Menu
My sister-in-law, the brains of the family, had the idea (equal parts pragmatic and posh) to get the dinner catered by a fabulous restaurant in Abbostsford called 62. We had four courses of delicious local treats. Ingredients like Abbotsford organic goat cheese and Aldergrove king oyster mushrooms adorned each dish. Each course was well thought out and creative.
At 36 degrees I literally couldn't 'handle the heat in the kitchen', thankfully the professionals could. If you ever make it to Abbotsford, you must dine at 62. The Chef, Jeff Massey, and our server definitely made this night very special.
The kids dined in style with their McDonald's.
Decor
The week before the party, we made it official and decided to get rentals. My sister-in-law acquired what was needed and I took care of the look and pre-dinner drink. However, that only gave me a week to get everything together.When there is a time crunch I say throw what you know. I had to draw from parties I have done in the past. This blog is to help show you that you can use the same elements from different parties you have done in the past, and create a total different look.
Runner: We used the same burlap runner from Canadian Tire, that we used for the Hat Island dinner (as shown here). It's cheap and gave it the backyard feel we wanted.
Place Cards: I used champagne corks as the place card holders. I did exactly this for the Hat Island dinner as well (as shown here).
Mason Jars: My other sister-in-law had a party the summer before based solely on mason jars. She still had the lanterns she made out of mason jars from that party, so we borrowed those and all we had to do was hang them. For the pre-dinner drink I used smaller mason jars and tied name tags to each one with twine. For the vases that held the flowers we used 2 dozen large mason jars. You can buy mason jars at Canadian Tire by the dozen and can cost you anywhere from $8 to $14/dozen.
Flowers: I have always, since I can remember, wanted to have a table full of flowers down the center. My budget has never allowed this though. But lucky me, my mother-in-law has a backyard full of Hydrangea's in all different colours. I love hydrangea's.
Playlist: There is always a playlist for every occasion in my life. Being outside didn't stop me from making one. We used my Jawbone Jambox which is wireless and connects by bluetooth to my phone. It's small in size but has big sound. The playlist consisted of everything from George Michael to Artie Shaw.
When dinner was done, the festivities began. We did everything: quading, ziplining, a piñata, even karoke. All is possible in the heat of mid-summer and in the middle of nowhere: Mission.
Cheers,
Charysse
