ThrowWAYback Thursday: Simple Wedding Shower

I have hosted my fair share of showers--wedding and baby--over the years. I thought I would "capture" my brief moments of creativity and cooking ability (aka my Mom's amazing acts of kindness in helping me out) and share my ideas to make a simple shower very special.

This is my dear friend Heather's bridal shower back in 2011. I told you we were going way back!

Decor:
Simple blue patterned fabric, cut into triangles and hot glued onto light roping was the simple, summer, country inspired decor theme I went with. I think it is important to have some detail on the mailbox, so guests are sure to know where to go. This shower had many friends and family who had not yet been to our home, so I wanted to make sure they knew the correct house! I carried the same theme inside with a larger banner for the mantle and mini banners throughout.I set up tables in the kitchen and our entry room/office space with vases of floating candles and flower petals (extras I never used from my wedding!).

Food:
 I love to do brunch showers, because I feel brunch is so much easier to cook. And Mimosas!! Need I say more?? We did a tried a true breakfast casserole, granola parfaits, fruit, and breads and muffins.  Then for dessert my [fabulous] mom made her special mini Black Bottom Cupcakes to top it all off. Since it was morning, I decided a heavy dessert wasn't needed. We made enough for every guest to have a couple, because you can never have just one!

Oops! Didn't take the picture BEFORE guests ate up!

Games and Favors:

I'm not a big game person, but we did do a Marriage Advice book and my favorite--How They Met Mad Libs! Many brides have online wedding websites these days, so I didn't even have to bother the bride-to-be on this one (of course, I pretty much knew all of the details!). I simply copied the "How We Met" section on their website into Word, and took out some crucial words. Then, I added what types of words were needed--adjectives, nouns, etc. and printed copies. It was fun for all ages...the serious players, and the silly!

And the favor? Heather's favorite recipe on a cute recipe card for everyone to add to their own recipe book!

It was simple but successful, and of course, so much fun to celebrate the THEN bride to be!

Open to a New Year

To be honest, I wasn't thrilled with 2013. I mean, wonderful things happened: Tom was provided Residency in St. Louis, I graduated with my Masters in Literacy, Tom graduated from Medical School, we had a very fun double graduation party with friends and family, I started a new job and I ran my first half marathon! On the outside, it was our best year yet. Isn't that the interesting thing about looking at everyone else's life on the outside? Because behind those walls, 2013 was also filled with heartbreak, anger, difficulty, disappointment and a deep struggle to maintain faith in it all. You can see a snip-it here and I hope to post more about it in 2014.

I pray your 2014, like ours, will be filled with renewed hope, deep growth, new and old friendships, learned lessons, inexplicable joy, good books, and God's great blessings!

Here's to 2014!