)