All our original plans to celebrate Elle and Carson’s wedding were foiled due to covid.
Over and over again.
So the sealing provided a perfect opportunity to truly celebrate.
Because we were celebrating a sealing, (and also a wedding, but a year late for that), Elle wanted to do something different. I mean, it was a different arrangement, after all.
So somehow she came up with the idea for a small, intimate 80s party with extended family and close friends.
When she drafted the invitation it included “80’s attire required” at the bottom. Dave complained that no one would dress up. Too much work. Just put “requested” instead of “required.”
And this was her response:
Ha!
She knew what she wanted.
And guess what? She sure got it.
(Even though she DID change that wording at the bottom and everyone was happy…ha!) Front and back below:
People came dressed up like nobody’s business which made it seriously so fun.
My niece put together this funny video that kind of shows some of how it all went down:
But wait, let’s back up to some of the prep for a minute or two.
Because there was a lot of that, luckily with a lot of helpers:)
Ideas for throwing an 80s party:
Eliza rocked the balloon arch:
And these guys hung it up (that’s Max behind the balloons on the ladder down there):
Trying to get the colorful candles to stay upright in these little jars, (melting wax to hold them up at first, until they kept falling down and my niece had the idea to just put rice in the jars which worked wonders:)
And we were trying to kind of copy this floral arrangement (above) in all our colorful vases we rounded up at Good will:
I don’t have a picture of my sister Saren putting together all these flower arrangements, or my friend at a floral store in the city trying to track down some small white roses for me, but they rocked it all:
And after all that work on hanging these disco balls that we rented (and borrowing the chandelier and other disco ball), we were almost ready to party.
Then came the dressing up:
That’s when all the prep got pretty fun. Loved seeing what everyone came up with.
(That’s our good friend Mike up there on the left trying to get the last-minute instructions from Elle for his job as the DJ…he was the BEST DJ ever I have to say!)
And then, see this dress?
Elle decided to wear it.
Yes, it was 1995 when we got married, not authentically 80s, but those puffed sleeves and shoulder bows? Come on, they can count. And kind of special that it was my wedding dress for her sealing party.
We did decide to “bubble” it up instead of cutting off the train and make it more fitting for the party (an idea my friend had years ago in high school to spiff up my Laura Ashley dress she borrowed, and I remembered that trick in the nick of time). My mom fixed it all up with safety pins that I adjusted a tad before Elle made her debut:
I mean, you have to have the neon high-tops too, right?
And yes, that purple shimmery number I wore was a good find at Savers, right?
Hawaii friends (+Lu) getting ready:
(That was as 80s as Lu was gonna get, and we took what we could get!)
A whole slew of curling and volumizing hair with hairspray in my bathroom:
My sister Saydi bought this wing-dinger dress at Savers. It was a wedding dress that she dyed pink.
She killed it on the dance floor with that thing.
Perhaps the best dressed was my Dad, even with a wig. Holy coy he looked awesome.
And those girls up there? Both wearing their mother’s vintage dresses from their 80s high school days.
But wait, these cousins may be pretty good competition:
Ha!
Yow!
These Hawaii girls were pretty awesome too:
Ok fine, everyone was pretty impressive I have to say.
My friends came came dressed up too. And one of them told me, with her swaying huge netted skirt, “this is called true love. Because I love Elle.”
And it was.
After all the hair spray and bobby pins and taffeta was in place:
(those were most of the girls in my family)
And everything was set up:
Oh, and Carson’s friend shaved of the sides of his hair for a more “festive” look…ha!…
Everyone else started arriving, Elle welcomed everyone…
…and we LET THE WILD RUMPUS BEGIN.
The photo booth was a hit:
Some of Elle’s high school friends:
Brie, the one in the middle, took the good pictures in this post. Her website is HERE and she is so awesome!
Some slow songs too:
I loved being in the midst of that sea of people showing love and support to Elle and Carson in the form of those funny get-ups.
The Prom King and Queen
At one point Claire announced the “winners of the Prom King and Queen.”
And wouldn’t you know it?
Elle happened to be picked as Prom Queen!
Let’s get a close-up of that reaction:
Let’s get a better angle of that dad crowning his girl with his white tuxedo tails and baby blue cummerbund:
There we go.
And you’ll never guess who the Prom King was:
Yep, Carson won!
Here’s a little snippet into that…but I cut off the video right before everyone mobbed them and did a little mosh pit:
Yeah, they were pretty excited:)
Some awesome cake-maker made this 80s cake:
Grace got permission from the mission to call in the middle of it all and I held up the phone high so she could see all that fun, my eyes brimming up with tears that she wasn’t there in the middle of that dance floor, but even more, those tears were gratitude ones, because she is right where she deep down really wants to be. And she knows it.
Some more pics to capture the ambiance:
The best DJ ever:
Showing all their love for their granddaughter:
And this guy showing all his love for his son:
(Carson’s dad…I wish I had more pictures of Carson’s family here too…because they all rocked it as well. And we LOVED hanging with them!)
Even after things were supposed to be over, these last stragglers hadn’t had enough, they could have danced the whole night away:
But finally, Mike wound up the music and there we were, just basking in the aftermath of a pretty epic night.
Here are some of the stragglers:
The fam:
The best dad ever:
Ok, another pretty great dad:
“Old Faithful” Eyre cousins with their spouses:
And the couple who made it all happen:
Finally, at long-last, that sweet union is well-celebrated.
The end.
Or is it the beginning?
Yep, it’s the beginning.
Can’t wait to see where else they take us.
You guys throw the most epic parties! I can’t even imagine the logistics though. Like. Where does everyone stay … ? lol!
That’s a good question! One of my sisters stayed with her in-laws who are mission presidents here, a couple stayed at Dave’s cousin’s house, a bunch of Carson’s family stayed at our neighbor’s house who were out of town and graciously let us borrow their house, and a bunch were in hotels too. It was so fun to have so many people we love in town!
Your family is the best! So much light and goodness coming from everyone! The outfits were amazing! Who can have an 80’s party without big hair! Your love and support for one another is so heartwarming 🙂
Seriously so awesome!!!
Wow what an Epic party!!! But Why only 2 hours?
They look so happy! Love the outfits 🙂
Seriously! Was that a fun party or what? Kudos to Elle for the idea and for the tons of people who helped pulled it off!
I´ve always wanted to say that Dave´s mum is such a babe. Hair always the same length and colour, clothes carefully chosen, colors coordinated.
I don’t even know that many people. hahaha. Congratulations!