The Queen's Cup + Derby Attire and Tailgate Ideas

Usually I share weekend updates in my Step Into My Week posts but sometimes the weekends are too good to clump with the work week. This past weekend was one of those times. At the beginning of this past month, I shared all about my excitement for the Queen's Cup and I have to admit it lived up to every expectation. My friends and I drove to Charlotte on Saturday morning and stayed the night after attending the race. 

The weather honestly couldn't have been better for our day which made spending the day outside even better. We had a tailgate spot within the middle of the track allowing us an awesome view while enjoying our own space and snacks. For the tailgate, we stuck to the essentials: Chick-fil-a chicken minis, cookies, and some appetizer style snacks from Trader Joes. 

I am all for a good theme so finding decorative pieces for our tailgate was so much fun. I found the tablecloth we used from Pomegranate Inc. Although it was a little small for our table (they have a number of different sizes so be sure to measure) it really helped to tie everything together. They have a few different derby collections and would be a great place to start shopping for any derby decorations you may want. The balloons were an Etsy find and shipped so quickly. In addition to those items, I discovered that the Emily McCarthy Shoppe had their own adorable collection of jockey silk napkins and a platter. Most of the other items and serving pieces were found at Party City. While they didn't have a huge selection I was able to piece together some of the things they had in order to pull our tailgate together. If you're sticking to the traditional route and sipping mint juleps placing a mint plant in a julep cup would be both useful and decorative for your table! 

Picking out what to wear was a bit tricky since this was the first horse race I have attended. I thought back to dresses I own and love and immediately thought of a dress I wore to my sorority's spring formal last year and decided to see if the brand had anything I adored this year. I stumbled upon this light blue (in red here) off the shoulder dress (complete with pockets!) and was immediately sold. While it was fun to wear for the race I know I'll get a lot of use out of it at future events as well. I paired it with my favorite gold hoops, tortoise sunglasses, and comfy wedges making it perfect for day at the race. I'll let the rest of the photos speak for the fun of the event on their own since if you can't tell from them we had a blast. 

 

 

Whether you're attending an actual race or are planning to watch it with on TV hopefully this post gave you a bit of inspiration when it came to an event of this nature! We are already counting down to the Queen's Cup next year since we had such a blast this year.