Party! Retro Inspired Kitchen Bridal Shower

A little family history to start of today's party post! There once was a family of all girls. 6 sisters to be exact. They all lived relatively close and that benefited their children who LOVED to get together with the cousins. Meet the "Three Amigos" as we were so lovingly referred to... All close in age and all interested in Barbies, and boys, and all chatterboxes. We spent most family gatherings hidden in a corner (or girls bathroom as necessary...) somewhere so our brothers wouldn't bother us.

Well, we grew up. (Funny how that works isn't it?!) The oldest amigo (that's me) got married. Well, 4 short years later, the remaining two amigos have found their own true love! As it happens they got married a week apart. In true amigo fashion we threw a double bridal shower for the two beautiful brides!

I had so much fun getting this party to come together. I had the special privilege of co-conspiring with a cousin of mine. (I totally admire her in all her amazing-ness!) The party was a success! We had a lot of fun and the brides came out with a good pile of new stuff to start their own kitchens with! A WIN!

Invitations were ordered and sent by another cousin (also very admired!) who found a source via etsy with the perfect design for our colors and retro-throwback feel. We included a recipe card for each bride with each invitation for guests to fill out with a favorite recipe. These we put into albums for them at the shower to start their own recipe collections.

Food was delicious. Because we had traveling guests, we planned on a full lunch. Soup and a salad bar, with rolls and fruit. Followed by strawberry shortcake trifle. Mmmmm....

While we ate, we played a couple of games. The Price is Right: On one table we had a collection of general kitchen staples purchased at the local WalMart. It was up to the guests to decide how much each item cost. The closest to the total price won an AMAZING kitchen themed prize. (Thank you Dollar Store!)

Guess the Spice. Its just what it sounds like. Everyone has to guess what spice is in the jar. Jars courtesy of Ikea. I am always impressed with how well people do with this game. Important to make the rule that noone can smell the spices. Its a look-only game. Otherwise its too easy, and you should probably have more than one prize ready.

Decor came from my ever-growing collection of random items. I have a soft spot for vintage mason jars and pitchers and such. The flower arrangements are made by yours truly. Yes I'm proud of the way they turned out.

My ultimate labor of love for this shindig was my personal gift to each of the brides. A few weeks in advance I contacted the extended family. I asked for any and all advice they were willing to share for the brides. I got some amazing and thoughtful responses. You know like, "Put the toilet seat down," and, "Learn to sleep without breathing to negate snoring." Good, helpful advice in all sorts of life categories (housekeeping to relationship). Then I compiled them and designed a binder where they can keep them for future reference. I made it into a binder so they can add pages they find/print, or magazine articles or whatever they find. I am very proud of how they turned out! 

Aaaand... in true hostess fashion, I forgot to take a picture with my camera of the brides... it was one of those, "we'll share pictures later" deals that should be cleared up soon! 

"Pretty in Pink" Bridal Shower

I have this thing for throwing parties. I will jump at the chance and then stress over it until its over and done with. It is fun and a great creative outlet for me to dabble in! I admit, I have a dream to do this professionally someday... but for now I get to celebrate with my family and friends!

My brother-in-law is engaged to the most adorable future bride! We are so excited for them to start their life in love together! Naturally, where there is a bride there will be a bridal shower! It was fun for me to create this with my SILs,

"Pretty in Pink" Bridal Shower
(Rustic Elegance)
Colors: (rose)pink, brown, teal/blue, silver
Motifs: lace, sparkle, burlap

 The Invitation: The color combination just spoke to me and so I went for it! I love how it turned out. This was the springboard for our decorations as we used these colors to tie the party together.

The Food: 

A party at 11:00 means you should feed your guests lunch. That is exactly what we did! We didn't want the traditional "chicken salad on a croissant" for our shower. Not there is anything wrong with a good chicken salad on a croissant... I'm usually the first in line. But it was the weekend of Thanksgiving, it was cold outside, and we just wanted something a little different. So we went with (one of my all-time-favorites) Chicken Roll-ups instead.

My SIL made her (now famous) Strawberry and Spinach salad, I had a request for the Grape Salad, my other SIL brought us a pasta salad too! We also had fruit to keep everything extra colorful and fresh. We had a choice of flavored waters (Raspberry Mint, and Lemon) and a delicious array of cupcakes! 

The Details:

My SILs and I had fun creating the decoration for this one. We decorated the fresh Christmas tree with pink lace bows, pearl beads, and white organza ribbon. I wish I had better pictures of the tree but it turned out pretty cute. We used the tree to be the gift location (that is what trees are for right?).

We covered the window/doors with burlap and lace. Its difficult to see in the pictures here, but it was just the touch it needed to help us tie it all together from one end of the room to the food table... Our other little SIL made the large pink flowers with crepe paper and glue. How creative and they were the perfect size for the doors!

My pet project for the decor this time was the "Love" Banner we hung above the Bride-to-be's chair. I am very proud of how cute it turned out! (Despite the terrible picture of it... but at least you can see the cute Bride!)

We passed around a little notebook for all the guests to write a congratulations, and a little advice for the newlyweds. 

The Games:

Game #1: He Said/She Said 

Little details about the bride and groom (and their relationship) as they said it. I then made up a cute little worksheet. Everyone had to guess which one said each detail and circle the mustache, the lips or both. It was a great way to get to know the bride a little better. 

Game #2: The purse game.

My SIL found a  great list of items that can be found in a woman's purse. Then there were point values assigned to each item. Something fairly common (like lip gloss) was one point, but a diaper got 25 points. Its always a good one! 

Game #3: Guess the Spice

This one took a little time for me to make up, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. The jars are filled with various spices and everyone has to guess which one it is by look and smell. I then gave the spices to the bride to start her off. 

The Favors:

What is better than a little pampering? Not much. But I made these little personal peppermint sugar scrubs and they turned out to be perfect!  

It was a great shower! Best wishes to those adorable lovebirds!