It has been killing me this entire past week not to talk about all the things that I have been doing. Just before moving into our new house, Brett and I decided we wanted to celebrate his parents' 40th wedding anniversary in a special way. We knew that the date fell almost exactly 5 weeks after the move, but we thought, "Hey, we can totally do this." Well, we did it. And we are completely nuts!!
Anyway, over the last few weeks we have spent a lot of time planning and arranging and scheming because this was not just a party. It was a surprise party. The first thing to tackle was getting the emails for both sides of the family and all their myriad friends. Normally we would just ask Mary, but that was kind of out of the question this time. Brett worked for a few days tracking down as many contacts as he could and then, about 3 weeks out, sent the evite asking people to pass it along to those who would be interested. We started getting responses immediately. By the end of last week we were preparing for 30+ guests.
Brett handled the decorations, and I did the food. His brother Jason and Uncle Terry and Aunt Theresa handled the bar. Auntie Kathy brought fresh flowers. By 5:30 on Saturday, people were pouring in the door and assembling on the back deck for the big surprise. Tom and Mary were scheduled to arrive at 6. They thought we were just heading out for a quiet dinner.
At 6:03 they pulled in just as Brett as "taking some boxes out to the garage." He told them that the kids were playing in the backyard and asked if they would like to go say hi before we headed out. The deck stood hushed and ready, and as they rounded the corner through the gate we all shouted, "SURPRISE!!" Some of the crowd even burst into song! They were flabbergasted.
We were thrilled that the plan had worked and a wonderful night was had by all.
But, I'm sure what you really want to know is the nitty-gritty!! (I will be posting the various recipes for all the items served and some of the decorations we made.) After throwing a few parties in my day, I have found the best thing to do is a nice combo of homemade and store bought items. I think mixing something that no one expects you to make with something out of a box is a great way to create a relatively impressive, yet not overwhelming spread. Here is the rundown:
Menu
Cocoa and spice crusted pork roast served on whole wheat buns
Dijon potato salad
Beet and carrot slaw
Hummus and pita chips
Curry dip and fresh veggies
Fromage blanc and toasts
Dilled crab dip and crackers
Caprese salad on a stick
Cheese plate of local cheese - Ama blue, Dill Havarti, Dubliner and Apple Smoked Cheddar
Fresh berry compote
Watermelon and cantaloupe
Almond stuffed olives
Red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and candy rubies
Minted lemonade
Homemade ginger beer
The food was a big hit, and lots of people asked for recipes, so all this week, you will find them here!
We turned out screen porch into a bar area with benches to sit around the outside and our baker's rack as the bar. We lined up all the bottles on the window sill (to keep out of the hands of the under-aged among us) and had the ginger beer and lemonade dispensers within reach.
The week everyone was at the cabin, we took the opportunity to break in to Tom and Mary's house and pilfer some pictures of the two of them through the ages. Brett them assembled and hung them as decorations from the ceiling of the porch. We added a few red paper lanterns and candles in Mason Jars as well as some pretty red plants along the sills. Here is the result:
We wanted the decor to stay classy and not too over the top. I think it ended up exactly the way we wanted.
Thanks to all who came and celebrated. I hope you had as much fun as we did.
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