We traveled to Raleigh, North Carolina this past month for my sister Laura’s wedding reception. It was so pretty, and fun I just had to share the awesomeness of it all. My sister knows how to throw a party!

It took a bit of setting up, but it really was worth it. She said that she was inspired by 1930s lawn parties, and she picked a sort of apple green and gold as her colors. The boys got to wear green bow ties and suspenders. They were wary at first but warmed up to them. The girls got to wear summery dresses in different tones of green.

Don’t they look dapper!

All the family at the end of the evening. I just have to say how much I love how excited the younger boys look. For the end of a 2 hour reception those are some happy kids! My sister did a good job of having lots for everyone to do.

Decorations and Location

The reception was held on a pretty farm. A canopy tent was set up. My sister found pretty furniture at thrift stores and garage sales and set up an outdoor living room area.

Under the canopy her husband built short tables out of pallets.

My sister DIY’d some rugs out of canvas drop cloths by using a stencil and paint to paint a pattern onto them. The rugs went under the pallet tables. She layered different vintage tablecloths on top of the pallet tables and had pillows on top of the rugs for people to sit on.

On the tables were tons of candles. My sister found all the candle holders at thrift stores and used gold spray paint to make them all the same color.

There was a kids table with a tea set and paper dolls.

Lights were strung on the canopy and the gazebo where there was dancing. Ribbon was hung from string and used as a way to mark the reception area. It also was used to decorate the refreshments building.

Activities

Because it was a Lawn Party my sister set up a bunch of lawn games. There was croquet, bocce ball, horseshoes, and badminton. She made the badminton net with ribbon and string. It was so cute! There was also a table set up with checkers, chess and a 1930’s monopoly set. The kids also had a tic-tac-toe set to play with. In the outdoor living room she had a giant Jenga set. The farm also provided a lot of fun activities. There was a swingset and playground area for the kids, and they took everyone on a tractor ride to see the different pretty spots on the farm and the animals. My only regret is that I didn’t have enough time to do all the fun things! Everyone had a good time.

Croquet and Horseshoes

Badminton

Playground

Chess and Checkers

Giant Jenga

Tractor Ride

Food

I loved the food. It was so fun; milkshakes and cookies. Laura found a place that would cater the milkshakes. She even talked to members of the family and had them pick their favorite milkshake combo and had them listed on a chalkboard. (We could pick other combos but it was so fun to see what the family choices were).  There was a variety of cookies too.

That’s it! After the reception, my sister listed all of the decor items on Facebook as a wedding decoration lot. She sold it within a week and made back all the money she had spent. How smart!