Tale As Old As Time

Since we are having a destination wedding, I knew that I wanted to have my bridal shower in my hometown so family and friends who may not make it to the wedding could celebrate with me a bit.  Celebrating with so many women from my life in the home where I grew up was so meaningful to me.

We all arrived Friday before the shower and my mom, my girlfriends, J’s family, and I went to dinner.  After dinner my girlfriends, my mom, and I broke open a bottle of wine and set to work putting the finishing touches on the shower.  Most of the decor was done before we even arrived by my talented mother and a great family friend… They did an incredible job; everything looked beautiful!!

On Saturday morning I got ready in my old bathroom with my Maid of Honor… It was so surreal; for years we had gotten ready in this bathroom together and she mentioned something about it being the last time since soon there will be husbands and maybe even kids involved.  It was so bittersweet to think about, but it felt so comforting to have her there with me and going through this little primping ritual together.

You can find all the details on my outfit in my post here.

The guests arrived to chilled mimosas and mingled to the sound of piano music played by my childhood piano teacher.  The decor incorporated touches inspired from Beauty and the Beast as well as sentimental details like flowers displayed in my Welsh great great grandmother’s dishes and my favorite Belle plate and cup from my childhood.

We filed into the dining room and guests went through the brunch buffet and sat down to a little game at their place setting.  Each person also had a little tag to write down wedding/marriage advice.  We went around each table and each person introduced themselves and explained how they knew me… I think this is a great ice breaker at any wedding event; it’s nice for guests to get to know one another a bit, especially if they’ll see each other at the wedding as well.

We had a brunch with fresh fruit, yogurt parfait bar, cucumber dill tea sandwiches, curry chicken salad sandwiches on mini croissants, and mini quiches.  There was even a cinnamon roll “wedding cake” which was my favorite!!

After brunch and our first little game, we settled into the fireside room to play a few more games and open gifts.  We did a What’s in Your Purse? handbag hunt game, a How Well Do You Know the Bride? questionnaire game, and an adorable His or Hers game with little mustache and lipstick props.

 

 

After games and gifts, we went back into the dining room for tea and cake.  My mom designed the most gorgeous Belle-inspired cake… It was absolutely perfect!!  She is so detail oriented; she even found sugar cubes with tiny sugar roses on top.

Everyone stayed to chat and have a second cup of tea… It’s always a good sign when people stick around after an event.  I could have spent days chatting and catching up with these ladies; they all mean so much to me.

 

John showed up at the end of the bridal shower with our doggies.  It was so good to see them… I was happy he could chat with some of our guests and get to know them a bit better.

I wanted to give gifts to my incredible hostesses.  For my Maid and Matron of Honor, I got these festive little Kate Spade wallets and relaxing facial masks to reward their hard work.  For my mom and family friend who did so much to prepare for this shower, I gave these wool and cashmere scarves and mini Philosophy hand lotion.  Each of our guests took home a little box of macarons and a Fall scented Bath & Body Works shower gel.

 

 

 

Photography:  Shots by Abbey

Cake:  Caché in Des Moines

Macarons:  Sucre in New Orleans

Pearl Pens from The Breakers’ gift shop