Moms’ Night Out 2016 Recap

I love gathering people together and connecting them.
I love creating moments for people to feel loved and special and encouraged.
I love to celebrate motherhood. I love to throw parties.
So I combined all of these things and decided to throw a party for moms!!
All the moms.
I recently hosted my first Moms’ Night Out here in Rock Hill, SC
and it was such an amazing experience!
So often we put ourselves on the back burner while we focus on our families and to do’s…
But I know that as a mom, we have to fill ourselves up if we are going to keep pouring out!
I wanted to create a night where moms could feel blessed, spark their creativity, and build community!
I already posted an Instagram Photo recap HERE.
But I wanted to share with you all of the amazing photos my photographers, Hidden Pearl Photography, took!
I know that some of my blog readers are too far away to come to my events,
so I hope you have fun taking a peek at our night and if you
feel a stirring in your heart to plan one in your town, please take ideas from this post!
After the event I had a handful of emails from women that were feeling just that…
a nudge to take action and create a night for moms in their area.

I worked for a couple months planning the event details. the decor, sponsors and raffle prizes.
I put out the invite and crossed my fingers that people would respond…and they did!
My goal was 60-70 moms and we had 70!
My friends Kaylyn and Riley came and helped me with set up on the day of.
I couldn’t have done it without them and my sweet hubby!
Some of the mamas drove from 6-8 hours away and a whole group came from Charleston.
I was so blown away and loved connecting with all the people I met via email and insta.

As people arrived they grabbed their program, raffle tickets
and were able to jump right into dinner and drinks.
I had a local Italian Restaurant cater the night. Mario’s.
I was too busy chatting to eat (haha) but we love that place!
I used these really cute mason jars with flower lids from Zurchers. They are so fun to use for events!
I lined the tables with flowers, lemons and greenery from
Michaels in Mason Jars(already had) and Milk Bottle Jars(dollar tree)
Love the new garden section at Michaels!!

My heart for the night was to create a welcoming and fun space for the moms
to gather together, celebrate their creativity and build community.
I welcomed everyone and shared how I know we all want so many of the same things…
to be joyful mothers, to find true friendship, to be accepted and acknowledged, to grow as women and mothers!
I shared that we all have our own sufferings and struggles going on in our lives….and our own insecurities…
but I encouraged them to find courage in all of their similarities
and to jump into the night and have fun, meet new people and be open!
Planning an event, you work on so many of the details, but you can only do so much once the event starts….
the women needed to chat with each other and get into the night.
I was SO HAPPY, looking around the room, and
seeing everyone laughing, chatting, crafting and taking advantage of their night off!
(The backdrop on the stage was a part of the Illumine Church Venue, I just strung
up some white globe lights that I got off amazon.
They are indoor outdoor lights that are now in our backyard!)

We had some amazing brands jump on board to spoil the mamas!
I’ve been sharing some of them on my insta all month and I’ll be linking all of them at the end of the post.
Loved working with all of them and to see how they wanted to bless these mamas on their night off! ;)
The shot below is just a portion of what was in the swag bags…so many fun goodies!
Check out the event hashtag for all the shares from myself and the moms!
#nataliesmomsnightout
 

After everyone ate we jumped right into the Power Hour of Speakers.
(Working on  sharing the video recordings of the talks! Will be adding them to my Blog Shop)
I jumped on stage for the welcome and then introduced the Power Hour girls.
All of the women who spoke, besides my sister, were girls that I had met via instagram.
We had Angela from This Gathered Nest. Valerie from Blanqi, Brittney from Brittney’s Rabbit Hole,
Alex from Daring Grace and Becky from Your Modern Family
I’m so so thankful for all of the women who spoke and shared their hearts.
I knew they would be amazing, but I was so happy with how smoothly they all flowed together.
We covered great topics like battling mom guilt, how to overcome insecurities
and comparison, finding joy in our busy
and at times crazy lives, time management so we aren’t rushing through our days and
the importance of positive parenting (we are creating our children’s inner voice!)
Concrete tips and authentic real life sharing. That’s what we all wanted and needed!
Standing in the back listening to these ladies and looking around the room,
I felt this unified sigh of, ok…we can relax.
Loved that the moms had this time to be still and hear from other mamas
who wanted to share their hearts and stories and lift them up.

We had a Q.+A. Panel with myself and the speakers.
I loved this part of the night because the women could ask us anything and I
loved how raw and deep we got… then the next second would be cracking up. 
Asher and my niece Lily were also on the panel. ;)

I really wanted the women to have a set time where they
were gently forced (lol) to talk to new people!
Sometimes we need that encouragement and safe space to meet and connect.
I had everyone break into smaller groups with people they didn’t know and
talk about what struck them during the Power Hour and then share what they loved about motherhood.
This time of the night is when things got LOUD.
Women talking…all at the same time… I loved it!
I had a treat table set up and the mamas were able to snack
throughout the night and not share a single bite with toddlers.
The popcorn was from Rock Hill Popcorn. and it was the perfect touch to the table!

