Party recap

So the party was a success! Unfortunately, I don't have pictures to show you because, well, I underestimated just how busy you can get when throwing a party at your home. Sorry! Anyway, this was the first big get together we've had at our house since we moved in in November. I think throughout the night we had about 30 people at our house. It was a beautiful day, so luckily we got to hang out outside. It was quite the learning experience, and I'm going to share some of the tips I've gained from the weekend:

Nain's Party planning 101:

1. Decorating. If you're not the creative type, such as me, be sure to have a friend help. It really helps if someone is a teacher because they are really good at this kind of stuff. My sister made the house look awesome.

2. Ice. You need it, and you always need more than you think you do. Buy extra ice if possible. Because what you don't plan for is how quickly it will melt and then there's none to go around. Oh, and when trying to break up ice, throwing the bag on the ground to break it is fine, if the bag is closed. Otherwise, ice gets out. And chipping it with a butter knife? Be careful because you might cut yourself on a shard of ice or the stupid knife. After cutting up the ice to go in the ice bucket for drinks, I noticed my finger bleeding. Apparently I sliced it open or something.

3. Food. Have some. Enough for everyone to go around. But know that when you're making your grocery list, and you buy 5 lbs of hamburger, you will be eating leftover burgers for weeks.

4. Sweets. So you make a cake and cupcakes for the party, and you tell everyone the party is BYOB and bring a lawn chair to sit in. Know that people will definitely bring desserts, and they will also leave said desserts at your house. And you will have these sweets sitting around your house to tempt you for the next few weeks. Case in point - T and I now have leftover birthday cake, cupcakes, brownies, and apple pie on our kitchen counter. Normally I'd be all like "hell yes!" but, we have a wedding to get ready for, and I have this beautiful, expensive white dress to fit into in 2 months. Not cool.

5. Music. It's good to have this in the background for when people first start arriving because it helps with the awkward silence, especially if not everyone knows each other. I didn't think of this detail, but luckily, I pulled T's radio from the garage for a little background noise. It helped.

6. Booze. Be careful. Limit your intake of alcohol, and for god's sake, keep an eye on that bottle of wine and regulate how much you have. Nain had just a bit too much to drink Saturday night, and it wasn't pretty. Sunday morning was rough. Let's just say I'm not 21 anymore, and my liver now hates me.

7. Enjoy it. Don't let the stress of party planning take away from the fact that you have a house full of your closest friends, and be sure to enjoy and have a good time. That should actually be #1 come to think of it.

8. Bug spray. Use lots of it. Otherwise, you will be finding random mosquito bites on you for days - on your scalp, on your foot, your knee...and these little buggers will drive you insane for the next few days.

All in all, it was a success, and I know that T had a great time. That's what I really wanted, and it made throwing the party so worth it to see him so happy. Now things are back to normal, the house is cleaned, and I am no longer getting sick. We have decided that this next weekend we will be playing it low key and staying home since it feels like we've been busy and out of town the last five weekends, and then we have my bachelorette/shower on the 24th and his bachelor party on the 30th. So I think we need a weekend of rest, for sure.

I have got to say, I used to recover from weekends like this a heck of a lot quicker than I am today. It's making me feel old. Hope everyone else had a great weekend!