Oh hi there! It's been a good six months since we've posted, but hey, we do this for fun and not for work, and sometimes blogging isn't fun when you'd rather just watch Netflix and drink wine. Which for me, is most of the time. Tonight I decided that watching the Bachelor was a bit too vapid for my full attention so I'm multi-tasking with blogging and feeling pretty good about it.

In September my little nugget turned one (WHERE THE HECK DOES THE TIME GO?!?!), and coming up with a theme was a monstrous task for me. I started planning when she was about 4 months old and by the time the party was within sight, my little "Parisian cafe" theme had morphed into recreating an entire streetscape in Paris complete with working cafe, flower shop and bakery. NUTSO, I know. Having a custom street facade built, sourcing out glass display cases for the bakery, and trying to find multiple kids-sized wrought iron and marble bistro sets was literally the end of me. I just quit. I told my husband that I couldn't do it. Quinn didn't need a birthday party, did she? I mean, she's one. She has no clue what's going on. And that's true. But as he reminded me, this party was for me. This was also a celebration of my first year as a mother, and he was right.

A few weeks passed where I legitimately didn't want to do anything. If I couldn't recreate Paris, I didn't want to have a party at all. And then I felt bad; after months of pouring energy into creating parties for this blog, and for friends, and for friend's friends, I didn't want to look back and say that I used all of my party planning energy for others and then didn't have anything left for my own daughter. That just felt awful to me. But I had also reached burn out level and the idea of doing everything I would normally do was overwhelming.

So I did what I could to create a memorable party without going overboard. I scratched many, many things off my list during the planning process, and despite knowing that I could have done so much more, I'm glad that I didn't. Because, sometimes taking a new direction and trying to make a party "low key" can actually turn out pretty fabulous. And thankfully for me, I have some really talented friends who made it all possible.

 I'm happy with how everything turned out, but above all - that we had such an amazing day with our closest family and friends celebrating the most loving and wonderful little girl that I get to call mine.

More details on the party at the end of the post. Enjoy my mostly non-edited, poorly lit photos - because if we wait for me to edit them, well, I'll never post them :)



















I definitely couldn't have pulled this party together without the flower wall backdrop from our sort-of sister company Flowerwall Vancouver (it's a sort-of sister company because it's "Party Society" Kristin and her sister's company if that makes any sense at all). It really did help me decide on the final direction I wanted to go in, and set the scene for the day.

Our good friend Janet at Pete's Sister Creative gifts did the cakes (well, the main cake was a bit of a DIY project for another post) and the always amazing macarons. We actually had two parties (one for friends and one for family) since the guest list was so large, hence why we needed so many cakes.

And, two awesome friends of mine from my mommy group contributed their skills/wares - the restored vintage highchair and the birthday crown (if interested, message me for their details!).

When Kristin told me she wanted to host a welcome home party for me, I naturally declined. Despite my love for throwing parties, I'm not all that into being the guest of honour. But, she twisted my arm a bit (all she had to say was wine) and we decided to make the event a really special way to say goodbye to Manitoba (where I lived for almost three years) and hello again to BC (where I spent my entire life prior to Manitoba, and came back to for good).


While in Winnipeg I had the pleasure of getting to know one fabulous soul and artist - Kal Barteski. You've likely seen her work without even knowing it if you don't already know her - and if you do, you know how lucky it was for me to become acquainted with her! She truly is a special spirit with a massive heart - one of the nicest people you will ever meet with a wild passion for art and animals (in particular, polar bears). Kal has loaned her script to Vancouver Urban Winery for some pretty fantastic label art - so featuring VUWxkbscript seemed like the perfect way to bridge my Winnipeg experience and my coastal home. (Vancouver peeps - she's coming for a custom #kbscript pop-up at VUW next Monday June 6th! See you there?)











The name cards were fun to do and oh so easy. We used our Silhouette Cameo to cut out the names on black decal material, and used these ceramic Pottery Barn cheese markers as name cards.



The gorgeous eucalyptus garland from Celsia, and natural tablewares from Pier 1 helped bring together that breezy, natural West Coast vibe. And, to make it truly a "catered to Jen" affair, we tracked down a delicious collection of Vancouver-made dairy-free nut cheeses by Blue Heron (thanks to a shout out from local foodie Erin Ireland). I've been plant-based for the last few years and despite Kristin being far from it, she was happy to take on the challenge of creating a vegan cheese board. We will be posting the cheeseboard and more details on the nut cheese later this week for those interested!





To tie it all together, my personal and custom #kbscript (more of Kal's beautiful handwork) was a focal point as it really does just the perfect job at summing me up (and this wine and cheese party)!

WINE: Vancouver Urban Winery
TABLE: Restoration Hardware
CHAIR RENTALS: The Little Wedding Shoppe
GARLAND: Celsia Florist
PLACEMATS, NAPKINS, AND NAPKIN RINGS: Pier 1
ART: Kal Barteski
MENU: The Paper Society
NUT CHEESE: Blue Heron
PLATES: Sophie Conran

It took us far far too long to collaborate on something creative and fun, but here we are, two friends and ex-wedding planners joining forces to share our crazy lives and parties. Here you will find posts from both of us (me, I'm Jen! and Kristin) featuring our favourite ideas for hostessing, party styling and more.

Kristin and I share pretty much the same brain which is a rarity if you happen to know us in real life. We tend to take things a little over the top when it comes to parties/crafts/anything creative, so we are clearly a very good pair. Kristin and I met back in 2009 when she enlisted my help in coordinating her wedding day. Kristin also happened to be a wedding planner at the time, so needless to say it was one pretty fantastic NYE wedding!

In addition to wedding planning, Kristin used to decorate hotels/malls and the like for Christmas, so whenever you see a giant Christmas tree in a hotel lobby, you can think of her. She and her sister (another Jennifer) have also put about 7000 hours into creating the most amazing flower wall backdrops that they rent out for weddings and events in the Vancouver, B.C. area. It is very likely we will be doing an event featuring Flower Wall Vancouver at some point! When she's not crafting, dreaming up parties or hiding Michael's receipts from her husband Tyler, Kristin is being an amazing mommy to two of the sweetest kiddos, Sammy (almost 4!) and Bianca (1.5 years old). Her attention to detail is just as advanced as her attention to family, and often has me wondering how she pulls it all off all while sporting amazing hair and perfect bangs.

After wedding planning, I started working in real estate (new condo development) and moved across the country, to literally the centre of the continent (Winnipeg, Man.), for nearly three years with my husband's career. We built our dream home, had a baby girl Quinn (7 months), and now are back settled into our new/old neighbourhood of South Surrey/White Rock in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. I used to blog about home decor and organization at The Social Home, and still dabble in home/pantry labels at The Paper Society.

We have lots of exciting things coming up, so make sure you're following us on Instagram/Facebook/everywhere :)




Jen's Kimono: Muse Social Fashion House
Photo: Taya Photography

Every milestone with a baby is something to celebrate, but put that milestone in the hands of a Party Society mama and you make it one to remember. My first 6 months as a new mom flew by and while the first few months were exhausting, stressful, and a huge learning curve (yes, everyone tells you it's hard but you REALLY don't know what they're talking about until you're in it), they were also sweet and wonderful and have made me appreciate the present stage we are in. Those newborn snuggles and teeny tiny clothes will be dearly missed, but I'm so enjoying watching my happy girl develop her personality, learn more about the world around her every day, and teach us how to love more than we've ever loved.