The invitations are all sent via Evite, this is a casual event so in my opinion, Evite is a perfect solution. If you are using Evite and are looking for guests to bring something, you can create a list and have them "sign up" as they respond. I didn't want to be too restrictive around what my guests brought so just asked that they add in the comments their dish of choice. Once I started to get a few responses, I compiled a list in the details section so others could see what was still needed. Evite also lets you see how many kids vs. adults are attending your event. That's certainly helpful when planning food, drinks, etc. This year we had 70 guests planning to attend...half kids, half adults.
We kept our decorations simple. Setting up tables and chairs outside, covering with colorful (easy to clean) vinyl tablecloths, lots of fresh flowers around, and cute masks and bunny ears to get into the fun of Easter.
We kept the food inside the house but the party outside. This year it was a great day - warm weather with an overcast, perfect to keep the sun out of everyone's eyes. The kids were entertained with crafts at the "kid tables", our play area, an awesome face painter (contact me if you are in need of a talented face painter and I can get you her info), a corn hole and ring toss game, and a bounce house courtesy of some friends who own one (how cool is THAT?)
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| Photos Courtesy of Gretchen Wakeman Photography |
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| Photos Courtesy of Gretchen Wakeman Photography |
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| Photo Courtesy of Gretchen Wakeman Photography |
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| Photo Courtesy of Gretchen Wakeman Photography |
For drinks we had coolers filled with water, sodas, juice bags, and beer. We also had a citrus sangria, champagne, vodka, orange juice, and pineapple/orange/banana juice. At some point during the party, an Orange Julius Cocktail was introduced....you'll have to read more about that in my blog post here.
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| Photos Courtesy of Gretchen Wakeman Photography |
Last year we really raised the bar on the amount of eggs we filled for the hunt....1200...for about 30 kids! We had about the same number of hunters this year - so went with the same number of eggs. One tip from someone who lives in a warm climate, if you are filling any of the eggs with chocolate, freeze or refrigerate those eggs until the party - that will help prevent a big melty mess when the little ones open their treasures! This year we filled the eggs with some candy but also goodies from Oriental Trading Company such as sticky hands, erasers, and bouncy balls.
We have a nice common area across the street from our house, so about 20-30 minutes before the hunt, the hubby collects a few other dads to head over and spread out the eggs. Once they are ready, I head over - parade style - with everyone else. I let the littlest ones go first, usually 2 and unders, then 3s and 4s, then everyone else. The most fun? Making those older kids WAIT! While I give the little ones time to get out there, I ask questions of the older kids....and get "NO!" after each question....."Should we sing a song? Should we tell a story? Should we sit and rest?" Once I know the small ones are out of the way I ask "Should we hunt for eggs???" Then I get a big "YES" and they are off!
Once all of the eggs are gathered, we collect back the empty eggs. It's very green of us, I know. Everyone sits down around a laundry basket to separate their eggs from their prizes. Prizes back in their Easter baskets, eggs back in my laundry basket.
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| Photos Courtesy of Gretchen Wakeman Photography |
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| Photos Courtesy of Gretchen Wakeman Photography |
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| The Bubbly Hostess Taking A Break....Photo Courtesy of Gretchen Wakeman Photography |
Thanks to my friend Gretchen for taking a bunch of photos.....I have failed at this job two years in a row now, it's hard to host a party and take pictures at the same time!
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