Derby Day Recap

Last weekend we held our 2nd annual Kentucky Derby party, this time dubbed the "Get Down and Derby" party and it was such a good time! I hope next year is even bigger and better.

Official Mint Julep Cups

I had the help of two co-hosts this time and that made things run more smoothly. We still forgot stuff like the rose ice cubes and the kids coloring silks! The silks coloring pages will keep for the next party. The rose ice cubes will be used for a summer brunch, I'm sure.

This time we put up the big top tent to ensure protection from the elements.  The day started off cloudy and ended up getting a bit warm so it was a good call. I love the festive feel our yard takes on when the tent is up.

Watching the Race

We had a Mint Julep Station set up for guests to make their own juleps. Most guests seemed to find their mint juleps refreshing and some were surprised to find that they even liked bourbon. We had a pitcher of mimosa sangria and a tub of beer, water and Gatorade for the adults. There were a couple of tubs of water and soda as well for the the kids too.

Muddling the Mint

Some of the guys wore bow ties and some wore hats and some wore both. I loved it!

The Gentlemen in Their Hats and Bow Ties

Many ladies wore hats or fascinators and the competition got real. Look how pretty the ladies looked! Many of my friends loved the occasion to buy a hat. We even discussed having more occasions for wearing hats.

The Ladies in Their Hats

The Winning Hat

Next year we will have Win, Place and Show prizes for the hats because they were awesome and it was hard to pick just one!

And the guests had lists of the horses to study and place their bets.

Derby Winner (tabulating for the party winner)

This winner shared his winning bottle of bourbon with guests when we ran out of bourbon for juleps. #winning

The kids had fun even with nothing really organized for them to do. Somehow they were able to con some grandparents into watching them swim.

Poolside

Looks like the beginning of the Lord of the Flies

While I had my friend, Nicole handy, I had her sign my copy of her first book, Center Ring. Loving her book and can't wait for the next ones.



Before dark, Scott gave a demonstration of how his weed burning tool works. Notice how the guests kept a safe distance.



The party went on well after the race was over.  I loved to see people enjoying the company of other people and making new friendships in our backyard.