Can you believe it is already mid October?!!
Time is flying and the calendar has been packed with so many fun things recently and I don’t see it slowing down anytime soon!
On Thursday night I took Livvy to see Lainey Wilson with a bunch of my girlfriends and their daughters and our girl Lainey did not disappoint!!!
In other exciting happenings…
Last weekend was Homecoming weekend for both Eve and Maci!
Eve is a junior in high school this year and Maci is a freshman.
If you know me by now, then you already know that I love any good reason to invite our daughter’s friends over to celebrate special milestones.
You might remember this dinner party, back when Eve was a freshman, that we hosted before HOCO pictures. You can see the HOCO setup HERE in this post: “Wait Until You See How We Hosted An Easy Fall Dinner Party.”
Hosting the dinner party was super fun but hopping on this new “brunch & bouquet” trend?
This was right up my Mom heart alley!!
Combine making pretty things, with yummy light bites and girl time is one of my favorite things to do!
Hosting a small brunch is one of the best ways to spend time with your friends before or after a homecoming dance! But sometimes, planning a brunch party can be overwhelming!
Today on the blog, I am sharing a guide on how to host a brunch for HOCO along with the simple menu and supplies needed to make your own DIY bouquets for homecoming pictures!
Are you ready to see how the DIY bouquets turned out and more HOCO brunch tips?
Follow me friend!
How To Host A Brunch & Bouquet For HOCO
send out invites & Get a headcount
When Eve and Maci first asked me to host the brunch and bouquet for HOCO I was thrilled! They started to make a guest list and got busy inviting their friends with digital invites and texts!
Plan a start and end time
The girls decided they would want to sleep in a little on Saturday morning, because they never usually can! We decided to host the girl’s brunch from 10:30 am – 12 noon Saturday in order to allow them to sleep in and also give them plenty of time to get picture ready!
Order supplies from amazon for making the DIY bouquets
White Chiffon Ribbon // Ivory Satin Ribbon // White Satin Ribbon // Teardrop Pearl Headpins // Green Floral Tape // Floral Sheers // Garden Scissors
The list of supplies is minimal and affordable when it comes to making your own HOCO bouquets!
bouquet making supply list
- Flowers
- Floral Tape
- Satin or Chiffon Ribbon
- Pearl Headpins
- Garden Scissors
- Mason Jars or Vases
- Folding Table or long dining table
Buy a variety of flower bunches
I supplied an assortment of 3 farm flower bouquets that included a variety of flowers and greenery. I also picked up two grocery store flower bouquets with carnations and roses. Several of the girls also brought their own bouquets to use.
Trader Joe’s and Wegman’s are great places to shop for unique flowers to make your own HOCO bouquets!
plan the brunch menu
I knew that the girls were likely going to need an extra set of hands to assist in making the HOCO bouquets, so I didn’t want to be tied to the kitchen making hot food.
Fun fact?
My culinary skills are not something I would consider to be one of my strong suits! So, setting up a simple buffet breakfast ahead of time, was a win win for all!! 🙂
Pro Tip: Stage what you can ahead of time! Do yourself a favor and don’t forget to unwrap paper plates, paper napkins, cups and cutlery the night before! Taking off the plastic wrap off of these entertaining items makes for one less thing to do the day of your brunch!
Brunch Food Ideas
mini yogurt parfaits
I bought vanilla yogurt and scooped a few spoon fills of yogurt into these clear plastic dessert cups and topped off the yogurt with a layer of granola, fresh raspberries, blackberries and strawberries.
Plastic Dessert Cups For Yogurt Parfaits
The girls devoured these mini yogurt parfaits!!
I prepared the parfaits about 30 minutes prior to arrival time and set out them on a white tray, which made it super easy for the girls to pick up and take outside on the patio to enjoy while socialzing.
