My sweet boyfriend, Jason, is officially 30 years old as of September 30! I had decided a while back that I wanted to do something special for Jason in celebration of this milestone, and I've always wanted to throw a surprise party, so I figured this would be the perfect occasion. I, obviously, couldn't blog about any of this before the big day so I'll walk you through the process a little bit. I knew I wanted to invite as many people as possible - anyone and everyone that has made some kind of an impression on Jason. I sent out emails and Facebook messages to everyone I knew Jason would want to celebrate with about a month and a half before the date I chose for the party, just to get an idea of how many people would seriously consider attending. Once I had a rough estimate of the number of attendees, I began my search for a venue. Originally, I was set on Max's Wine Dive, but their food & beverage minimum was out of my price range. I checked with a few other restaurants and ended up happily settling with Red's Porch. Jason and I had eaten there many times and really enjoy the food and drinks. They have great specialty cocktails and a more than decent variety of local beers on tap. It ended up being the perfect crowd pleaser, offering something for everyone.
On the day of the party, I had wonderful assistance from my best friends Emily, Heather and Sarah and from my mom who arrived early in the afternoon to help me de-stress and get ready. It turns out I was worrying and stressing for nothing because, even with storms rolling in all day and night, the party went on without a hitch, and Jason was absolutely shocked when he showed up and everyone yelled "SURPRISE!" It was such a fun night, and I am so grateful to everyone that made the effort to come and help us celebrate this exciting birthday for Jason!
**All photographs courtesy of Emily's camera and Emily & Sarah's picture-taking expertise.
