"Wedding Shower" Dinner, Part One

The "wedding shower" dinner party I hosted last night honoring Lauren was a lot of fun! My group of girlfriends in Birmingham always love an excuse to get together and drink wine, so thanks for giving us a great excuse Lauren! I (of course) had to include a picture of Lauren (in the middle) and its so perfect that my two favorite bloggers, Brooke (left) and Marianne (right), are standing next to her!

If you read my post yesterday, I included some photos that were a source of inspiration for me when I was planning my flower arrangements. I decided to thread lemons throughout the party, which you will see in several of my photos. The arrangement below is on my dining room table, and I think the yellow and white were a great contrast to my dark wood dining table. It turned out a bit more simplistic than the photos I posted yesterday, but I think it has an understated elegance that was perfect for the party.

Ok, so I tried to tackle the orange slice arrangment(substituting lemons of course) that I saw on BHG's web site and it definitely wasn't easy! I think I needed a few more lemons to make this work, but I had to make do with what I had left. I first filled the vase(yes, its juliska my FAV) with water and realized this wouldn't work because the lemon slices started to float...duh, right!? To improvise I stuck a shot glass in the center of the vase with water and arranged the daises in there. I wish I had added a few more flowers in there to give it a fuller look, but I was of course in a rush/mad dash(which I get from my mother) to get everything organized before my guests arrived.

My ever so creative roommate Stacey showed me the idea below she had cut out from a magazine, and I immediately got excited about trying this out! I placed these lemons on the "peep through" window ledge into my kitchen. All you need for this project is a couple of lemons, daisies and straws. You just poke a hole in the lemon and cut the straws and daisies to similar lengths. To finish the look you slip the daisy into the straw and stick it into the lemon. Super easy and such a fun creative look! The straws are white with yellow stripes...much cuter in person than in this photo.

I think my favorite arrangement for the party was the one I put together for the table on my back deck. It's a combo of hydrangeas, daisies and queen anne's lace. I was hoping to use the hydranges in the vase with the lemons on the dining room table, but the shape of the hydrangeas just didn't look right in that arrangement, so I threw it together with some leftover daisies and queen anne's lace in a large square vase and it came out great... thank goodness!!

Stay tuned tomorrow for more details on the menu and dinnerware!