I had a spot set up where they could write down their thoughts on what they loved most about motherhood.
I saw people going over there throughout the night to read what others wrote.

After the Power Hour + Small Groups it was time for DIY and Desserts!
I love a dessert table…and this one was so fun to pull together.
Everyone was able to have this time to grab a dessert and go to the craft table and choose a DIY.
But it was also totally acceptable to just eat Desserts and chat!
Some girls did all the crafts, others just picked one or two they wanted to do.
I was wanting them to feel relaxed and have the option of getting crafty or just enjoy chatting.
Loved seeing everyone making up their pom pom garlands…
the tables were covered with yarn scrap confetti by the end of the night!
Almost everyone did the Chalkboards though because they were SO easy and really cute!!

The treats on the dessert table were a mix of store bought and homemade.
I like to do both when hosting events.
My friend Nellie was sweet enough to make some gluten free and vegan options for the mamas!
My favorite part of the table has to be the chandelier that Kaylyn brought.
We weren’t sure if we could use it…but the pastor at Illumine was awesome
and grabbed a ladder and jumped up and strung it up for us!
It was the perfect girly touch to the rustic table.

The Craft table was the first big table they passed when they came into the space.
It was a huge table that I was able to load up with different sections of crafts.
I wanted them to have plenty of space so there wasn’t a big line to get something.
We had three crafting options. Chalkboards, Yarn Pom Pom Garlands and Felt Food Pasta.

  

I have the big version of these chalkboards in my kitchen.
We just bought the panels of chalkboard at Home Depot and
Ben and our friend Nick cut and drilled the holes for the mamas.
All they had to do was string the rope(also from homedepot) and knot it!
Then they could get creative with the chalk.

I’m going to be doing a blog post soon on the Pom Pom Garlands because I was trying to figure out
the best way to make them in a big group and saw a bunch of different ideas on Pinterest.
I thought the way we ended up doing it worked great! Expect that tutorial soon!
I’m making a garland for our Spring mantle. ;)
 

Loved having the freebie coupons out for the mamas to take.
They were a hit…Thanks NFRA for sending them!

Next, we had two mini workshops for the moms to choose from.
Both Workshops were photo related because mamas are always snapping photos!
I led ”How To Take Amazing Phone Photos + Enjoy Them’
and Angela Braniff led a ‘DSLR Camera 101’ Workshop.
It was fun being able to interact with everyone and just have a very casual unstructured,
ask me anything, time of the night. I shared all of my favorite apps, how I use them,
what I use for photo books and anything else they asked me!

We played a couple games; got loud and laughed.
We played Heads up with the app, and before that a game called Three Deep.
Everyone gets a piece of paper with a word on it..they have to find the 2 other corresponding papers!
example: one person would have Phoebe and two other people would have either Rachel or Monica.
get it? It was fun and LOUD cause everyone has to yell out to try and find their partners
and the first 5 teams that found each other got more raffle tickets!

 

I LOVED how the Raffle Table came together.
It was a labor of love lining up all the brands, but I really
wanted to bless these mamas coming and connect them with some great brands.
So thankful for those involved. I kind of had an Oprah moment pulling out the name tags
and they would cheer and we would clap for the winners.
Sorry, no cars this year ladies. ;)
Glad we had swag bags for all the moms so everyone left with some goodies!

Little Cosmetics, Land of Nod, Otter Box, JoJo Maman Bebe, Printastic,
4Sleep, Pehr Designs, We are Knitters, Snails Safe-Nails, Tiny Tags, Wash with Water,
Pretty Perfect Packages, Alamum, Oat Mama, Healthy Kids INC, Gleeful Peacock, Walls Need Love,
Spoon and Moon, Truly Kustom, Coco’s Hoopla, Dunlap Love, TellKiddo, Milk Snob, Brin and Bell,
Better Life Bags, Melody Joy Designs, Aidie’s Hideaway, Natasha Red, DayDream Believer Boutique,
Larson Doors, Tasty Brand, Sugarboo & Co., Canvas Pop, Usborne Books and Arvo Wear.

The moms were able to shop my Blog Shop table throughout the night!
Thankful for my hubby worked the table for me while I zoomed around chatting and hugging. :)
Loved the response to my tote bags and mugs. (Mugs will only be available at local events.)
I just launched a new design in my shop! Hands Full Heart Full!

We tried to get a group shot but some mamas had already left and others were finishing at the raffle table.
Love the hearts of these mamas and hope they left feeling refreshed and blessed!
You can view and save any photos from the Event in my Online Gallery

Loved having this night to regroup as moms and have fun together!
Looking forward to the next Moms’ Night Out!