I’ve had a summer filled with festivities and celebrations.

In a perfect world, these monumental moments call for days, weeks months of planning, but in the realistic world of Jen living, I could barely wrap my mind around the day to day, so I choose to focus on the actual gathering and bringing together of the people.

Sometimes we just need to be reminded that when we shake off the stress of hosting and party planning, we realize it’s always the conversations, the blessings and the wisdom shared which make the ordinary wonderfully celebratory.

This summer I hosted a bridal shower for my most precious, new niece.

While I’m not one to worry about keeping up with the Jones, I was the last of some pretty spectacular showers thrown for her. Yes, bridal showers complete with preordered (well in advance) invitations that had real calligraphy on them layered in between pieces of beautiful material like paper. For many of you, that’s a given, but I’ve not advanced there yet. 😉

Since the only date that worked centered two weeks between our sons’ college and high school graduations, email invites, texts, a few hand written invites, some store bought goodies (gasp…that’s typically never me) and only a bit of decor was all I could muster.

And guess what? It was perfectly OK. It was more than ok. It was perfect.

With all of the hosting I do, I’ve learned to focus on the majors and minor on the minors. We get caught up in majoring on the minors.

People came. People laughed. People cried. People laughed until they cried and no one wanted to leave. Two hours after the “end time”, new to me friends still gathered. 

That’s my major!

Believe it or not, the decor is a minor, but as women, we’re drawn to beautiful things. It’s in our nature and beauty creates the special ambiance that draws us in and creates the soothing atmosphere, so when I’m in a time pinch, the most important thing I’ve learned when it comes to decorating for gatherings or events it to create one, focal point that makes impact. 

That’s all you need to do. One thing. Let go of the rest (unless that’s what you love to do and it brings you joy. Then do it up big and send me pictures.) 🙂

For me, I choose to cover up my ugly light fixture (yes, it needs to go) and in 15 minutes, with a few balloons and tissue balls, ambiance emerged.  I took this picture before I finished decorating the table and by the time I remembered to take more pics, the shower was nearly done (see top photo.)

Friends brought roses, which set such a beautiful tone, and I didn’t spend a dime on decor. I’ve kept these tissue balls on hand since I used them for my Becoming Conference and they’ve come in hand so often.

As you can see, our great room and kitchen are one large living space, so I don’t have a big wall to feature, but for those that do, the following ideas give you a glimpse at creating an easy focal point that packs a punch. By using metallic accents, the decor immediately elevates into something very classy.

Catch My Party (new to me site with lots of ideas)

Check out the rest of this adorable baby shower here.

I hope this gets your creative juices flowing for your next gathering. My desire is to encourage and equip you in celebrating the simple moments and realizing that it can be done in 15 minutes with just a few dollars. 🙂

Have a wonderful week,

Jen

See more quick and easy party planing ideas here.