closeMonday again?
Welcome morning coffee, a day of client meetings, editing and prep for another week. Whew. Glad I was able to sit down with some wonderful girlfriends this weekend, sip lemonade, celebrate a new life, and bask in the AMAZING details of a this baby shower! We are all looking forward to meeting this sweet peanut, and I can’t wait to “tweet” more details!
I am not one for planning parties, it’s not that I don’t like it ( it is actually quite the opposite!) but with 3 kids, a husband who’s a pastor, and working, there really has not been the time for it…. until now!
My little sister is getting married this spring, and if you have been following the blog, you know that I am extremely excited for her and to have Michael for my new brother in law! Lindsay’s meadow wedding will be very vintagie, so we (all her bridesmaids) wanted to follow the theme and give her a shower to match. We literally put the shower together in 3 weeks because of all our busy schedules, and I have to say it was a huge success! 
I have to say that Pinterest played a huuuge role in getting all our thoughts togehter and sharing them with each other easily (see my board here!).
I was also blessed by a friend who makes and sells her items (many of them were her’s) at the Drawers of Davlee, an occasional shop in Monticello.
Since I am a huge coffee drinker and rarely drink tea, I needed some advice on how to go about makeing the tea. Another friend brought me with her to Tea Source in Minneapolis where we purchased the tea and then she taught me how to make a tea concentrate!
I also found these great and Free print-ables on the Wedding Chicks web-site in the Free Printables section.
We really wanted to incorporate our family’s history into the tea somehow. My mom went through all our family’s china and crystal and brought it for us to eat on. While going through it, she found a piece of china that was about 80 years old that was our great grandmother’s.
We had all the women coming to the party bring a tea cup or mug that represented them in some way and had Lindsay guess which one came with each woman.
Vintage aprons adorned each of us to make the party more festive.
It was such a great time, I can’t wait for more of the festivities to continue!! Click here to see the entire gallery, no password needed.
So fun Karen! Beautiful shower. Love all the details.
GREAT JOB KAREN!!!! It looked SOOO good! So glad it turned out for you! You get the “best sister award”- so much work put into every detail of the shower!
It was an incredible weekend. Candace and Keith’s rehearsal dinner started the weekend out on a cruise ship of the Mississippi. I was so fortunate to be invited to join and document the evening. It was a pleasure and I so much enjoyed getting to know many of these out of state guests. They were all full of emotion! More to come next week of the entire wedding!
This is the cutest RD I have seen that is on the water!!! Please let me know if we have ur permission to showcase them on my site that is all about rehearsal dinner planning. http://www.RehearsalDinnerGuide.com/new
Thank you,
Elaine@rehearsaldinnerguide.com
When I got the invite, I was floored. I envisioned myself and my husband all dressed up in our cocktail attire stepping into the clean fresh smelling car by ourselves, relaxing as we mingled and chatted with people. A time to soak in the last rays of the sun and enjoy a meal together.
Alas, that is not the case. And I am sure if you are as busy as we are in the summer time, it is far from reality! What I had envisioned might have happened about 5 and a half years ago, but not the case today.
Today my reality consists of:
Jumping in the shower while naps are being taken, trying to get my hair and make up to look half way decent. Stopping at my sister’s to get some of her cocktail attire, because not only have I not had time to shop, I need her help telling me what is in style! Rushing the kids in the mini-van with pizza in hand, praying that nothing spills on my dress because it is the ONLY thing I have. Thanking my good friend Sarah for watching my kids for 2 hours and whizzing off to the event with a good friend because my husband has to work.
And to be honest, I love my reality because I know it will be gone in no time. I will want the tugging at my dress, kisses at the door, and long good night stories about all the pretty ladies in their dresses. So these days I will take great wedding events even if they get me out of the door for 2 hours and back home to the little people I love most.
You ARE the BEST, and we have been BLESSED to have you for our wedding! Good Luck!
Congrats Karen!! You deserve it, you are the BEST!
What a beautiful post!
Throughout the past five years, I have been a part of an amazing ministry at Bethlehem Baptist church (Web-site HERE) which caters to Mom’s of all ages in making our mothering significant (thus MOMS). It is also a wonderful time to connect with women, and having a break to encourage and fellowship with one another. Every other Tuesday, a new speaker will come in and speak to us of all topics ranging from growing our marriages, raising our children, to serving one another.
At the end of the year, the entire group of mom’s puts on a tea. This year the theme was “Vintage.” Each woman used her gift to make the tea wonderful. This is just a taste of the end of the year event. It was so beautiful and awe-inspiring. I was so blessed and soaked in every minute of the 2 hours!
There were so many details and ways the Vintage theme was played out.
Vintage aprons lined the exterior of the fellowship hall.
Old fashioned candy was our favor to take home, SO CUTE!!
Tables were decorated with flowers and fruit and even the dinnerware was from a woman’s grandmother.
We were encouraged to wear vintage aprons and the area where we met was fabulously decorated!
Our leaders for the year, Jen and Rachel, reading out of a 1950’s home ec book on how to treat our husbands. I seriously laughed; one of the “rules” was to always wear make up and to never let your husband catch you with bad breath… um that never happens at my house….
…and then how to properly pour tea.
The brains behind the decoration, Becky (middle) who was seriously amazing and obviously trying to run away from me as I was trying to take her photo because she was so busy.
If you are in need of any idea for a vintage themed shower, wedding, or any other event, she is a woman with immense creativity and skills and one to go to for ideas. Call her, and then call me, because I would LOVE to photograph it!
The wonderful ladies at my table who have encouraged me throughout the past 2 years. We have seen new babies come into the group and are now seeing mommies leave for the next stage of life that God is bringing them to. I have been truly blessed and am so thankful for their wisdom in mothering as well as the many other speakers and women who are truly trying to make their mothering significant. Thank you!
GREAT JOB Karen! Love the photos! The Colors AND the aprons!!!
Thanks for posting these pics! I am the proud sister of Becky! 🙂 She definitely has a gift for decorating and entertaining…I’ll be showing these to my mom…thanks again for posting!
Karen – what a great party!!! I LOVE this!
Including siblings in your newborn session… yes or no?
My answer is always yes.
It might feel a little chaotic in the moment, but those are often the images you end up treasuring the most—the real connection, the tiny interactions, the beginning of a new family story.
I’ve loved watching the Luong family grow through all three of their children’s newborn sessions, and those sibling moments are always some of my favorites.
If you’re wondering how it all works (and how we make it easy), I wrote a full blog post about it! Check it out in my stories
#newbornphotography #minnesotaphotographer #familyphotography #siblinglove
NEW WEBSITE. SAME HEART.
After a long time behind the scenes… it’s finally here.
And I want YOU to be one of the first to experience it.
So I made it a little more fun 👇
✨ I’m giving away TWO mini sessions for 2026 ✨
How to enter:
• Visit the new website (link in bio)
• Look around
• Enter the giveaway
That’s it.
If you’ve been thinking about booking photos this is your sign!
Tag a friend who should enter with you below and add to your stories for another entry!! (Make sure to tag me!!)
No one said you had to do newborn photos inside! Taking lifestyle newborn photos outside and making them true to your style makes them even more meaningful and significant!!
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