Showered with Love

I finally have a moment to tell you about my bridal shower/bachelorette party weekend! First up is the bridal shower. My mom planned it with the help of my bridesmaids and aunts, and she did an amazing job.

The shower took place on a Saturday at a catering hall in my hometown, which is in the suburbs of NYC. The sun-drenched room was filled with over thirty lovely ladies from all areas of my life. My friends from high school mingled with my college and graduate school friends. My two out-of-town bridesmaids were there to hang out with MOH L and my cousins. My aunts chatted with my mom's friends, who have known me since I was a baby. The best part of the whole afternoon was seeing all of these women in one room, and realizing that they had come together for little old me. I felt so grateful and happy.

I'll tell the rest of the story through pictures (all personal photos, taken by guests at the shower).

We gathered...

A few of my friends at the beginning of the shower.

I sat at this table with my bridesmaids and a couple of other friends. My mom made the centerpiece by taking a red decorative bowl she already had at home and filling it with water, white hydrangeas and red hypericum berries (that she purchased from Costco that morning), and a floating candle. She did the same for the other tables, except the other centerpieces had white bowls and different flowers. They were all beautiful. Each centerpiece cost less than $5! It's a great DIY centerpiece option.

The gift table

We mingled and ate delicious Italian food...

There was a buffet, with salads to start and pasta, chicken and eggplant dishes as the main course. Everything was very tasty!

We took some pictures...

Me and my lovely bridesmaids: MOH L, Bridesmaid M and Bridesmaid D

My grad school friends

We played a game...

MOH L planned the games. For the first one, she tied in my love for writing (I have an MFA in creative writing) by creating a Mad Lib. Each person got an index card with the words (adjective, nown, etc.) that they needed to provide. Then one person at the table collected the words and inserted them into the story L wrote. The story was about Steve's and my relationship and with all the random words mixed in, it was HILARIOUS. Each table had their own copy of the story to fill in and there were laughs all around the room as it was read aloud.

I opened gifts...

Me with my helpers

Here, my mom is explaining the scrapbook she created as an activity for the guests. Each guest got to contribute their own page during the shower. As I opened each card, it got pasted onto a sheet of the scrapbook. Then the guest who gave me the card decorated their page with stickers and, if they wanted, wrote me another message. I loved this idea for two reasons: 1) now all my cards are in one place, making it easy to hold onto them forever, and 2) creating the scrapbook pages gave the guests something to do while I opened presents.

Here's the outside of the scrapbook, which my mom decorated. I don't have photos of the inside, and my mom currently has the book, so when I get it back, I'll show it to you. It was a creative idea and I love how it turned out.

MOH L got me a tote bag with "Ten Eleven Ten" on it :)

Another friend gave me a necklace she handmade herself. It was beautiful. She needs to open an Etsy shop!

I also got some things off our Bed, Bath & Beyond and Crate & Barrel registries, as well as some pretty (and sexy) lingerie, which was entertaining to open!

While I opened gifts, MOH L worked on this ribbon bouquet. It turned out great!

And then some leftover tulle became a pseudo-veil. Ha.

We had cake and played another game...

We played the "Newlywed Game" and I had to guess what Steve answered for questions that MOH L previously asked him. For each answer I got wrong, I had to put a piece of gum in my mouth. Note how full my mouth was! I answered over 30 questions and did pretty well but still ended up with quite a bit of gum :)

And then, before I knew it, the shower was over.

I had such a great time and there was so much love in that room. I cannot thank my mom enough for putting together the perfect shower for me. I'll always remember how special it was!

Next, I'll share part one of my bachelorette weekend, which began a few hours after my bridal shower...