Thursday, May 18, 2017

Flowers & Fun Surprises

My mom is wrapping up her last week of teaching ever!  She's been a Speech Therapist in the schools for nearly 30 years.  My Dad and my siblings have been working hard for MONTHS to pull of a big surprise party for her.  We invited her to a Mother's Day dinner on Friday night and she knew all of her kids would be there.  We just surprised her by inviting 60 other couple friends to come along.  It was so fun to see everyone and we were THRILLED to surprise her with the party.  She really was SHOCKED which made us feel great.

The party was at a local favorite restaurant and we each divided up jobs.  I took on invitations, flowers and paper party products.  It all came together nicely :)

FLOWERS:
I've been collecting tall mason jars for the past few months from my favorite Ragu sauce because we love to drink out of them and I thought they'd be perfect vases for the party.  I ended up with 11 so I made 11 little bouquets.  Aren't they gorgeous!?!

Supplies:
3 different pink ribbons
3 dozen pink roses in three different shades
Light pink carnations
Baby's breath
greenery and curly sticks from my back yard
11 tall mason jars
scissors

I put the roses in first, added in the carnations and baby's breath and then filled in all the jars with sticks and greenery.  They were quick to assemble and I was so pleased with how the bouquets came together.




Paper Party Products!
I really enjoyed collecting supplies for my mom's party.  We used her favorite colors as our theme and I had no problem finding beautiful things to use.
table runner - TJ Maxx
banner - Target
plates & polka-dot napkins - Meijer
floral, striped and pink napkins - Wal-Mart

Her Invitation was from etsy and I was so happy with it!!
It was very affordable from NiceStudioForYou and so gorgeous.
The shop was great to work with, made changes quickly and I was thrilled with the invite.

We put together a fun RETIRE (rest, eat, travel, indulge, relax and enjoy) themed gift card basket.

My sister made some delicious desserts.  Aren't they all so pretty??
I got a dessert sampler plate :)


My siblings anxiously awaiting the arrival of my parents.  We were trying to make sure everyone was seated and hidden so that she didn't suspect anything.



She was SO SURPRISED!!  Mission accomplished :)

The girls:


My siblings:

My dad said lots of nice things about mom and then asked her boss and some coworkers to say a few words.  It was a really nice way to honor my mom.

My mom teased when she got the microphone and said, "My name is Nancy and I'm running for Sheriff."  It was pretty funny because my dad has run three big campaigns for sheriff over the years and many of their same friends were at all of his campaign functions.


My in laws were there to help us celebrate.

My dad and his siblings were there minus one sister.

We appreciated all of the help from family and friends to pull this off.  We were also a tiny bit relieved to have the big surprise past us because it has been a little stressful to lie for months about this party :)

12 comments:

  1. Oh Whitney!! The party looks like it was absolutely AMAZING!! All of your attention detail was perfect- the flowers were especially gorgeous!! As a speech therapist myself, I am in awe of your mom's 30 year career- she is truly AMAZING!! Congrats to her- I know she must be so excited about this new chapter of life!! And what a wonderful job you did planning such a thoughtful, fabulous party for her!! :)

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  2. That's so amazing! What a beautiful surprise and so special for her. Great job!

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  3. Wow!! What a gift for your mom! Nice job pulling that off! The flowers and the paper goods look amazing, as usual! It all looks amazing!

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  4. Awww what a wonderful way to celebrate your mom! She's got some great kids!

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  5. What a sweet surprise to keep! Everything looked great, and I know she had a great time. 30 years is such an accomplishment; she should be proud!

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  6. What a fun party! Congrats to your Mom!

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  7. Oh so fun! I loved seeing this and you did such a great job with your duties! Those treats looked amazing and I could use a sampler plate myself right now. Congrats to your mom!!!

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  8. This was an amazing party! I was definitely shocked and I'm grateful for all the effort all of you went to to put this on. The flowers were beautiful and I loved the different shades of pink. Love the invitation. The desserts were beautiful and delicious. To have all my family there and so many friends from over the years................it was overwhelming. And, although I do not like surprises, this one was a beautiful start to retirement.

    P.S. I look tired in the pictures because I was. :):)

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  9. What a fun way to celebrate your mom! I love the decor!

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  10. Aaaaawwwww!!!! This is just the sweetest Whitney. What a special way to honor your mama. I bet this meant so much to her. Looks like y'all did an amazing job too.

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  11. Loved this!!! I've been excited for this post since I saw your Instagram picture the night of the party! :) Thanks for the tips on how you made your gorgeous arrangement! What a smart idea to recycle your jars as vases. I love the paper products you chose - the patterns really look great together! It looks like you and your family organized such a fun party for your mom! Isn't it fun to throw parties for your mom after all the years she threw parties for you? I can imagine it was a special night for her!! Love her sense of humor, too! :)

    Whitney @ Come Home For Comfort

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  12. Love! How fun that you successfully surprised her, and the details are fantastic!

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