This post brought to you by Oriental Trading. All opinions are my own.
This past weekend my siblings and I hosted a retirement party for my parents. My dad retired last year, while my mom retired last month. We decided to do a catered dinner for their closest family and friends. Since they just purchased an RV to help enjoy their retirement, we went with “Time to Wander” as the theme. Check out all the fun details for this simple sit-down retirement party:
As is typical of my parties, we set up a dessert table. The adorable mint suitcase came from Oriental Trading, as did the soda bottles, glass votives, straws and water beads. The cupcake towers I had in my stash, plus I wrapped an empty box with a map so that I had another place for cupcakes that added more height to the table.
My younger sister made all of the cupcakes, reflecting a couple of our parents favorite things to do: hang out at the beach and sit around a campfire!
For the dining tables we covered them in white tablecloths and added some adorable centerpieces that I DIYed using maps that I grabbed from a rest stop, water beads, glass jars and straws.
The flowers were made with my We R Memory Keepers Flower Punch Board and the Pinwheels were made with my Pinwheel Punch Board(affiliate links for your convenience).
I think these little airplane centerpieces were my favorite part! They’re inexpensive and super easy!
The cutlery were wrapped in napkins and I added a map napkin ring secured with twine. PS – beware if you use the water beads. They are super tempting to adults and kids alike! There may or may not have been a few of these tossed across tables throughout the evening! HAHA
I also wrapped the water bottles with maps for an added touch.
Prior to my parents arriving, we had some appetizers for everyone to enjoy. Once we surprised my parents we sat down to a delicious meal that was catered by a local company. We did it buffet style – salad, bread, pasta and lasagna.
This party was totally DIY and simple but I loved how it turned out and so did my parents. Everyone kept commenting on the map decor – can’t get much better than free maps from a rest stop!
I’m also over at Darice sharing a simple Mother’s Day Gift Idea and printable card, so stop by to check it out!
