bridal shower day!

The day finally arrived!  Bridal shower day!  That was the day I was in charge of, so it has been more on my radar than the wedding itself. 

In case you missed it, my little sister got engaged.   

And then had these amazing photos taken.   

So, I traveled five hours with a beautiful cake on my lap.  The only reason it made it in one piece is because it was gluten free and specially made for sister.  Seriously though, the AC was blowing that buttercream icing smell right to me. 

Here's the soon-to-be wedding party: L to R-  her fiance's brother's girlfriend, her college friend and colleague, me, my sister the bride, her fiance's step sister, our youngest sister, and her fiance's sister.  

Here's Bee, me, my sister, and our mom.  Ok, now the introductions are over.  

We had the shower at the Country Club, where they are having the wedding reception.  I had two other venues that were my first and second choice, but to stay in my budget I needed to have it there.  In retrospect, it was perfect, I didn't have to worry about a thing, the food was taken care of, clean up, set up, it was a great choice. 

He played a few games first.  We played He Said, She Said.  We learned that her fiance has a secrete liking of vampire TV shows and that she has a skill of napping anytime, anywhere, among other things.  

We played a game just for her where she said what she thought George might have answered to some questions I asked him.  She did not know that he knew he wanted to marry to her when they were on a cruise 2 years ago.  She also didn't guess what he thought their best date was.  She guessed a hot air balloon ride.  He said it was their first date when he returned from living out of state.  They lead much more exciting lives than me... hot air balloon rides and cruises! 

The last game we played was called over/under and frankly I would have renamed it, it was confusing to a few guest.  I read a question that had a number answer and then said the answer, however, my answer was incorrect.  The guests needed to say if the correct answer was high or lower than the number I said.  For example.  I said, "The number of times Christina has been in a wedding party was 4".  Hopefully the guests said "over" because the real answer was over my answer.  She's apparently been in 6 wedding parties.  

We also learned she's been to 26 + concerts and was 12 in the below photo.  

There were prizes for the guests and prizes for the bride.   I bought all the guest prizes as this little shop in town that brings in handmade goods from a partner shop in Africa that employees ladies with HIV who are trying to support their families.  A friend from my cooking club is on the board.  I'm not sure everyone got it... but that's ok.  Maybe they read the cards that explained it when they got home.  

These large pieces traveled with us too, much to my poor hubby's dislike.  I pulled the kid art of the old screen door and hung up some of their lovely engagement photos and other favorite pics.  I also grabbed my easel from school and brought it. 

I was really excited about our food.  We had a yogurt parfait bar.

I had wanted to put the picture display behind the food, but when we got there, the food tables were set up in front of a sitting booth.  I couldn't put the pictures there and wished I had brought flowers.  The table was plain, but we weren't facing that direction much. 

The cake was enjoyed by the gluten free eating friends.  (Bee made those wedding gnomes)

The rest of us enjoyed these gluten filled desserts.  I had purchased some cute little brown craft boxes for the desserts to go in, but when I looked at the desserts before the shower, I decided they were prettier on the plate.  I will save the boxes and use them at another event.   Lemon bars, brownie, and cheesecake bites.  YUM.  I ate all the extra lemon bars!

Her friends were so generous!  There were more gifts than would fit on the table!

She got so many lovely things from her registry and some that weren't on the list but will be enjoyed as much. 

One of the guests helped out by putting together the bow bouquet while I set up for the next activities. 

I made these thank you notes in Word and printed them on card stock.  I think they were super cute and had fun making them. 

After presents, there were two activities.  In the invites, I asked the guests to bring a favorite recipe or two to add to a scrapbook style cook book.  

I just laid out scrapbook paper, fun scissors, glue, pens, and food related stickers and let them work. 

They turned out so nice.  Some guests that could not attend sent in their recipes.  There was one super sweet recipe that made everyone tear up.  My sister's fiance lost his mom to cancer when he was young.  His stepmom was so sweet and included a handwritten recipe from his mom's cookbook.  Christina showed him after the shower and he immediately recognized the handwriting.  Oh my, it makes me want to hand write everything from now on.  

Not so sentimental, was the guest's favors.  They made their own!  They made sugar scrub. 

I had set out white and brown sugar, olive and coconut oil, a few different essential oils (lavender, lemon,  peppermint, and vanilla), and a few add ins (lemon zest, vanilla beans, lavender, and rose petals).

Then the guests decorated their jars and got to take them home.  I stood by to explain and give directions.  

It's really easy to make.  Here are the directions I gave:  Fill up your jar with whatever combination of sugars you want.  Then dump the sugar into a bowl.  Slowly add whatever combination of oils you want until it gets to a nice consistency.  It needs to be all moistened and able to stick together, but not be slushy.  Then add your choice of oils and add ins. Then, just spoon it back into the jar.  I forgot the coloring, but at home, Bee and I made these samples.  

We made a candy cane, lemon, warm vanilla, and a lavender tea tree oil which we'll have to give as gifts now. 

What were the boys doing while we had all this girly fun?  Yard work.  Goerge is in the background trimming branches and Lou was picking them all up and hauling them to a pile. He earned $10! I told George he was going to ruin our home economy.  Extra jobs at our house pay 25-50 cents and never more than $1 per hour for hard labor.  Geesh- I'd go broke paying out $10 a pop.  Hubby mowed the yard.  I don't think he was paid- we should send a bill.  

After everyone was rested from the afternoon shower, there was a bachelorette dinner.

Afterward, the young gals went out and the old ladies went home.  I thought I could go out with the young girls, but ended up home before the kids were in bed!  

The best news is that I have another little sister and so maybe I'll get to do this all again in a few years.