Two of Jeff and my best friends are getting married this August (which is a whole story in and of itself--they met when she was the maid of honor and he was the best man at our wedding!). From the day L called to tell me they were engaged, I've been excited to plan her bridal shower. I knew it would be a small affair, and I also knew I wanted to keep it in line with their backyard, low-key, country wedding. But that was about all I knew... I'd never planned a shower of any kind before.
Thanks to a great deal of peer pressure from another one of my best friends, Jenn (who blogs over on The Canadian Housewife), I finally started to explore Pinterest--with a little excitement and a lot more trepidation. However, as I began to create the board for the shower, I realized just how many wonderful, inexpensive, lovely ideas I could find with a quick and simple search. I was hooked!
So, here's the photo tour!
We threw the shower in L's sister's backyard, and she had a lovely side deck that was perfect for our "drinks station." For the favors, I had purchased Mason jars with handles, added cute chalkboard stickers with every guest's name, and popped a pretty floral paper straw in each one. We then filled the table with the glasses and assorted beverages: Pimm's, mimosa makings, assorted non-alcoholic juices, white wine, and water.
Thanks, once again, to Jenn (seriously, she inspired so much of this party--from Canada!), I made colorful tissue paper luminaries to hang. (Jenn did them on her blog here, and this is the link to the Martha Stewart instructions I used.) I alternated white tissue paper with the paper the colors of the shower (green, yellow, and white). Since I had to travel to Baltimore for the shower, I simply did the folding and twist-tie stage ahead of time, then had L's niece poof them out and hang them. She did a great job!
Throughout these photos, you'll see the floral centerpieces. I didn't want to spend a lot of money, so I spent a few weeks collecting tin cans (mostly from some of my favorite slow cooker recipes), then bought a $1 spool of white tulle at the Dollar Store. We tied a pretty bow around each can, then filled them with sunflowers and other simple flowers. The grand total for 6 floral centerpieces? $16!
The majority of the food I ordered from Fresh Market (a sandwich platter, fruit and cheese tray, and cupcakes), but I found this adorable idea on Pinterest and just loved it! Essentially, it's a popcorn bar--you grab a brown paper bag, fill it with plain popcorn, spray on some butter, and then shake on your favorite toppings (I brought cayenne pepper, salt, sugar, and a powdered herb mix). It was great for everyone to snack on as they were mingling at the beginning!
L wasn't big on games, and not everyone brought presents, since she's only registered on Honey Fund. As a result, I wanted a few activities people could do during lulls in the conversation, but nothing formal or organized. In the picture above, you see the "Date Jar"; people wrote cute date ideas on popsicle sticks which L then took home to share with her fiance.
On the drink table, I had a "Memory Vase" where I encouraged people to write down silly or sentimental memories they had of times with L that she could read when she was feeling stressed in the weeks leading up to the wedding.
Finally, I created an "Advice Tree"; I'd cut green poster board into leaf shapes and asked people to write pieces of advice, then attach them to the tree with the clothespins provided.
All in all, I'm quite proud of my first shower! The planning was really fun, but I couldn't have pulled it off without the help from the other bridesmaids who purchased items, set up on the day of the shower, and co-hosted beautifully. And I stayed within my budget goal: the grand total for everything was $300, which was very reasonable when split three ways.
I'm hooked on shower planning! Anyone got an event coming up that I can help out with? ;-)
