Shower Recap

Well, considering it happened over a month ago, I think it's time to recap my bridal shower! Bear with me, this is a long and pic-heavy post! 

I'll start with the invites, which my mom picked out and I LOVE. The leopard print and the super high heel are so me:

"Wild Time" invites, available at Storkie.com

I have to admit I wasn't 100% surprised at the shower, but I was very excited, as indicated by my face walking in (terrible quality pic, I'm sorry):

I was also really nervous with all the attention being on me. I wasn't sure who to approach first or what to do, and I think I clutched my maid of honor's hand for the first twenty minutes!

My mom, who planned the shower, chose to have the shower at my favorite local Italian restaurant, which was the best decision.  The place has delicious food and a great casual elegant atmosphere. 

There was no theme exactly, but my mom and my cousin Pam decorated the tables in lots of white, bling, and pearls. I thought they looked beautiful:

You probably can't tell in this picture, but the hydrangea centerpiece has a gigantic pearl cluster tied around the vase- awesome!!

My table was lined with these awesome centerpieces- tall, top heavy vases filled with huge pearls and rhinestones. The tables had little wedding bell confetti, big fake engagement rings, and bottle openers that looked like silver high heels (which I kept and now use to open my Flying Fish).  Mom and Pam did an amazing job on the decor.

Me with Pam, 1/2 of the team behind the decor

My mom gave a lovely and tearjerking speech at the beginning, and my maid of honor surprised me by following suit. Then we went right into lunch, a three course meal of mozzarella and tomatoes, salad, and a choice of chicken, salmon, veal, or pasta.

During the meal, my bridesmaids went around with a few noncheesy games- guests had to guess how many ring pops were in a jar, and also had to fill out a ten question "B&T" trivia sheet. The winner was Brad's ten year old cousin Toni Ann, who called Brad during the shower to ask him all the questions!

Me with my bridesmaids, and Toni Ann, the winner (and my junior BM).

BM Kelly also made "Advice for the Bride" cards, which is something I had always wanted at my shower.  I loved reading what people wrote, my favorite piece of advice being good old Toni Ann's:

It's probably important that you know Mr. B is crazy skinny and not a big eater!

Some guests at the shower

With some of my girlfriends, M and  H. I am a bridesmaid in H's wedding next July!

And here I am with some of my lovely cousins (are you getting bored of these pictures yet?)

After lunch, it was time for gifts! I was astonished at the humongous pile on the table:

This picture is like, only a third of them!

I have to admit but I was a little uncomfortable opening gifts, I kept getting yelled at to talk louder and I felt weird screaming out what I got. But I was amazed at how generous people were. We received so many great gifts off of our registry, including nineteen place settings of china (can you believe that?) My dad was less excited, since "Mount Lenox" is now taking up an entire room in his basement!

The girls did the "timer" game, where a timer went off every few minutes and the person whose gift I was opening got a prize. I think it was a good way to keep the guests entertained.

Mr. B's brother's girlfriend also made me a beautiful wishing well. Unfortunately the only picture I have of it is sort of crappy, but it was really amazing, covered in white lace and flowers and pearls. She is a crafting genius. (Also, wishing wells are so awesome- I loved all the cute stuff I got, like crazy printed rubber gloves and a diamond studded apron!)

My bridesmaids chipped in for my Kitchen Aid mixer, and some of them also made me some beautiful baskets. BMs Kelly and Laura, and my MOH made me a holiday gift basket, filled with all decorative goodies for holidays, and BM Kaitlyn made me a honeymoon basket, and a wine basket, which was so thoughtful. Each bottle had a note on when I was supposed to drink it (wedding night, first fight, etc) and I have to admit I totally teared up reading all of them.

After gifts, we had a Napoleon cake, which was unbelievably delicious:

And then Mr. B showed up:

And brought me flowers, which capped off a very lovely day!



My shower was perfect- great friends and family, generosity, my favorite restaurant and favorite things. It was really a wonderful afternoon and my mom and bridesmaids did an amazing job on everything.

And then it made me realize just how close we are to the wedding!