Graduation celebrations: He/we did it!

To celebrate after E's graduation last weekend we planned a big backyard barbecue. I went with a blue and white theme since those are the colors of his school, and it was the easiest. Here is some of my inspiration gathered on Pinterest.

The main project I worked on was sewing a fabric bunting. It was too windy to use it how I had intended, so we strung it up to the canopy. I used the leftover fabric strips to tie the plasticware together.



Meanwhile my dad and E cleared and set up the backyard




My parents and sister especially did an amazing job helping get things together before the party. It was great to have them in town for a week. My dad attached a surface I made from another cable reel to the big stump in our backyard for a cocktail table - and we loved it so much we left it there!

First, though, was all the graduation festivities. E won an award for academic excellence. :-)

Below is Jeffrey, our 'roommate'. He's one of E's best friends from school and for the past two years we rented out an apartment attached to our garage to him. We have a lot of fun memories, and we're both really going to miss him. (He's the most complimentary dinner guest - always taking 2nd and 3rd helpings!)

Then it was time for the party! For food, we hired a friend of E's who is just a hobby chef and he did an amazing job on the spread. I almost feel like the menu deserves it's own blog post. Completely a relief not having one worry related to the food - although I wish I could have taken credit for it, with all the compliments we got.

I made sangria, and the adorable edible graduation caps with some help.

It was an open house for almost 100 people over six hours. I'm just going to let the pictures do the rest of the talking. I'll do a recap/budget breakdown in another post.

Appetizers: baba ghanoush with pita chips, roquefort dip with honey-marinated pears and crackers, and grilled pineapple salsa

our stump cable spool table in action

The main course was tri tip with chimichurri, and pulled pork with peach barbecue sauce. I cannot even describe to you how good it was. People kept nibbling all night and didn't leave us any leftovers!

The whole party made me appreciate our backyard in a way I don't usually (sometimes it's easy to see the weeds and lawn care instead of the vineyards, hills and greenery). We really have one of the best living situations I could have imagined and I know my heart will be broken when we have to move out of this house! 

It was really wonderful to celebrate with so many friends, family, and church members. Some friends stayed  late and hung out over a bonfire. It was the perfect farewell to E's four years of school.