One of the things I looked forward to most after buying my house was hosting my family and friends for joyful occasions.  This home was a fresh start, a chance to begin making new and wonderful memories with my loved ones, and this weekend was just one of those times. I hosted a co-ed baby shower for my friends John and Maria, and their sweet little Madeline. Maria’s family hosted a traditional baby shower last weekend, but I wanted to have a gathering of just the young adults, including family and friends from college, so it was a low key backyard party. But, of course, that didn’t stop me from putting together a cute boho-rustic shower! It was simple but still optimized for photo opps, of course.

I definitely wanted to DIY my way through as much of this party as I could. Since it was going to be pretty small, I figured I could do a lot of it myself and save some dough. Obviously, seating and dinnerware aren’t really an option for DIY (unless I’m missing something"!) so I went ahead and ordered some rentals from Palace Party Rentals here in LA. The table and chairs were very rustic and minimal, and the dinnerware was also simple but with a bohemian touch with the glassware. For the flowers, I decided to head down to the LA Flower Mart (big thanks to my best friend, Nicole, for coming with me and helping!) and pick up enough flowers for 3 large arrangements and some extras for decoration. This was a BIG money saver: Ordering 3 large centerpiec...