Kara's Domestic Life: May 2014

Two weeks ago I helped throw the biggest party since my wedding; a red carpet, VIP "Night of Stars" for eeeeeeveryone who volunteers at our church, Providence. And that's a lot of people.

Basically, we threw a wedding reception with a small budget, and a tiny team, but it all came together beautifully!

The theme was Red Carpet, Award Show, and we really went with it. We had velvet ropes, a red carpet, mini Oscars, and lots of glitz and glam.

I'm pretty good at spending little to no money on rustic or vintage centerpieces but cheap and glamorous don't usually go in the same sentence, let alone party. It was quite a puzzle to figure out centerpieces that cost little to nothing.

I used glass cylinders from my wedding, water, floating candles, mirror tiles, and sprigs from gold star Christmas tree picks that I already had. Those were quite the ordeal. My fingers were raw after pulling apart 70 or so spiky star sprigs. You'll have to use your imagination, but with the lights dimmed and the candles lit, they sparkled brilliantly.

Our photo booth was a big hit. This was an eleventh hour idea from Julie, our amazing church administrator (slash Queen of Providence). We wanted to do a backdrop with our logo a la red carpet photo shoots, but it looked suuuuper cheesy. Plus, the forecast called for rain, so we took the 180 "Walk-of-Fame" stars that were supposed to line the walkway outside and hung them from the ceiling with fishing line.

Each one of these stars has the name of someone who volunteers at church. I printed all the names on transparency sheets (remember those?), and attached them to the stars with Glue Dots.

Check us out! On the left is the Party Planning Trio of Greatness: Julie Hennon, Carrie Fausey, and me.

And on the right is me and my gentleman. ; )

I don't have many pictures of food, but we were able to have some very fun hors d'oeuvres. We had passed sushi, bruschetta, little shot glasses with veggies and dip inside, and kielbasa/apple/cheddar picks. Then we had a cheese, cracker, and cocktail meatball table, and a popcorn bar.

Caramel, white cheddar, and lightly salted popcorn

with chocolate chips, Reese's Pieces, toasted coconut, and lots of spices for toppings.

We also had a lovely cake and cupcakes made by Terri Washburn and her daughters.

But one of my favorite pieces of decor was the stage background.

Made to look like the Hollywood sign, of course, I cut each letter out of heavy white cardboard. It was quite the mathematical feat for me to figure out the ratios and measurements of each letter. There's a scrap of paper with equations all over it - I'm quite proud of myself.

We had silliness...

A live band and a time of worship...

Some heartfelt awards...

My aunt and uncle, Tim & Lori Shultz wo do so much for others.

And some silly awards...

"Most Conservative Hair" ; )

"Mr. Sunshine"

"Queen of Providence"

That's a bouquet of bulletins that I made for Julie! ; )

And dancing!

Thank you SO MUCH to all of the people who made this possible. Carrie and Julie, you're the best. We did it. Thank you to Kelsey Kinard of Lovefusion Photography for donating your time and talents and capturing the night for us. Thank you to Philip Herndon and the band for both worshiping with us and keeping the dance floor alive! Thank you so much, Matt & Holly, for killing it as emcees. I know you put a lot of work into it, and it showed. Thank you to those from Utz, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Hanover Packaging Co. for your generous donations. A big thank you to Hickory Falls for being so gracious with the time it took us to set up and tear down (You've gotta check out their new banquet room, people. It's by far the best formal space in Hanover.) And a huge, colossal thank you needs to go to the lovely ladies who assembled and served our food. Jennifer, Leah, Adrienne, April, and Sharon, you guys totally rock and deserve many manicures and foot rubs!

And thank you to everyone who attended. I hope you felt loved and appreciated for all that you do for Providence! And after clean-up from the party took roughly 15 minutes, Zach said, "You should throw parties for volunteers more often!" I love our church, and I'm so glad that God brought us here. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to show everyone a good time!

I kept all of the decor details pretty close to the vest throughout the planning process, but I just made my Red Carpet Party pinboard public on Pinterest. Check it out if you want to see how my crazy mind works or if you want to host a VIP party yourself!

VIP Party Credits

Party Planning: Julie Hennon, Kara Hallead, and Carrie Fausey

Party Styling: Kara Hallead of Kara's Domestic Life

Photography: Lovefusion Photography

Live Music: Philip Herndon

Location: Hickory Falls Family Entertainment Center

Emcees: Matt & Holly Ford

Cake: Terri Washburn

Servers: Jennifer and Leah Ilgenfritz, Adrienne Dashawn, April Berry, and Sharon K

Linens, Velvet Rope, and Stanchion Rental: Harvey's Rent All

Sushi: Giant Food Stores

Veggies & Dip: Buffalo Wild Wings