{Miss Natalie LDS Baptism Dresses}

This girl recently celebrated a special day: she reached the age of eight years old and chose to be baptized and become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This is a big deal for her, so she invited her grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends to attend the service and come to our home afterwards to enjoy a few of her favorite treats. It was such a pleasure to have so many loved ones in our home!

We’ve talked a lot about planning a christening or similar event on this blog, and I have to make a confession right here: this all came together at the last minute…because that’s how I roll. I utilized the same process, just smashed all the prep work into the day before. And while I don’t necessarily recommend taking on huge amounts of stress the day before a meaningful gathering, it worked for me because I tend to keep things fairly simple. {grin}

The menu selected by Miss Meg was as sweet as she is: chocolate chip cookies, vanilla cake, and root beer floats. I threw in some yummy ham-pineapple-cream-cheese-roll-ups for a touch of savory to go with all the sugar. I wouldn’t call it a balance, but it definitely took the edge off, and those babies disappeared fast!

This cake comes with a bit of a story. Because it was the last minute, I ended up ordering a cake from our local grocery store: vanilla cake with simple white frosting and pink lettering. When I picked it up, the lettering was…really awkwardly done. Grrr. I considered my options on the fifteen minute drive home, determined to make it work. When I arrived, to my DELIGHT, I found that if I was very careful, I could pick the lettering off the cake without any major damage. Pinterest supplied me with an awesome buttercream recipe, and I free-handed this simple design in nothing flat. It’s not perfect, but for me it was good enough. And yummy! (In case you’re wondering, CTR stands for Choose the Right.)

A sweet flower arrangement rounded out the preparations, and gave the table a pulled-together look that I loved.

All in all, it turned out to be a lovely day filled with the things that matter most: faith, family and friends!