Out of Africa, continued.

..ehem...Yes, I slipped a blatant Gramma Brag Photo into this post....but now I will get back to the details of the party!

So, in my last post I shared the buffet table for the party and today I'd like to share with you a peek at the rest of the party.

Let me begin at the beginning. The purpose of the party was a combination "Baby shower", announcing the upcoming arrival of the newest member to Carter's family, and fund-raising event for UjimaCare Foundation, a non profit organization committed to helping improve lives in Ghana- most currently by building an orphanage.

The e-vites went out to family and friends, and guests were asked, in lieu of gifts, to please bring a silent auction item to help raise funds. The party theme was vintage travel, and so all the decorations reflected this, with old suitcases, maps, globes, and...well, you get the point.

When guests arrived, they were directed into the home office to drop off their silent auction items...
...and get their "Boarding Pass". Carter's Mama made them to look like plane tickets (she found the template online, but you may recall, when Carter's parents were engaged, I made something very similar for the Save-the-Date cards.) Each boarding pass had a seat assignment, which served as the guest's bidding number for the auction.
The auction items were all creative and fabulous! Items ranged from a homemade apple pie, complete with pie dish and recipe (priceless!) to a financial revue package, wine baskets, dog walking or dog sitting, (donated by one of the children of a guest!) to tea for four at a wonderful garden setting tea room. It was really a lot of fun!

Throughout the party, there were ways to earn "Baggage Claim Tickets"...by donating an auction item, winning an item, registering for the UjimaCare on-line Newsletter, etc. There was even a "Baby Pool" to put in each guest's best guess at the number of babies being adopted by Carter's family, the sex, birth year and birth month. The winners of the pool were given additional baggage claim tickets.

Later, a baggage claim number was called and a pretty nice raffle prize was given to the winner.
We all watched a video Carter's Mama had created from her recent trip to Ghana, and heard more about what good things UjimaCare does. (and at the end of the video, everyone got to meet the newest little family member!!)

As guests departed the party they were given a custom made CD of music made by Carter's Auntie to have as a memento.
Everyone seemed to have a great time, and I am sure UjimaCare will be able to make some tremendous progress with the donations!

 

 

Comments

[Bettsi]

Tracey, what a terrific way to raise awareness and funds- friend to friend, as a community. Your family truly demonstrated the "It takes a village" concept. The decor looks fab, btw!

[Diane Writes]

Hi Tracey! I love the concept of the vintage inspired party. You have good intentions and I'm sure destiny will make a way for you to achieve all your good endeavors.

[Laurie]

What an amazing and creative thing you've done to raise money for a worthy cause! You girls are the best (:

[thedailyapron]

so cool and thoughtful! what a great way to celebrate a new life.
blessings,
aimee

[Jennifer]

"I'm with you because I choose to be with you. I don't want to live someone else's idea of how to live. Don't ask me to do that. I don't want to find out one day that I'm at the end of someone else's life." Denys from Out of Africa - Carter's Mom and Dad are definitely living their own life. Congrats on a great party and a new member of the family :)