Party #3: Hat & Soup Party

Party #3: Soup & Hat Party or rather French Cafe Party… CHECK! I LOVED this party. It will probably be ranked one of my favorites in our 9 parties in 9 weeks quest. I have always wanted to throw a French Cafe themed party. This originally started as just a Soup and Hat Party in celebration of January being National Soup Month and the 15th being National Hat Day but soon evolved into a cafe scene!

The Party Decorations 

When deciding on the decorations to have for this party, it was the aspect of the soup that began me thinking of a cafe theme, so why not throw on a little French music and make it a French cafe?! We created a ‘French Cafe’ station in Pandora which was perfect! Music adds so much to a party. Except, well I forgot that I made it a year or so ago so instead of using it, I simply inserted an artist that had the same feel… so needless to say the music was good but not as good as it could have been. My husband discovered it at the end of the party, so he and I had our own little dance party.

Since the chalkboard sign we had made for our White Elephant Bingo worked so well, we decided to make a few more to help tie in the theme. Nothing like an Eiffel tower sketch and some hanging bistro lights to help you feel like you are in Paris right? (o;

The choice of colors came by chance actually from my friend who had given us a bouquet of flowers not too long before. I loved the color combination, and we had the flowers, so I decided to go with it.

We constructed a ‘brick’ wall to help add to the bistro feel and hide the distractions of the kitchen like we did at our 1920’s party. Sorry this is the best picture of it, I really need to work on having everything ready before guests arrive. But I am getting better!

National Hat Day

Next time we throw a party like this, I am going to be more descriptive in my invitations instead of saying just ‘hats’ I am going to say ‘fancy hats’ or something to that effect just to take it up a notch. The only guidance I gave was that they couldn’t wear baseball hats. Lessons learned along the way right? That being said, some guests were a little more creative than others in their choice of hats. (o:

This little lady most definitely won the cutest hat award!

National Soup Month

We asked each family to bring their favorite soup to share (I prepared my white chicken chili soup which is always a favorite 🙂 ). I opted for cups rather than bowls for the soup since people would be trying several different kinds and thought the spill factor due to the smaller rim would be reduced. We served sourdough bread and crackers, had lemon water and sparkling cider to drink, and chocolate truffles to satisfy everyone’s sweet tooth.

Upon entering, we asked each guest to write the name of the soup they had brought on a small wood piece that had been painted with chalkboard paint. I thought before of typing out labels but didn’t want to have my guests commit to a soup beforehand just in case they were hankering to make a different type of soup at the last minute. These little chalkboard signs were actually less work in some ways and will be great in food labeling in future activities.

Before the evening was over we asked everyone to pick their two favorite soups. The person whose soup won the most votes was awarded a bag of Lindt chocolates.

Mix and Mingle

We were originally planning to play an interactive game sometime during the course of the evening but perhaps due to the kids or that everyone seemed just fine chitchatting, we decided against it and kept it simple.

Another successful party!

Twiners.

Hindsight, I wish I would have thought of the theme earlier so I could have informed my guests and perhaps invited a few more people that I know would have gotten into it. This party proves that even though it was a family affair, it still was a fun party and our house is no worse for wear having had kids run farel through it.

So would you want to come to our next cafe themed party? 🙂

Hopefully you enjoyed perusing the pictures almost as much as we enjoyed throwing the party! Au revoir until our next shindig!