Derby Day is coming up on Saturday, May 7! Today, I’m sharing last year’s derby party we hosted. It was so fun. My parents talked about it for weeks saying it was the best party they’ve ever been to, haha! I’m off to go prepare for this year’s festivities and will share more of that soon. In the meantime, happy reading!

This year, we hosted our 1^st Annual Kentucky Derby party! Since I didn’t get my act together fast enough, today I’ll be recapping the event.Like most of my parties, I wanted to keep things simple but detail oriented. I found a ton of great free printables from a Pinterest search and used them around the house. I went to Home Depot and bought the minimum amount of astro turf I could from the giant roll. It cost just under $8. I used it as a runner for the main table and as a tablecloth of sorts on the 2 smaller tables.The girl thought I was a little crazy when I said I only needed enough to use for a table runner, haha! Once I explained it to her, she suggested I take some of the astro turf samples to use as coasters. Genius!I also hit up my favorite spot for a deal, Dollar Tree, where I grabbed fake roses, a toy horse, baby shower ribbons and utensils. I put the roses in a silver trophy-like champagne bucket, sprayed the horse gold, and printed and cut out a horse head to cover the baby carriage on the ribbon. I had the mini trophies from our football party a while back but they are also from Dollar Tree. I whipped up the “Hold your Horses” print. The real horseshoe was one of 4 found in our garage after we moved in. It was a great touch. Jamie made the crate for me the night before the party when my original crate ended up being too big. What a guy!

We wanted an intimate affair of just family so we didn’t need a ton of food. Of course I made way more than need but better to be safe than sorry. I made derby favorites like Kentucky Hot Brown sliders and Benedictine sandwiches. I also made bourbon meatballs (frozen meatballs in the crock pot with a bottle of bourbon sauce, so easy!) and a bow tie (get it?!) pasta salad.My dad made the traditional Derby Pie and it was AMAZING! He also found these adorable chocolate horses at a local store. What a great touch!

For drinks I made a lavender lemonade and a wine julep. We knew we wouldn’t be too keen on the actual mint juleps so this wine alternative was a great solution. I used a bottle of pinot grigio, some ginger ale and muddled mint. So tasty and refreshing! I also wrapped water bottles with the free printables I found.

I’d printed betting sheets for the event. Everyone threw $10 into the pot and picked a horse to win. My mom was the big winner with American Pharaoh. Nice job, Pammycakes!

Everyone was encouraged to wear a fancy hat or bow tie. Even our dogs got in the spirit with a bowtie for Napolean and a polo for Monty! We had a great time and are looking forward to the 2016 Kentucky Derby!