Almost Wordless Wednesday: Wedding Shower
I am currently acquainted with an inordinate amount of people who are either getting married or having babies. This is probably because most of the people I hang out with are actually young enough to be my actual children (if I'd started procreating at the age of 18). The alternative is hanging out with people my own age - but I'm fairly certain that wedding and baby showers are a lot more fun than retirement parties and funerals.
What this means is that aside from slowly going broke and spending more time in Bed Bath & Beyond in the past three months than I have in my entire life, is that I have been part of the planning and throwing of several showers and bachelorette parties. Since I spent several years doing corporate marketing and have hosted my fair share of themed children's parties, the challenge of planning and executing a party is something that I love. And if I can do it on a budget? Even better.
In August a group of girls and I planned a beach-themed bridal shower for one of the girls at our Crossfit gym who is getting married in Florida this month. Again, I did not take nearly enough photos to show you all of the cool little things we did (like the bucket full of flip flops that we gave away as favors), but at least this time around I actually took photos! During the afternoon we girls hosted the shower and in the evening, we changed the decor, let the boys come over, and had a co-ed engagement party. One of my girlfriends' childhood home is on the lake here in town so we had the luxury of a beautiful view, boat rides, and an enormous backyard perfect for games.
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Thankfully Mason Jar decor is very popular right now because thanks to Rob's juice fast I'm in possession of approximately 40 of them. I pilfered sand from our backyard sandbox, shells we'd collected from a vacation to Florida, and added Ikea tealights which are approximately $5 for a million. The jars made pretty table decor and then served a second purpose in the evening to provide candlelit ambiance.
This was our focal-point table in the living room where we put the gifts prior to opening. The "tablecloth" is actually an Ikea curtain panel that I got at the thrift store for $2.99 and layered over a piece of ocean blue fabric. You can't tell so well from the photo but it looked very beachy.
The decorations on the table were a combination of things we girls all found around our own homes coupled with found items that my friend's mom already had at the host house.
Blue water and floating candles in vases....easy peasy!
There are our Mason jars in action, grouped with seashells and a handpainted "beach wood" sign that I made out of scrap wood I found in my garage, I painted and sanded it to give it a weather-beaten appearance and then "graffiti-ed" the couple's initials on it. She has it displayed in their home now with some of their other beach vacation treasures. Not bad for a couple hours of DIY.
We decided to have a light lunch with desserts for the shower. One of our girls made a variety of decadent cupcakes, which we compensated for by serving a selection of "Paleo" foods!
The bride's future mother-in-law made her famous cocktail slushies, They look innocent but -WHOA!
And of course we "balanced those out" with lemonade and water!
Since the future bride has a degree in marine biology and is a certified dive instructor, she is naturally in love with all things ocean - especially sharks!
Thanks to Pinterest I created this:
A watermelon shark filled with vodka infused watermelon chunks! **A side note: BIG props on construction go to my father-in-law who was visiting from out of town the night that I was busy preparing this. He tackled this watermelon shark project like he was building a house - and he was soooo into it! I assure you that it would not have come out looking so precise if it hadn't been for Grandpa!
He also helped me build a frame for this baby:
I made a gigantic shark photo-op for the party out of an old refrigerator box. After the party, as we were cleaning up, it was suggested that we just throw the cardboard shark away. The bride-to-be (who that is NOT a picture of up there) almost had a minor heart attack at the thought. She made her fiance load it into their car immediately.
"What are you going to do with it?" someone asked.
"Duh!" she exclaimed, "what are we NOT going to do with it?!"
I'm not sure I want to know.
What this means is that aside from slowly going broke and spending more time in Bed Bath & Beyond in the past three months than I have in my entire life, is that I have been part of the planning and throwing of several showers and bachelorette parties. Since I spent several years doing corporate marketing and have hosted my fair share of themed children's parties, the challenge of planning and executing a party is something that I love. And if I can do it on a budget? Even better.
In August a group of girls and I planned a beach-themed bridal shower for one of the girls at our Crossfit gym who is getting married in Florida this month. Again, I did not take nearly enough photos to show you all of the cool little things we did (like the bucket full of flip flops that we gave away as favors), but at least this time around I actually took photos! During the afternoon we girls hosted the shower and in the evening, we changed the decor, let the boys come over, and had a co-ed engagement party. One of my girlfriends' childhood home is on the lake here in town so we had the luxury of a beautiful view, boat rides, and an enormous backyard perfect for games.
******************************
Thankfully Mason Jar decor is very popular right now because thanks to Rob's juice fast I'm in possession of approximately 40 of them. I pilfered sand from our backyard sandbox, shells we'd collected from a vacation to Florida, and added Ikea tealights which are approximately $5 for a million. The jars made pretty table decor and then served a second purpose in the evening to provide candlelit ambiance.
This was our focal-point table in the living room where we put the gifts prior to opening. The "tablecloth" is actually an Ikea curtain panel that I got at the thrift store for $2.99 and layered over a piece of ocean blue fabric. You can't tell so well from the photo but it looked very beachy.
The decorations on the table were a combination of things we girls all found around our own homes coupled with found items that my friend's mom already had at the host house.
Blue water and floating candles in vases....easy peasy!
There are our Mason jars in action, grouped with seashells and a handpainted "beach wood" sign that I made out of scrap wood I found in my garage, I painted and sanded it to give it a weather-beaten appearance and then "graffiti-ed" the couple's initials on it. She has it displayed in their home now with some of their other beach vacation treasures. Not bad for a couple hours of DIY.
We decided to have a light lunch with desserts for the shower. One of our girls made a variety of decadent cupcakes, which we compensated for by serving a selection of "Paleo" foods!
The bride's future mother-in-law made her famous cocktail slushies, They look innocent but -WHOA!
And of course we "balanced those out" with lemonade and water!
Since the future bride has a degree in marine biology and is a certified dive instructor, she is naturally in love with all things ocean - especially sharks!
Thanks to Pinterest I created this:
A watermelon shark filled with vodka infused watermelon chunks! **A side note: BIG props on construction go to my father-in-law who was visiting from out of town the night that I was busy preparing this. He tackled this watermelon shark project like he was building a house - and he was soooo into it! I assure you that it would not have come out looking so precise if it hadn't been for Grandpa!
He also helped me build a frame for this baby:
I made a gigantic shark photo-op for the party out of an old refrigerator box. After the party, as we were cleaning up, it was suggested that we just throw the cardboard shark away. The bride-to-be (who that is NOT a picture of up there) almost had a minor heart attack at the thought. She made her fiance load it into their car immediately.
"What are you going to do with it?" someone asked.
"Duh!" she exclaimed, "what are we NOT going to do with it?!"
I'm not sure I want to know.