Inspired by: Sunflowers

bridesmaid dress, flowers & watering can, Paper Source stamp, place setting, cupcakes, bridesmaids

Real Bridal Showers: The Future Mrs. A

This weekend’s showers in Maine for the future Mrs. A were such fun. As the maid of honor, I am throwing her a small Boston shower for her (our) friends down here in a couple of weeks. The bride has quite a large family, so each side hosted a shower this past weekend. Myself and another bridesmaid (also my roommate) went up to celebrate.

Saturday started with a English-themed shower, where fascinators were a must!

Sunday’s was a shower brunch complete with a fabulous bellini/champagne bar! Let me tell you, I tried the peach bellini and the pomegranate…twice

 

Sunday’s shower had a cute idea for a “game”. The hosts put out a white apron and fabric markers, so each guest could write a short note to the bride-to-be. More useful and unique than a standard guest book, I love this idea!

My friend was in charge of making the bowquets- she did an amazing job!

Real Bridal Shower: Future Mrs. L

This past weekend I hosted my second bridal shower this year (here’s the first) with the fellow bridesmaids for my oldest friend Devon. We put in months of planning; I was so excited that the day was finally here!  After mimosas and a lunch of salads & sandwiches, the bride opened many (many, many!) gifts and guests made their mark in the bridal shower scrapbook I put together.

the bridesmaids with the bride- mimosa cheers!

One of the personalized paper signs

Drink bar- brides's special champagne glass

Scrapbook station - all from A.C. Moore

The page I made for the bride- found an old picture of us from the early 1990s!

Time to open gifts...

Her new monogrammed L.L.Bean tote from me

helping the bride with her new cake stand

with her bowquet

 Congrats to the future Mrs. L… Can’t wait for the bachelorette in August and the wedding in September!

Real Bridal Shower: Gerber Daisies in New Jersey

Thank you, Melissa, for sharing this beautiful New Jersey bridal shower. Melissa and the bride to be, Erica, are sorority sisters of mine, so I love seeing all these pictures!

A few weeks ago, I went to my friend Erica’s bridal shower in New Jersey.  Erica is my first friend to get married and has given me the opportunity to be a bridesmaid for the first time!  I was so excited when she handed me that cookie two summers ago with a rhyming poem asking me to be a bridesmaid.  Two years later, it’s finally happening.

Her mom organized the bridal shower and asked us bridesmaids to plan a few games.  One bridesmaid volunteered to make a video with the fiancée based on the game show The Newlywed Game.  She asked the fiancée a series of questions about Erica and recorded his answers.  At the shower, we asked Erica the same questions and she had to answer how she thought her fiancée would answer.  For every wrong answer, we planned to give her a piece of gum to chew.  The idea was that by the end she’d have a giant wad of gum in her mouth.  However; Erica got one out of 10 questions wrong!  The game was a lot of fun anyways!

The second game we coordinated was a Bingo game.  The Bingo cards I made had answers to Erica trivia questions.  Guests had to know the answers to the questions and get five right in a row to win.  We had a few prizes for the first few guests to win.  Erica and the guests also loved this game and it was a fun way to share some fun and embarrassing trivia about the bride-to-be.

The bridesmaids took care of the games, and Erica’s mom planned the rest of the shower.  It was held at La Cippolina in Freehold, NJ.  She used gerbera daisies to decorate the place settings, the center pieces, and the cake.

With the shower invitation, she included a recipe card.  Guests brought their filled-out recipe card to the shower and placed it in a box for Erica.  Along with the cooking theme, her mom had guests sign a platter instead of a traditional sign-in book.  I loved this idea and plan on using it for future showers.

Everything went very smoothly during the shower.  Guests enjoyed wine for the first hour and then the Italian feast began.  We played the games between lunch courses.

Guests enjoyed cake while the bridesmaids helped Erica open her gifts.  We created an assembly line to get through the gifts as fast as possible.  My job was to create the bowquet – as Jaime coined it!  Erica’s mom purchased a plastic tool to use which made my job pretty easy.  I tied ribbons through each hole and used tape to secure each bow to make sure it will be in tact come rehearsal time in July.

The cake was one of the best cakes I’ve ever tasted too.  It was a strawberry cake with two types of frosting between the layers, vanilla and strawberry.  I wolfed it down after completing my bridesmaids duties.  I also loved the tuxedo chocolate covered strawberries.  Each guest received two of these giant treats.

Erica seemed to be floating on air the whole afternoon.  I imagine she’ll be 5 feet off the ground on her wedding day!

I love the gerber daisy theme and great tips for the bowquet. Congrats, Erica!

Real Bridal Shower: Future Mrs. R

On Saturday, fellow bridesmaids and I hosted a bridal shower for the bride, the future Mrs. R. She is the first of the 3 weddings I am in this summer.

We used an invitation from Vistaprint.

The tree was used throughout the decor.

A menu of sandwiches, an Italian salad, olive dip & crackers were served along with wine and to finish- cupcakes from Wicked Sweet (vanilla, chocolate, and my fave, strawberry shortcake).

Decor included a DIY banner, peach-y & white mixed flowers in Italian soda bottles, and lanterns.

Opening presents was the main event, and I was in charge of creating the “bowquet”.  It was my pride and joy!

my gift - L.L. Bean tote

The bridal party!

Congrats to the happy couple!

Bridal Shower Collage: Everything’s Coming up Roses

Start with floral inspiration.

Invite with these rosy invitation from Minted.com.

Decorate with candles, roses of pinks/creams, and vases.

Wear these rose earrings & OPI’s A Rose at Dawn…Broke by Noon nail polish.

Serve something sweet, like these cake pops.

Gift attendees with a small pot and seeds for growing their own.

In the Details: Bridal Shower Place Settings

Setting the table for the bridal shower doesn’t need to be too elaborate. Simply a folded napkin and accessory can work perfectly to create an elegant decor. Here are some for every style and theme.

via Pinterest

via 79 Ideas

via Pinterest

via Snippet + Ink

via Brunch at Saks

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

via Pinterest

In the Details: Forest floral

Sometimes your hair doesn’t need to be too fancy- just braid and add a brooch.  I like to search Etsy for unique, vintage ones.

Suggest to the bride to have her florist pick random wildflowers for your bouquet.

Rain on your wedding day is supposed to be good luck for the bride and groom. Lucky for you, that means you can wear cute, patterned rainboots- like these, these, or these.

Images: 100 Layer Cake