Bagels
I served plain bagels with a variety of cream cheese spreads and left the toaster out so the girls could toast their own bagels at their leisure.
cinnamon buns & muffins
I warmed a plate of cinnamon buns up and served with black bottom muffins
doughnuts
Shawn made a helpful Dunkin Donuts run for a dozen doughnuts which were a big hit!
fresh fruit
A small plate of fresh strawberries, blueberries and grapes helped to round out the brunch party menu!
French toast, waffles or mini pancakes are also great brunch food ideas if you have someone to help assist you in the kitchen to keep things hot and ready to serve!
beverage & drink station
Similar Glass Pumpkin Dispenser
I highly recommend setting up a designated drink station that is a few steps away from where the food is, in order to help with crowd flow. Having a separate beverage station helps to keep any one single area from getting too congested and crowded.
In the past, for parties with our friends and family, I have used this small nook in our kitchen to serve bloody marys or any specialty drink to make the party feel more festive!
For hosting this HOCO brunch party, I filled up my pumpkin drink dispenser with ice water and topped it off with fresh fruit. We also served orange juice and lemonade in glass pitchers, topped with apple slices and blueberries.
Brunch Decor Ideas
flowers
For our brunch, we simply used setting the table with the food and the flowers as our main brunch decor!
Keeping things easy is the name of the game around here! 🙂
hand painted banner on kraft paper
If we had more time, we might have painted a cute banner that said “Homecoming” with flowers, which would have made for a perfect picture backdrop also!
HOCO letters
I also considered ordering large light up letters like this from Amazon, which would have also made for a super cute photo op both for hosting brunch and for HOCO pictures in the evening as well!
What To Do At A Brunch Party For HOCO
Make the bouquets
When the girls first started to arrive they jumped right into making their own HOCO bouquets!
I added a folding table to place on the end of our patio table in order to create one large outdoor table space for the girls to easily stand and move around in order to make their bouquets.
Thankfully the weather cooperated and everyone was able to enjoy our patio and easily share flowers from a variety of bouquets that had been provided or brought by the girls.
* You can see more of our patio and backyard space HERE in this post: “Outdoor Living – How To Create A Beautiful Backyard To Enjoy.”
how to make hoco bouquets
Once the girls had selected and gathered all of the flowers they wanted to use in their personal bouquet, they helped each other wrap the green floral tape around the stems.
Next, they wrapped the chiffon or satin ribbon around, to hide the green floral tape and secured the end of the ribbon with the pearl teardrop headpins at the bottom.
Wear pretty pajamas to brunch
All of the girls who came to the HOCO brunch decided to wear pajama sets to make the morning more festive!
Another idea is to plan ahead and order matching pajamas to add extra fun and make the morning memorable!
Eat, Snap & Socialize!
Once the girls had finished making their HOCO bouquets and had taken a bunch of fun pictures and snaps, they dove into the brunch buffet that was set up on the kitchen island and carried their plates back out to the patio to relax and socialize.
What To Bring To Brunch
brunch dessert
We kept our menu super simple and didn’t ask the girls to bring anything, but a sweet treat for brunch dessert is always a good idea!
flowers
Several girls brought their own store bought flowers to use and share with everyone to make the HOCO bouquets.
camera
A real camera is always a nice idea to bring along for best photograph quality clarity!
Livvy took this photo with my “good camera” and I love it!
That’s it friend!
We had so much fun hosting HOCO brunch & bouquets, I HIGHLY recommend hosting this fun morning if you have daughters headed to HOCO!
I definitely would do it all over again next year!
After the girls all left to go home and start getting ready for the dance, clean up was truly simple and easy!
We swept all of the leftover stems and leaves into the trash and I made a floral arrangement with the remaining flowers!
And a few short hours later?
We were off to HOCO pictures and playing Mom and Dad über for the night! 🙂
I have to say…
All of those DIY HOCO bouquets really do add that extra little fun to all of the HOCO group pictures!
I hope you enjoyed this post friend and feel inspired to host your own brunch!
Living on a prayer,
Heather
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