Wow...almost a month and a half without a post. I have neglected my blog and I am sorry! It has been a crazy month and a half with events and just life changes for Sienna and I.
One of the big events that happened since I have not been posting was a Bridal Shower for my best friend Alyson. She and Chris are getting married in Hawaii next month!! We started planning the shower about two months in advance.
The first step was choosing a place to host the shower. Of course money was a concern so we decided to have it outside in Debbie's courtyard at her condos. It was a nice, large and open space with a great little gazebo to put all the food under. There were lots of chairs in the space already and a few tables.
The second stop was to decide on a "theme" for the shower. I don't think this was really decided until I started picking things up randomly at stores. I think napkins were the first thing I bought!! Brooke and I had chosen some cute mis-matched plates at Party City so once those two were chosen we decided it would be a brightly colored, mis-matched, Anthropologie inspired shower. This would be easy since we are all obsessed with Anthro.
I thought it would be cool to make a table runner out of pretty paper or wrapping paper. My first stop was Paper Source in Carlsbad. I could literally spend HOURS in this store. Brooke and I decided on this gorgeous Marigolds Wrapper paper.
I then had another idea of what to put in the center of the table. I did not want the tradition short glass containers with flowers in them. It just seemed TOO traditional for what we were planning. Someone an idea of using wine bottles popped in my head. We all drink a fair amount of wine so I asked each bridesmaid to start saving their bottles (I think I asked about a month in advance). We had a perfect amount on the day of the shower!
The morning of the shower we went to the Wholesale Flower Mart here on Morena Blvd and picked up lots of gorgeous flowers to put into wine bottles. We lined the bottles down the middle of the two long tables. They turned out great!
I also scored some very cool red and white striped, biodegradable straws from Anthropolgie about a month and a half before the shower. We had a TON of wine glasses that we had used for Brooke's birthday a few months prior. These were perfect so we did not have to use plastic cups. We did use plastic silverware however but Debbie tooks out her jewels and bedazzled EVERY piece of silverware that we had. It turned out adorable.
We also decided to make a White Sangria as the drink of the shower. We made it with White Wine, Blood Red Orange Italian Soda and some chopped up fruit. It was a huge hit and was so delicious.
All-in-all the day turned out exactly as we planned. I think Alyson was very surprised at all of the special details that were put into this special day.
Now for the PHOTOS:
This was the table setting before anyone sat down. I forgot the mention the fans we made that are sitting on each plate. We put cute LOVE sayings on each fan (they were all different), and on the stick at the bottom it says "A+C, Super in Love, 9.19.10".
Of course the important part! THE FOOD. We had back wrapped Artichoke Hearts, hummus and pita chips, chicken salad, fresh fruit, Salad, some DELICIOUS desserts from Chris' mom. All of the food was a hit.
This is our White Sangria. We also had non-alcoholic choices for those who don't drink.
This day was extra special because Alyson's mom was able to fly in for the event.
Then it was time for some games. We asked Chris a bunch of questions about himself and Alyson. Each time she got and answer wrong she had to shove another piece of gum in her mouth.
She did not get as many right as she thought she would!!
Her bouquet after all of the gifts were opened.
We finished the day with a photosoot for Alyson and her bridesmaids, mom and then the entire group of girls that came for the shower.
So the day was a successful and a ton of a fun. Now the countdown to Hawaii begins!! 34 days until we are in HAWAII!
Thank you to everyone who helped with the shower and to everyone who came to make it an extra special day for Alyson.
