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How to Decorate for a Baptism and Create a Gorgeous Buffet Table

February 28, 2017 Events, Food, Home Decor

Our daughter, McKenna Kate, turned 8!

It was such a fun weekend surrounded by family and friends and filled with celebration!

In our church your 8th birthday is a special one, as it’s also the year you choose to get baptized. So for McKenna Kate, the most important celebration was her BAPTISM!!!

Unfortunately, we don’t get to choose the venue for the baptism. We just get to use the space provided, and in my case, wellllllll…… let’s just say I had to work around a really aesthetically difficult space! Giggle : ) 

Yikes! Right?

And to make matters worse, I only had about 30 minutes to set up the buffet table since there was a service going on just before… and I was expecting 100 guests!!

But thanks to my sweet friends who jumped right in to help……

It turned out Fabulous!

The Breakdown of The Buffet Table!

As you can clearly see, the buffet display had to stand on its own and carry the room! And I think it did!!

 The first item I consider in creating a beautifully appealing buffet table (I know I should probably say FOOD here, but I don’t : ) is the color scheme! 

I know if I figure out the colors first, then I can plan delicious food around those colors. With it being a baptism, white was a given, McKenna Kate chose pink (of course) and I threw in gold accents. 

With the colors scheme in place, the next item on the list is photography…. a photo shoot to be exact!

I love this part because you get the chance to make your child feel so important!! I just got a new camera!! A Canon 80D and I love it so far!! Amazon actually has it for $300 off right now if you’re on the lookout for a new camera!  I’m still watching a lot of YouTube videos on how to use it but….. this camera has  bluetooth!!! Wow!! This is life-changing for me because I can never find the cord when I need it!!! I had to have my real photographer help me with photoshopping greener grass, but I think I did pretty well for my first time!!!

I always like to incorporate a bunch of pictures in the Buffet Table display! I ordered two 11X14 canvas prints, two 8X10 matte prints, and three 5×7 matte prints. Adding pictures in cute frames gives the table personality and makes it feel “home..y” (is that a word?) even if it is in a gymnasium! Giggle!

MK told me she did not want a new baptism dress because she wanted to wear the same dress her sister, Tiffany, wore! How sweet is that!! I didn’t have the heart to tell her she may regret not having her own (I love the 3 white dress display: Blessing, Baptism, Bride)! I just decided I would relish in the fact that she idolizes her older sister!

It makes me sad my baby is getting out of the “huge-coordinating-bow” stage, but we compromised on

making her hair INTO A BOW! How cute is that?!!!! YouTube it!!

Our next item to consider is the Invitation!

I actually ordered a birth announcement from Minted that is rose gold with a small bow at the top. I felt like it accented our “bow” memory perfectly!!  I just customized it for a baptism! Oh!! And Minted has a service where they can frame the invite for you when you order! I totally recommend doing this because if you are like me, you intend to save one for their scrapbook and inevitably you forget or don’t end up with an extra!

 When I get going on a theme I can’t stop sometimes!! McKenna Kate just got her ears pierced a couple months ago so, of course, I had to get her these adorable Kate Spade BOW earrings to remember her special day!

She adores them and felt so “grown up!”

Now for the FOOD!!!

We have a wonderful bakery in Dallas called Stein’s!! It is my go-to! They can make anything I can think up! (Well, except for one time! – Another story!!) I had to order the CTR shield and the dove cookie cutters online but they had the rest! I designed each cookie separately and specified my “pink” and “gold” colors because I have learned from sad experience that “pink” to one person is not always “pink” to another!!

I also had these adorable petit fours made!! I went with two different pink flower designs! I love, beyond love, how the fondant ones turned out aesthetically but I have to admit…I ATE the one with the extra frosting!! : )

And my sweet friend, who I’m pretty sure has telepathic powers, showed up with this perfectly coordinating Bundt cake from Nothing Bundt Cake!! How precious!

I ended up using simple gold “M” napkins from Amazon. I spent 2 hours designing an fabulous pink with white lettering custom baptism napkin (with a coordinating dove) but when I got all done and was checking out I noticed it said, “no weekend delivery” and it was Friday!! Oops! Napkins just slipped my mind! But in the whole scheme of things to think about, custom napkins don’t make the top…… let’s say 100 : ) Giggle!

Finally, The Program!

In keeping with the color scheme and the serendipitous bow theme, I ordered thick (100 lb) 5X7 white card stock and created my own program! As we know from my last post, I am in a current obsession with pink velvet!! So, I ordered pink velvet ribbon, I had gold ribbon on hand, and our sweet Aunt Gwen and Grandma Houghton helped me tie and glue cute bows on the top!

All in all…. it was The Perfect Day!! (I’m just going to forget the part about showing up at the church and my 10- year-old son didn’t have any shoes on!)

McKenna Kate had such a positive experience having her older brother, Steven, baptize her! She had so many friends who came to support her; and finally, by our fifth time of doing this, I think we had taken the time to help her  REALLY understand the commitments and promises she was making!

Hugs….. Jennifer

P.S. Feel free to click the pictures below to shop the post!

  1. Katherine says:

    Beautiful! Did you preserve your older daughter’s dress? My one year old daughter’s blessing dress is already looking a little bit yellow and I’m wondering where I should take it. I’m also in Dallas!