Wedding Day - Michelle and Dwain Daniels

Because i am soooo behind in posting, i'll use this as an anniversary post- 3 month anniversary that is, lol ... Three months ago on April 21, my soror and friend Michelle Atkins married the love of her life and all around stand up guy Dwain Daniels. Hubby and I were honored to be invited and able to attend this lovely union of familes and lives in a loving ceremony in Long Island, New York.

As Im sure I mentioned after her bridal shower, I was very excited to attend Michelle's wedding. Michelle is one of the sweetest and most caring people that I know. She is genuine with a huge heart with love and compassion for many people. So ofcourse my wish for her would be that she would find a soulmate to compliment all that i know her to be. I met Dwain at Robyn's wedding and since Im a great judge of character, I knew that he was a nice guy with the same caring spirit and genuiness about him. Ofcourse Michelle had already told me about Dwain so I knew that she was very much in love with her new fiance!

The lovely couple, Mr and Mrs Dwain and Michelle Daniels


Hubby and I


My line sisters


Sorors, sorors, and more sorors



When we get together there is non-stop laughter, and this event was no diffent. Sadly, Michelle was the bride so she missed some of the laughs. But the recap is just as amusing to all of us!! We could laugh at some of the same stuff for hours.



... And one of the best pics of the night ...
The Sigma Husbands

They joked about being their own fraternity with hand signs and everything, it was sooo funny. Even funnier, none of them are greek!!! But they have been able to appreciate the sisterhood and bonds that we "Sigma Woman" have. It takes a special man to be able to appreciate the unity of sorority sisters especially if the husband is not greek himself. Sadly there was no sweetheart song for Dwain (the bride or the groom didnt want it, and the other husbands were not happy that Dwain wasnt tortured [they called it being 'jumped in'] as they had been) but I would still include Dwain in any Husband event, he is now officially one of us!!! ... And when he said "I do" to Michelle, a while host of sisters came with her.

Bridal Shower Fun - NYC

So we drove up and back in one day... yup!

It was a rough drive but it was all worth it to see the love and happiness on the face of the "Bride to Be"!

top-elloqui; jean trousers-JCPenney

My sorority sister Robyn met me at my house for the ride up to NYC.  We met two other sorors at the park and ride lot for our trip.  I spent a gazillion dollars on snacks for the ride!

... and look who snuck in the pictures with their mouth open, lol.. but Auntie Robyn was all smiles.

And the sorors with the lovely "Bride to Be"!

Rock Star Baby Shower - Pics Heavy

I decided on a Rock Star Baby Shower to celebrate our little bundle of joy.  The event was held at an upscale bowling alley called Mustang Alley. They have a private room that we used and there were not that many people because they cater to an evening crowd.  Hubby reserved a few lanes in case some of his friends wanted to bowl while the ladies were enjoying the shower games.

I designed the invitation and had it printed.  We used bright yellow metallic envelopes to send out the invitations.

I gathered most of the ideas for the baby shower from the below links. I know I know.. its not for a Valentine's Day party or a child's birthday party, but I loved the idea for a babyshower.. so we ran with it.

http://www.hostessblog.com/2011/01/love-rocks-rockin-valentines-day/

http://www.hostessblog.com/2011/02/real-parties-rockstar-birthday-party-part-1/

http://www.hostessblog.com/2011/02/real-parties-rock-star-birthday-party-part-2/

Here are the highlghts of the event. I really wanted to make a slideshow of all the pics. Maybe I will get to that this weekend.. we'll see, but no promises.

Team "Ryan" :These ladies were invaluable to planning and hosting our baby shower.  They contributed their money, time and ideas to the effort.  I love and appreciate them so much not just for what they did to make the shower a success, but for being such great friends to me and ofcourse the Hall Family :)

Yolanda, Kameel, Jamaica, Courtney and Cousin Nikki in front, lol

Deidra and Kameel

Decor: Since the theme was "rockstar" I tried to add a few different elements, but we still wanted to keep it "baby".  So if anything had a skull and cross bones, it was quickly deleted from the event.  We even had tattoos for everyone to wear, although I think only three people had one on. It was still a cute idea.  I chose a color scheme of red, orange and yellow. I got plenty of props - star shade sunglasses, inflatable microphones and guitars. We personalized soda and water bottles and we had orange and yellow cupcakes individually wrapped. Ron's mother made the flower centerpieces. But I think the highlight had to be the baby onesies that created a banner. Too too cute!

 

  

PhotoBooth: The photobooth was my brainchild.  It didnt really come off the way I wanted it to, but it was still fun.  I tried to get everyone to take a pic with the backdrop at they came in. And for the most part I got alot of pics. And some really funny pics too. 



Kameel and Mom Bernette (Grandma Benta)



Kameel and Ron's Mom - Grandma Claudette

My grandma and her sister (Aunt Berniece)                 Martha and Kameel

   
Some of the Fam!

 
The Book Club Members

Sorority Sisters          and         Coworkers

Games: The games were fun.  Im not really a fan of a bunch of different games at babyshowers (or bridal showers). One of my favorite games was Baby Bingo. But it was difficult to play with alot of people (the guest count was almost 80 people).  We still had a good time. 

 

Gifts: Ron and I were in awe at all the lovely gifts that we received.  It was truly a shower of kindness. We appreciated it sooo much.  

  

It was a great time!!! Im so grateful for my family and friends.

Weekend of Baby Showers

Back to work after a weekend that was filled with babyshowers and they were all on the same day.  Can you imagine .. I had a real busy day since I was part of the planning committe for both.  But it was fun!

... 

And now, this week - I have to start planning my baby shower for July!

(Dont even ask - YES, I will be planning my own baby shower.  Im a control freak and I want to be apart of the process... so just let me do it please... and thank you, lol)



dress-NY&Co; Shoes-Avenue; Necklace-Lane Bryant

Cousin Derek and Cousin April's Baby Shower Cousin Derek and CousinApril's Baby Shower was a Giraffe Theme.  It was filled with lovely colors.  I love a good time spent with my family.  We got Derek a tshirt that reads "The Man Behind the Belly" ... but we werent sure if it was HIS belly.. or HER belly, lol!! that was the running joke during the shower.

  

Trina's Baby Shower

We had an excellent Raven's Theme Babyshower for my sorority sister Trina.  We were the referees for the event, with yellow flags and all.  There were some really fun games and prizes.  We had a blast and Trina got some nice gifts.  Her cake was adorable..and specially made for the event.

 It was a busy weekend.. but fun!