A Vintage, Patriotic Ice Cream Social

Happy Friday, readers!  I hope that each of you are having a wonderful summer and enjoying time soaking up sun, fun, and time with family and friends.  We have been having a great - albeit very busy - summer 'round our parts.  However, never too busy to enjoy plenty of time at the pool! 

As some of you know, my son turned one earlier this season.  Like most parents, we are pinching ourselves and saying "where did the time go?"  (Not on the sleepless nights though... let's be real here).  We have enjoyed watching our little baby turn into a toddler... little boy?  (say it ain't so!)  In fact, we decided to have two parties to commemorate his turning the BIG ONE! 

First, we had a family party where we had BBQ and a delicious cake made by my own Aunt Bobbie of Bobbie's Cakes and Cookies.  I'll be sure to show you a few pics of that beauty another day.  But today I want to show you some pics from our second party, a little shindig I wanted to throw to get Wes Jr.'s little buddies together.  Instead of a fete with lots of food or even a cake, I decided to throw an afternoon ice cream social.  And I am pleased to say that I think it turned out just perfectly!  For beverages, we had a smattering of cocktails (favorites seemed to be Blood Red Orange San Pellegrinos with Vodka - y'all might recall how I love serving San Pellegrinos - and Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream with soda water and Bourbon - sounds strange, tastes divine), water, Coca-cola products, and an assortment of vintage sodas such as Bubble Up from Trader Joe's.  We also had a few snacks like popcorn and pretzels (see below), cookies, and chips and Ellen's amazing salsa.  And that was it!  The main aspect of the party that proved challenging was the weather.... it was damn hot, y'all!  I think around 90 degrees that day.  But a large tent with fans and misters did the trick quite nicely, with breaks taken in the air-conditioned house, of course!

In terms of decor, I purchased almost everything on Etsy or at Trader Joe's.... vintage ice cream buckets, tags, even cups... all of those I found in mint condition on Etsy.  I even found little vintage ice cream bar bags that I used to put ice cream cone-shaped and ice cream bar-shaped cookies in as our favors.  I was also thrilled to find vintage ice cream paper - no joke! - that I used to write many of my thank-you notes.  At Trader Joe's, I found reproductions of vintage toys like chattering teeth, a yo-yo, wooden toys, and a hilarious sound machine too. 

Here are some shots of the Etsy goodies I purchased. 

Here are some shots of the cookies Bobbie made with the little bags too...

And as a treat to ourselves, we hired Corey Cross, a young local photographer based out of Fayetteville, Georgia.  I think that he did a great job capturing both the party's look and got some amazing pics of the party guests too.  If you'd like to hire a great young photographer, email him here!

Without further adieu, here are some shots of the party itself.  Enjoy!  (I know we did)!

And that's that....

Y'all have a great weekend!

xoxo

Lindsay