Planning a Bridal Shower

Its a very exciting time when a best friend ask you to be their maid of honor... and that's truly what it is, an honor. When Keeana asked me to be the maid of honor at her wedding back in May I did not hesitate to say yes! I was so happy that she was getting married and that I would be able to take part in sharing the occasion. Along with being maid of honor comes the duty to throw the personal bridal shower. I wanted my party for Keeana to be perfect, and I was worried that it wouldn't be. I had come to the conclusion that I wouldn't be able to throw the party anywhere fancy because I was now on a budget. Buying a house, remodeling it and then finding out that your pregnant does that to you. I had no other option than to throw it in the comfort of my own home. At first thought this may not seem like such a bad thing but for me it meant that my house had to be liveable - past the demo construction stage and well into the decorative stage. Fortunately we were able to make that deadline. Hosting the party at my home put the pressure on. I wanted it to be fun, cozy and also have the feel that it was being held in a restaurant. That's why I decided to make a list. I'm typically not a list type of person. I don't like to be bound by an agenda but having this list kept me very organized. I was able to check things off as I went. This is how my list looked.

Agenda

5:00 – Light Refreshments

5:30 – Salad served

5:45 – Meal

6:30 – Dessert & Gift Opening

7:30 – Start Video

8:00 – Limo arrives

Table Settings:

·       Borrow 8 dinner plates from Alicia    

·        Borrow 8 chairs from Alicia

·        Two foot tables from work                  

·        Chalkboard from Mom’s (need to paint)

·        Silverware

Beverages:
·        Huckleberry Lemonade
·        Diaste Mascoto
·        Water Bottles
·        Soda Cans

Salad:

·        Spinach Greens
·        Cherry Tomatos
·        Goat Cheese
·        Grapes
·        Pears
·        Craisins
·        Glazed Walnuts

Breschetta:

·        Loaves of Bread
·        Fresh Mozzarella
·        Tomatoes
·        Pesto Spread 

Dinner Meal: Stuffed Shells

Dessert: Cupcakes & Coffee

Other Foods:

·        Fruit / Cheese / Cracker Platter
·        Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Party Favors Ideas:

·        Spread the love

Other Necessary Items:

·        Babies Breath
·        Flowers
·        Candles
·        Notepad & Pen
·        Games
·        Prizes
·        Decorations
·        After Dinner Mints
·        Chalk

I know it seems very detailed and it it may seem a bit extreme but I really wanted this evening to be special. This first thing I had to do was order the invitations for Keeana at www.polkadotdesign.com . Make sure you order your invitations knowing that it will probably take about 2 weeks for them to be delivered and then you have to assemble them. While I waited for the invites to arrive in the mail I had Keeana create her guest list and get addresses for me. These are the lingerie / personal shower invitations that I chose.

You can also check out this other website, www.tickledpinkdesign.net . This is where we ordered my baby shower invitations. They usually run a deal for new customers. We recieved 25% off the invites below. 

Over the course of time I picked up decorative pieces. A week before the party I made the party favors. I ended up getting little glass jars from Christmas tree shop, filled them with jam, and made personalized stickers on them that said spread the love and had Mike and Keeana's wedding date on it.

 A few days later, on Wednesday, Johnny rearranged the house. The dining room was too small to seat 16 people for dinner so we turned the living room into the dining room and the dining room into the living room.

Look familiar? Probably not - but remember my post from last week of the dining room? Well this is the dining room transformed into the living room.

I borrowed an assortment of dining room chairs from my mother in law. Thursday my priority for the showers was grocery shopping. Friday I designated as cooking and baking day. I also set and decorated the tables so that we we could have a sit down dinner.

I loved the romantic look that resulted! Exactly what I was aiming for.

Where did I get my table decor?

• Table cloths from Ocean State Job Lot for $5.00 each
•  Teal cloth napkins 4 for $2.00 at Ocean State Job Lot too.
• The runner was a roll of burlap that I was able to find at Joanne's Fabric
• Large dinner plates? (Mine! - a wedding gift from target.)
• The small assorted plates - these were also from Target. I didn't mind spending the money on them because I can reuse these.
• Wine Glasses from Costcos 12 for $12.00
• Everything else was items that I already owned




Saturday morning I thought that I would have a lot to do but because of my list and chipping away at it a little bit each day I found myself entirely prepared and with a lot of free time to relax and wait for the party to begin. The only jobs I had to get done before 6:00pm was cutting the fruit, making the salad and breschetta and folding the napkins. I youtubed how to fold napkins and it was actually really easy!

I made this menu board for the party and set it up at the entrance of my house.

I also dressed up the staircase a little bi with ivy and lights.

 While the guests were arriving we served appetizers.

Following our appetizers was a three course meal which included a Mandarin Salad, Breschetta, and the guests choice of Stuffed Shells, Chicken Cordon Bleu, or Chicken Parmigiana. It was then time to open gifts.

While gifts were being opened coffee and dessert was offered.

Everyone seemed to be having a great time but little did they all know that they were in for a surprise. At 8:00pm there was a knock at the door and behind the door was a man with a champagne glass motioning towards a limo. Thanks to my mom, Keeana's evening was made super special by renting a stretch limo made to fit 20 people. Everyone was invited to go out in it. The first stop is where the mothers were dropped off and they spent the rest of their evening there. Arrangements were made for their pick up. As for us girls ... We continued on in the limo and made a few stops along the way. We all has such a great time and made it safely home by midnight.

Being 7 months pregnant - I was exhausted by the time I got home and fell in love with my bed!