A's Bubbly Bridal Shower!

Continuing with the theme of long-overdue-posts...

Here's a little bit more about A's Bridal Shower!

The theme for the shower was "Around the Clock". If you've never heard of that - it's a great way to make sure the bride-to-be receives a wide variety of gifts because each guest is assigned a time and they bring a gift or gifts that the bride {or the couple} might use at that time of the day. For example, bath towels would be great for an early morning time since people usually shower in the morning. You might give a set of their wedding china for a dinner time assignment. Etc. Etc.

The other "theme" of the day was Champagne! A loves her bubbly so I made sure to not only have plenty of it, but to incorporate it into decor and activities as well.

The most major way was with a Champagne Tasting - yum! Okay, so most of the choices weren't actually "champagne" because they weren't from Champagne, France...but, it was all delcious just the same.

The tasting was not formal in any way - I just explained the selection and let everyone try at their own pace. The options were different varieties of sparkling wine and champagne rather than different brands of the same variety. Most were a brand called Freixenet {fresh-eh-net} because that's A's favorite. The went from Brut {the most dry} to Spumante {the sweetest}. I made up posters to help everyone figure it out and also put out a little book with the tasting notes for each bottle. There were about 3 or 4 varieties in addition to the ones on the poster.

We had plenty of champagne flutes for everyone but the bride had a special one! It's ever so slightly tinted pink. I was too busy running around that I forgot to have it out for her already so I ran over to remedy the situation. I merely told A that it was there and ready for her next glass, but oh no - she dumped her current selection into the pink glass and handed me back the clear one. I should have known better!

Here's an up-close picture where it's a little easier to see the color of the glass:

I can't believe the wedding is in 18 Days!! I'm SO excited and so happy for A & K!!

Sorry to get all mushy-gushy on you, but I've seen their relationship from the very beginning...in HIGH SCHOOL, so I just can't help it!

{I can hardly write a blog post without tearing up...how am I supposed to make it through a wedding toast?!}

We leave for A's Bachelorette Weekend on Friday. Once again, she doesn't know all the details so I can't talk about them yet, but I can tell you we'll be doing a little LOT more of this!!:

I have lots more to post about the bridal shower, so check back later this week!!

{All Photograhs were taken by Wade Chi and he is awesome}

Up Next...

{details from A's Shower!}

{All Photography by Wade Chi}

A Little and A Lot

{A little busy and a LOT under the weather.}

A is patiently waiting to see pictures from her bridal shower a couple weekends back. I am working on a couple posts to share all the details {between feverish naps}... {It's a struggle}. But, I couldn't resist posting a glimpse AND bragging about Wade Chi and his wonderful photography. Well, I'll save the bragging for later but I have to give him all the credit...take a look and judge for yourself!

{This is Wade /\ go check out his blog}

Wordy Wednesday

I'm up to no good up to my eyeballs in planning A's bridal shower and I'm starting to get super excited about it. I hope she is too! I've been trying to keep everything a secret from her. Today I ordered the **** and picked out the ****. Then I wrote the **** and made all the ****, well almost all of them. I think I finalized the design for the **** but I am still playing around with it a little bit. Last night I wanted to try out one of the hors d'oeuvres so I made it for dinner. They were the most delicious little **** skewers and even Hubs loved them! Now all I have left is ****, ****, ****, ****, ****, and ****. Oh! And ****!! How could I forget that! The one thing I CAN share without ruining it is that there will be some delicious bubbly to drink. So, today's Wordy Wednesday will feature a fabulous little quote that is also available for purchase on Etsy as an art print! She's on vacation right now but supposed to be back today...definitely check it out!

J's Shower: Part II

Earlier I posted here about the fabulous food we had at J's shower in early March. One thing I did mention was that the shower was in Atlanta and neither myself nor my co-hostess lives in Atlanta - Logistical challenge numero uno. One thing I did not mention was that we {my husband, KH who was invited as a guest, and myself} decided to drive down from DC instead of fly. The main reason was to have the ability to transport everything I needed. We had serving pieces, plates, glasses, favors, prizes, crafts, misc decor, etc in addition to luggage for three people. We had originally reserved a Tahoe for the trip but decided it wouldn't be big enough and upgraded to the Suburban. Thank goodness we got it all to fit!

