Santana's Wine & Cheese Grad Party

Our oldest daughter Santana, recently graduated with a dual-degree: Master of Science in Nursing / Family Nurse Practitioner and we celebrated this past Saturday with a Wine & Cheese Grad Party and lots of family & friends.  I haven't blogged in quite sometime, but just had to get these pictures posted to share how beautiful everything turned out. Shanel & I designed and decorated this themed party with actual furniture pieces from our home, some old vintage items that I tend to collect because I know I will use it one day for something and a few rented pieces of furniture from Dusty Lilacs.

Sorry the pic of the invitation is a bit blurry but it's a copy of the original because I had to alter it to take out our address and phone number. 

 This was our Wine Bar!

We used a sofa table with a pedestal, some crates, a basket filled with bruschetta, a chalk board that listed our wines & cheeses, some grapes, candles, a little greenery and then just let the wine glasses and the wine bottles do the rest...

Using old wine barrels, an old door as the table top with a smaller coffee table for some height, we created our the buffet for the cheese & crackers, cookies, and a few other snacks.  Inside the house the menu for the evening also consisted of Cajun Gumbo, meatballs, and chicken salad ~ just a little variety.  We had slices cut from a pine tree and used those to stagger more heights to keep it interesting and dramatic and to add interest and allure to the tablescape.

Okay my FAVORITE, I think... there were just so many awesome decor items I just kept saying this is my favorite, no this is, no this one.  It was and still is a tough call!  Anyways if you haven't guessed by now, this was the Hot Chocolate Bar! Don't you just LOVE it?  It was so much fun finding items to design this part of the party and it was a very creative way to celebrate and keep warm since the party was mostly outside on a chilly evening. I'm still smiling :) The CART is a treasure and was a unique, fun & festive focal point for our guests.  On the left were two coffee urns that held hot water and milk and on the cart there was the hot chocolate mix with crushed peppermints, candy canes, marshmallows, caramel drops, cookies and more...

We weren't about to let Jack Frost with his chilly temps ruin our outdoor plans... and you will see why in the next set of pictures, so to keep our guest cozy we created this Snuggle Up & Keep Warm blanket station with some festive Christmas blankets.  It definitely kept the party going long after the sun went down and the temperatures dropped. We displayed them in old baskets and crates and used some old ladders to stagger them. 

And this is why we didn't want the cold to keep everybody inside... taking furniture from all over the house and not trying to make anything match, we created cozy seating areas all across the backyard which was lit up with lots of Christmas lights and even a Crystal Chandelier hanging from one of the trees. We stacked vintage suitcases and used old chests as end tables and added a little candle light ambiance with some old wine bottles. 

Okay, another of my FAVORITES was the custom cookies made especially for our party by THE BAKED EQUATION.  There was a smaller picture above on the buffet but that did not do them justice, I had to give them a spotlight section :)  Love, love, love the creations Melissa makes, they didn't only look perfect they tasted delicious and made the event even more memorable.

Our beautiful GRADUATE and some of her guests.

Last but not least... a SURPRISE visit from Mrs. Claus aka ME! Now if you have ever visited our blog here or have actually been to any of the parties we have created & designed over the last few years, then you know that I LOVE doing dessert bars. They are my all time favorite part of a party, adding that final WOW moment to an event.  WELL we didn't do a dessert party this time... instead we decided to surprise our guests with a visitor from the North Pole bearing a tray filled with candies.  Surprise, surprise, surprise ~ Fun, fun, fun!  I walked around the party offering one and all to fill a bag with sweets.  LOL, everybody got a kick out of this and enjoyed the candies as well! 

This table sat at the entrance/exit to the backyard and served as the gift table.  When Mrs. Claus completed her round of the party, the candy tray sat on this table so that our guests could fill a bag on their way home. We used a vintage mailbox for any cards she was blessed to receive and want to say one more time THX for coming out and celebrating such a wonderful occasion with us.

Congratulations to our beautiful oldest daughter, we couldn't be more proud of all you have accomplished.  For those of you closest to her, you know as we do, that the road was not always easy, but she never gave up... she pushed and prayed her way through it all. Love you Santana, and hope that you enjoyed your party as much as we enjoyed creating it for you and THX for being who you are. Mommy