July 4th Party - the Setup

Let me preface this post with saying that I have a problem with stalking weather before a party, particularly ones that involve an outdoor component. I did it for my wedding; I did it for the Kid's first birthday luau and I did it for the party this past weekend. I will spend hours looking at weather.com and noaa.gov, analyzing the likelihood of precipitation.

Does 20% chance of rain mean 20% or does it mean 40%? What about when the two sites say something different?...Trust me, I was driving my husband crazy with this. As it was, the forecast for the 4th was looking more and more ominous the closer it got. So since I had the fortune of all of my guests being off work on July 3rd and the weather was perfect that day, we moved the party up a day in order to accommodate my outdoor party aspirations. And what a party...

This is the gazebo after yards and yards of fishing line and teetering on stepladders.

I get weirdly excited by setting out all of my plates and stuff to prep for the party. The D-ring napkin rings were inspired by those I found at the Social Couture website. I made them with grosgrain ribbon and some fusible webbing.

Here is the mock-up of the table that I did a few weeks ago.



This wagon was turned into something useful for the cookout. Check the next blog entry later today.


Pardon my friends in the picture, this is the only good shot I have of the table, post set-up. Fresh flowers courtesy of Publix (which is btw, the best place to get the 20lb bags of ice in my neighborhood - I know because I went their 3 times - and has the FRIENDLIEST staff ever!).

Next up: the food!