I didn't do a very good job of capturing images since we were running around to get ready and didn't have a charged battery for the SLR, but here's some of the lovely we had going on that day:

 

{sign: "Jamie loves her engagement bling and Jamie loves shoes. Pick the one you love the most and take it home with you!". The rest of those Kate Spade green stripe plates were in the other room displaying some of Lauren's yummy food}

{hand sanitizer: "I love BLING" and "I love SHOES"}

{the favors were shower loofahs and I suspended them from an actual shower curtain hanging on the wall!}

{tied to all the shower loofahs: "Thank you, with Love... from Jamie's shower to yours!"}

{prizes for the winners of the shower games}

{Everyone contributed a favorite recipe to get the bride started}

{this was used to display the "bling on a string" for one of the games we played}

{J is not known for being crafty but she helped make some POMS for my bridal shower, so KH and I returned the favor and made some. The hung in several places throughout the space but these were suspended over the corner of the couch where J opened all her gifts}

{J loves mimosas and they were the drink of choice for this afternoon brunch shower. So, my co-hostess Lauren and I stuck with the theme and gave J champagne flutes with her new monogram}

{very fuzzy picture, but some hot pink gerberas in bud vases made a centerpiece for a lot less}

J's Shower: Part I

So I've been talking for a while about J's bridal shower and gave you a little teaser here. There's just too much to share in one post so today I will rave about all the food related items. My lovely co-hostess, Lauren and I split the duties between us. I took decor and she took the food. And boy-oh-boy did she do a fabulous job. I'm definitely going to steal a few of those recipes!

{The complete food table}

Lauren worked super hard on all the yummy food with the help of her sister, Jenna who so graciously let us use her house for the party. {Did I already mention that neither Lauren nor myself live anywhere near Atlanta?!}. The menu consisted of Caprese skewers {love these and I love to make them even though I can't eat them}, Pimiento cheese sandwhiches, Turkey canapes with cucumber {stealing that one!}, Pizza cups {stealing that one too!}, Mexican roll ups {what a great idea!}, Deviled Eggs, Fruit Platter, Krispy Kreme bites {genius!}, and CUPCAKES!! You can clearly see "Pigs in a Blanket" written on the menu below but alas, there wasn't enough time to make them and there was nothing I could do about the menu at that point. Oh well. Everything was awesome!

I just printed the menu in green ink and framed it. Super easy and added a nice touch. Plus, if anyone wasn't sure what something was, they could easily deduce from the list! I did the same for the drink station too.

I heart my green kate spade plates and they went so perfectly with the shower decor!

...but I do have to admit that it kills me that the stripes aren't all going in the same direction. oops.

Those are the turkey bites in the middle and they were the bomb. Yes, I just said "the bomb".

My ladies made similar utensil packets for my bridal shower.

Fork, knife, spoon + luncheon napkin + cocktail napkin + ribbon = practical, portable, easy and PRETTY!

I used four different "Keep Calm" posters throughout the space. It went with the decor and they kind of tied the different spaces together. Genius. {If I do say so myself}

I'm just now realizing that I didn't get to taste a cupcake! Shame on me.

Okay this picture is so obviously not from the shower, it's from the Pottery Barn website, but I have a whole bunch of these Great White Mingling Plates and we used them at J's shower. They are the absolute perfect thing for finger foods and wine glasses when not everyone is sitting down or, people are sitting but have nowhere to set their drink down. I have some wooden ones too but these are simply my favorite for one reason: DISHWASHER SAFE. I think I might acutally buy more of them! Oh yea, and they fit the champagne flutes as well as the wine glasses {bonus!}

This pic of the drink station is a good example of why I wish I had taken a minute to take pictures before everyone showed up. Regardless, there was plenty of tasty drinks to compliment the delicousness of the food. Lauren and I kinda split up the drink duties. There was Champagne {extra dry which is ever-so-slightly less brutal than brut}, Asti Spumante {my absolute fav, and sweet champagne without the tart}, tropical punch {think pineapple and orange, not fruit punch} and Orange Juice to mix with the bubbly, and water with lemon slices {more for looks than taste}. We also had some of the mini cans of Coke and Diet Coke {we were in Atlanta, afterall} and you gotta love the green and white striped paper straws to go along with it all. I brought in big wine glasses and champagne flutes so that there would be enough matching glasses. I"m not a perfectionist or anything.

These decanters are the best things ever. KH and I each bought one right before my bridal shower and we used them both for J's shower. I have to tell you it's very convenient to have matching ones because they get used ALL the time! I also have matching 1 gallon versions but with us, go big or go home.

{I took this advice literally that day}

{Have I mentioned how much I love me so Asti? Seriously, if you haven't tried it you are missing out. It's champagne for people who don't like champagne.}

I'm seriously hungry after writing this post. Stay tuned for details on the rest of the decor as well as favors and prizes!

Sneak Peek: J's Bridal Shower

SO busy today but I really want to post all the pictures from J's bridal shower a couple weekends ago. Thought I'd do a sneak peak until I can write a real post and tell you about all the fabulousness. Can you guess what the theme was?...

Also...happy PI day {3.14} and happy bracket day {march madness}.