One year ago, I helped plan a very special party.

Because while weddings are wonderful- and I absolutely love being being a part of them- not everyone gets to celebrate 50 years of marriage. And I think when you do, it deserves to feel every bit as special as the day it all began.

Fifty years is a while life built together. Memories made, traditions created, a family grown- and so many little pieces of a relationship that only the two people who lived them could ever fully understand.

This particular anniversary was even more special because it was my own parents’.

My mom had a few details she knew she wanted, but beyond that, she more or less handed me the reins and said, make it pretty and make it feel like us,

They chose the Leland Country Club, which could not have been more fitting. Old, quaint, rustic in all the right ways- it already felt like them. And it was the perfect backdrop for layers of flowers, cottage finds, vintage pieces and all those collected details my mom loves. (I do, after all, get my decorating tendencies from somewhere!)

I was already leaning towards blue and white, but before settling on a color palette, I always like to look at the venue itself. When you take cues from what is already, there, you can often decorate less while making the whole event feel more intentional.

The club had these brilliant pops of bright blue and lime green woven through rugs and little details throughout the space, so we embraced them. I layered those colors with softer blues, golden tones inspired by the late-summer landscape, beautiful April Cornell linens and vintage vases.

From there, it became about telling their story.

There were lake-inspired details, a few plaids, boats and earthier elements that felt a little more like my dad mixed among the flowers and prettier details my mom loves.

We even had a replica of their original wedding cake made as a surprise. And tucked into the decor was one of my mom’s parasols – the same ones her bridesmaids carried down the aisle 50 years earlier.

The dance floor sat in front of this incredible stone fireplace, so we surrounded it with a big hydrangea installation and filled the mantel with lanterns, turning it into a focal point for the room.

In the end, I didn’t want it to feel like a formal “golden anniversary” party. I wanted it to feel like them.

Elegant, but not stuffy, Beautiful, but still relaxed. Blue adn white mixed with plaid and paper and flowers and things that felt collected rather than overly decorated.

Very much Up North. Very much life at the lake.

Photography: Kayla Mari Photography

Florals & Event Design: The Ferguson Cottage

Venue: Leland Country Club

Catering: Leland Country Club

Cookies: J Sierra Sweets

Cake: Pastry Chef Dana Wilmer-Lucus

And most importantly, a celebration not only of the day they got married- but of the 50 years of life adn memories they built after it.

0