Because of relationships both here and back “home” we decided to have two parties; a simple sleepover here with three of her closest girlfriends and then an old-fashioned BBQ with her friends and family at my parents house in Tennessee.It was a lot of work, but a whole lot of fun and everything turned out perfectly for this milestone event.
To help keep things simple and stay within our budget I planned both parties to have the same color scheme (pink & green), which saved a lot on decorations. We also utilized much of what we already had including serving pieces, tea-light candles, diamonds, christmas lights and scrap lumber from my parents little farmette.
Here is just a little peek at how it came together and all turned out.
First up was a sleepover on MacKenzie Grace’s actual birthday. Simple and girly all was fitting perfectly for her.
MacKenzie Grace is crazy about anything that sparkles & shines or dangles, so we incorporated a lot of that into her sleepover decor.
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| Madeline & Audley hanging up swirly, twirly decorations from the ceiling. |
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| Fresh flowers, tiaras, faux diamonds, candlelight & balloons all added a little celebration flair to the festivities. |
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| Pink lemonade was the perfect accompaniment to her party. |
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| A dining room full of girly girl fluff! |
Working against the horrible South Carolina humidity, I managed to make her cake fairly close to what she wanted. My icing did not want to set up at all!
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| Cake & a little candy for the sweet loving teenage girls. |
Dinner was was simple sliders with traditional burger toppings, baked beans, chips & salsa.
Easy, peasy.
That’s the name of the game!
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| A few of her favorite things! |
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| Our fun-loving and beautiful birthday princess! |
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| The cake must have taste pretty good …. they ate most all of it. |
And after an entertaining game of truth or dare, karaoke along with manis & pedis, these girls settled in for a night of movies and laughter.
It was good, clean fun that you really can’t beat!
Party number two was a BBQ in Tennessee. While we have lived all over the southeast, our roots belong in Tennessee & Alabama. That is home as my children have spent most of their lives there. “Home” means so much to them as they have lifelong friends who have always been special to them and remained true no matter where we have lived. It is also where most of our family resides which makes visiting very special indeed.
Planning things from a distance can be a challenge, but my Momma was an awesome partner. My father’s birthday was also to be celebrated at this second party so it was going to be big!
We had over fifty RSVP!
Once again I kept the menu simple, ordering BBQ from one of our favorite places in Alabama (Mud Creek BBQ).
Seriously, Southern Living needs to feature these guys. They are a Tennessee Valley legend.
{They have good fried catfish, too.}
Momma made baked beans and I made homemade guacamole, peach salsa and tomato salsa.
We also ordered mustard slaw from Mud Creek.
{No BBQ sandwich is complete without it.}
Drinks were also kept simple and consisted of tea, lemonade and water.
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| Fresh squeeze lemonade…. my Momma is awesome! |
I have learned over the years that a good party is not necessarily the quantity of the food, but most definitely the quality that will leave people talking.
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| FYI: When setting up a buffet, ALWAYS place your forks and napkins at the end! There is nothing more awkward than trying to balance fixing your plate and holding on to extra accessories. The end of the line is a perfect place for them! |
Daddy & Audley “built” our little party space which was decorated with twinkle lights and Chinese lanterns.
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| from my Instagram account |
Colored tablecloths and simple centerpieces of floating candles & lime slices in Mason jars completed the space.
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| From my Instagram account |
We kept the cakes simple as well …. nothing is refreshing as a Dairy Queen ice cream cake on a humid, Southern summer night!
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| Momma took care of ordering the cakes … thankfully Daddy has a good sense of humor! |
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| Dad trying to be all prissy like his granddaughter …. I love his silliness! |
MacKenzie Grace truly loved sharing her party with her Pop!
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| 63 & 16 |
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| 1) the birthday girl was all smiles; 2) Blessing this milestone in life; 3)my beautiful Momma; 4) MacKenzie Grace & Summer (friends since pre-k); 5) my madeline & her bestie, Mallory |
From start to finish, It was a perfect night!
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| from my Instagram account |
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| Don’t you just love twinkle lights?! |
I mentioned earlier MacKenzie Grace & her bond with lifelong friends.
It’s a bond that goes way back!
I’m linking up with Foodie Friday this week. Stop on over and see what everyone else is serving up!
Fiddle Dee Dee by Jennifer Jones 
Ohhhh…now that makes perfect sense…the utensils at the end! I hope that I can remember this. Your parents are about my age…a little older than I am and a little younger than John is. Ackkkk…that's the joy of Blogdom, you meet people for their spirits and not their age.
Love how you honored this birthday for Mackenzie (who is one adorable 16-year-old) and your dad who is making 63 look pretty darned good. Happy Birthday to them both.
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