July Showers

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

July Showers

As promised, here is my bridal shower blog! As many of you know, Jake and I have been together for a little under 12 years...so with that we grew up together. As an added bonus, I met my sister-in-law, Jessie, at her ripe age of 13, and its safe to say she grew up as my little sister. From boy crushes to shopping sprees and helping her get ready for prom to now, her engagement and wedding, I have felt blessed to be there for her every step of the way. So it was no surprise that I wanted to pull out all the stops for her bridal shower and bachelorette weekend.

For her shower I decided to go for a subtle ball, circle or polka dot theme to honor her new last name of "Ball"...so for starters, my sweet hubby hung chinese lanterns in the pink and orange and I picked foods that were round. Curious how I pulled it off? Well with a little help and a lot of work it seemed to go off without a hitch! Here are some pictures for you to be the judge of whether it all got pulled together or not.

Something that has become a bit of a staple for me in party decor is purely inspired by my sweet friend Julie, by taking relative words or sayings to the occasion and laying them out in neat fonts so that whereever a guest looks they have a cute detail that ties everything together. I love putting them in plants, flower arrangements, hanging them in the tree and decorating the food table. As an added bonus, Jessie {the bride} says that it makes scrapbooking these events super easy!

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="319" caption="I quoted 1 Corinthians 13 for some signs..."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_182" align="aligncenter" width="319" caption="To keep with the "ball" theme...I made cakeBALLS!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_184" align="aligncenter" width="319" caption="Walnut butterBALL cookies made by the mother of the bride!"][/caption]

arrangement

Simple and sweet! {plus it left room on the little end tables for guests to rest their drinks}

[caption id="attachment_186" align="aligncenter" width="319" caption="And to celebrate the bride....JESSIE!"][/caption]



Even Sadie wanted to match...

As far as games were concerned, we played 3. We did a fun acronym poem game, where both the bride and groom told us what they love about the other person using the initials in their name. We played the famous forbiden word game where we couldn't say "wedding".  And then we had to guess what was in the 15 bags, which I stuffed with wedding day and honeymoon essentials (also doubling as my gift to her). The pink graphic bags were hand sewn by my wonderful mother, Charli.

[caption id="attachment_188" align="aligncenter" width="319" caption="Game table & prizes..."][/caption]

As another keepsake, I mocked up some advice cards where each guest filled out their wedding/life advice for Jessie.



[caption id="attachment_189" align="aligncenter" width="307" caption="They also double as a guestbook!"][/caption]

As thank you favors, I ordered my absoulte favorite sugar cookie, from my absolute favorite bakery {Becker's Bakery in Manhattan Beach} which of course was round and iced in orange frosting, bagged and tagged with a cute saying that read "thanks for coming and having a Ball!"

[caption id="attachment_190" align="aligncenter" width="319" caption="For favors, I always prefer to give out something edible or wearable. Most people hate clutter & gadgets, so this guarantees your favor to not be a waste!"][/caption]

And to finish off this post, here are a few of my favorite shots that perfectly sum up the day.

[caption id="attachment_191" align="aligncenter" width="319" caption="Mary {my mom-in-law and the mother of the bride} surprised Jess by flying Jake {her fiancé's} mom out for the shower. "][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_192" align="aligncenter" width="319" caption="She made out like a bandit!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_193" align="aligncenter" width="384" caption="The bride with her maids!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_194" align="aligncenter" width="363" caption="No boys allowed! {However, Wyatt was the exception!}"][/caption]

I apologize for the ridiculously long post, however I couldn't resist to share with all you readers {if any :)...} how to throw a shower and act out the 1 Timothy 5:10 wifely duties..."having a reputation for good works; and if she has brought up children, if she has shown hospitality to strangers, if she has washed the saints' feet, if she has assisted those in distress, and if she has devoted herself to every good work." It is my goal to strive towards these things as a wife, a mother and a sister, and a bridal shower is just the way to put it into practice!