Life As A Reissig: Grad Party Part 3 - Congratulations, Graduate!

My mama graduated! In order to help her celebrate earning a Master of Science in Mental Health Counseling (with Distinction!!), myself, the husbandly fellow, and the tiny canine pal drove for 12 hours to Nevada with the car packed full of desserts and crafts, and spent about a day and a half staying with my parents for her graduation party on Saturday, July 20th. I've recapped food and decor so far { For Part 1 (decor), SEE HERE. For Part 2 (food), SEE HERE. } and now it's time for the finished product - the party!

After putting together the sandwiches in the morning to chill (and getting thoroughly teased by my family and my husband for my AMAZING fluffy bedhead), we all threw on some easy clothes and headed over to the venue to set up the decor. As per usual, everyone was asking me how they could help and I mostly just needed people to stay out of my way - just like any good control freak. (Yet another trait I inherited from the guest of honor!) I did utilize my Clinton and Marcus (brother) in the hanging of high things because at 5'3" on a tall day, it just wasn't happening for me.

One of the first things I set up was the gifts/cards/guestbook table. [Oh, quick little sidenote! I did not make a cardbox in my crafting adventures from Part 1, but while at my mom's house she asked me if I had made one. I told her I hadn't, but luckily I had brought my crafting materials box along, so I was able to use some pretty paper and little flowers and letters I had to whip something up out of an old shoebox - so if you see it in the photos and wonder where it came from, now you know.] My mom had a really cool idea of using river rocks for her guestbook - she's going into counseling and Lance, my step-dad, bought her a really pretty organic-looking wooden bowl for her office. Her idea was instead of a guestbook, to have these river rocks out and have people write little inspirational messages or drawings and she will place the bowl of rocks in her office. Her patients will be able to look at them and pick them up, and if they see one that they feel like maybe they need, they are welcome to have it - but they must replace it with a new one. How cool is that! So I threw down a little pink table runner, some gifts, the card box, a bouquet of paper flowers, a little framed silliness, the rocks with a sign explaining what to do, and the Anne of Green Gables series on the table and poof! - the first bit of decorating was done.

I got that pink table runner for a buck at the dollar store. Can't beat that!

The last-minute cardbox.

Pastels for everyone!

Next up, I placed a cute little sign at the entryway, along with more books. [By the way, about the books - they are all books from my mom's book case that I chose based almost purely on color. I just wanted them to fit in and not grab anything too dark, but I also wanted some of them to mean something, so I did choose some of her favorites (Shakespeare, Harry Potter), alone with a few books that she had actually used in her courses toward her degree.] After placing the sign, I got to setting up some small centerpieces on a few tables scattered about the room - they included a stack of books, a mason jar bouquet of paper flowers, and a small frame with either an inspirational quote or a quote about books.

I'm totally taking the path for Diagon Alley - which would you take?

A close-up so you can read it!

This one was on the dessert table next to the Butterbeer Brownie Bites.

Next up, it was time to hang the tall things, including the little decorative curtain I made, as well as the pennant banner. There was a beam that divided the room between the food area and the sitting area that was perfect for the banner, so that's where we hung it. The little paper curtain got hung up behind the food and drink tables just to add a little visual interest and make the literature theme obvious upon entry.

All different floral print cardstock for the letters.

The full banner - you can also see into the other side of the room where the tables w/ the little centerpieces were.

I loved this thing!

Detail shot.

My mom had borrowed some beautiful antique tea sets from some friends for us to use in the decor. I was originally planning to place them on the tables behind the food, but when we arrived in the room and saw this cool little A-frame shelf, we knew it was the perfect place to put them. Mom placed the tea sets out (isn't the arrangement so cute??) and added the mason jar candles, and I put some of the loose tissue paper flowers on the shelves as well as around the food and drink tables.

Okay, NOW it's a high tea!

Setup of the room only took about an hour or so, after which we went back to my family's place to get party-ready. I curled my mama's hair while the boys sat around looking at my brother's new gun, and then we all got dressed for the party and headed out to enjoy Kimberly's High Tea Graduation Party.

Clinton and I, ready to go!

Once there, I set out/arranged all of the food on trays. We had a slight snafu - we had made some stacked trays but for some reason (possibly heat?) the glue didn't stay and so I ended up just taking them apart, but it worked out anyway - I just had to rearrange the tables a little bit.

Food and drink tables. You can see the pennant banner in the top of the photo.

Dessert table and tea sets.

Not pictured - I totally forgot to take photos from outside. There were 3 or 4 wrought iron table/chair sets out in front of the room. The guys ran out to get some pink, yellow, and white balloons and I put a mason jar vase with paper flowers and a plain mason jar with a tealight in it on each table.

Pretty quickly after that, people started trickling in and the party was started. The first hour or so was just mingling and people noshing on the food, and me replenishing the food and drink as it went. I don't know why, but the Grape Gatsby drink was a total killer and gone within the first hour. I wish I had known so I would have had more on hand, but even after making 3 batches through the night, it was gone! Oh well, I'll know for next time. Mom introduced Clinton and I to all of her friends as they arrived and I tried to balance being caterer/host/daughter of the guest of honor all at once - I think I was successful!

About halfway through the party, we did a little activity where everyone sat inside and I stood up and asked a few questions to get people involved. There was no prize or anything, it was just a quick little thing to have fun and get everyone laughing and talking.

1) What is Kimberly's favorite book series? Several people got the series right (Harry Potter).
2) What book influenced Kimberly the most growing up? I didn't expect anyone to know this one, but a couple of people did! It was To Kill A Mockingbird, and my mom talked some about Atticus.
3) What is Kimberly's favorite Poem? One person got this right after a couple minutes of hemming and hawing from everyone else. (Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken) - actually, I think they got it half right. I think they said The Road Less Traveled, or maybe just the name of the poet or something. But it was close enough!
4) If she could choose any fictional character from any book, who would Kimberly want to have dinner with, and why? There were several answers to this one - one of which got a big laugh. Someone shouted out, "Jesus!" and I gave them a hard time because most of the people there were friends from church and I had specified fictional character - it was pretty funny. Someone else mentioned a Harry Potter character - either Dobby or Dumbledore, I can't remember. After people were done making suggestions, I asked mom to give us her answer, and ended up getting another laugh from the guests. She said Atticus and I said, "No, too much Atticus! Enough Atticus woman, we need some variation here! Pick someone else!" I was obviously just teasing her and everyone knew that, but she did end up saying she would like to have supper with Bilbo Baggins, because he seems very interesting with his risks and adventures and the payoffs they came with.

After that, one of my mom's friends/pastor got up and did some stand-up comedy - it was super cute! It ended with a Top 10 list of things you never want to hear your therapist say, and the number 1 was, "I just graduated!" That cracked me up - so clever, working in the fact that it was her grad party!

When he was done, mom got up and made a little thank-you speech not only for coming to the party, but to everyone there who had helped her along on her journey. She may have shed a tear or two... I'll never tell.

People ate some more, mingled, and slowly drifted out until finally, the last guest had gone and Marcus, Clinton and I were left sitting at a table talking about The Clown Motel - but that'll be a story for another day. For now, I'll just leave you with some Instagram pictures I took that night.