A Chic and Shabby Shower

Parties and dresses and weddings oh my! Wedding season was in full effect, and my sister-in-law's wedding was around the corner. As we began the planning process, we decided the best way to go about it was to split up the tasks. My mother-in-law being the sentimental one, would take care of bringing a touch of old memories into the night. My sister-in-law Sarah being the amazing cook that she is, would be in charge of the menu, and I was put in charge of the games and decor.

The Decor:
I of course began my research by looking at pinterest. I wanted vintage shabby chic.... just like Ame. After hours of pinning, I finally had an idea in my head of how I wanted it all to look. The first step was pictures. I went onto shutterfly (which always seems to be the least expensive in my opinion) and printed all of the pictures that I had of Mike and Ame. I also chose my favorite pictures and printed a combination of black and whites and sepias ranging between 4x6 and 5x7's. After printing the pictures, I then took off for the fun part.... SHOPPING!

First stop, was Tuesday Morning. I was so excited when I found a variety of photo frames that had an aged look. I also found a few big pieces of artwork that were on clearance that I would cover in chalkboard paint and use as decor. Ame has always had a love for vintage items and antiques, so these pieces fit right in. I then went to Michaels and purchased a few little knick knacks and personalized items that I knew would fit the overall theme.

After seeing the venue of where the shower would be held, I wanted to create some sort of centerpiece that was simple, but pretty. I did not want flowers but something like it. I then decided to create paper fans. I pulled out the scrapbooking box, and went to it. This was a lot of fun because my daughter was also able to help me make them. For some of them, I glued doilies to the back to add a little more elegance, where as others I glued a button or jewel in the center. These were extremely easy to make and added a lot of personalized touch and color to the overall decor.

 The way that the venue was setup, I knew I would need some sort of banner to be hung across the door frame going into the room where she would be opening presents. I looked at a lot of different ideas, but wasn't sold on any of them. A friend of mine then gave me a great idea to just make my own banner. I went back to Michaels and bought two packs of their cardboard hearts that are found in the children's crafts section. I bought a roll of thick twine. Lastly, I bought a metallic spray paint. When I got home I, laid them on the ground and began to unevenly spray the hearts. I did not want the fully covered but just textured. After they dried, I used a hole punch and threaded the twine thru the hearts. It turned out absolutely perfect for the area it was needed for.

 

Chalkboards:

 

For many of the decorational pieces I knew that I wanted to use chalkboards to create a more rustic look. However, if you have ever gone shopping for chalkboards, you will find that they can be pretty expensive to buy. That is when I came up with another plan. After buying some very inexpensive textured pieces of artwork at Tuesday Morning, I went to Michaels and bought chalkboard scrap paper, as well as some chalkboard spray paint. I used the chalkboard spray paint to cover the artwork canvases and these turned out great! I used these for the Guess the Age game, the menu, as well as the Bride and Groom's Timeline. I then used the scrapbook paper inside different frames to create the same rustic look.

Other simple and inexpensive decorations that I made were some wine bottles that were filled with Christmas lights. To make these, all you need is a glass drill bit, an empty wine bottle, and some Christmas lights. These turned out really great and add a nice touch in almost any environment.


 The Games:
Figuring out what games to play is where I think we all struggled the most. We did not want your average, lets wrap the bride in toilet paper and see who can make the prettiest wedding gown type of game. We needed something unique.... something different.

As I continued to look up ideas, I was inspired by a collage that listed the age of the bride at each picture. What a great way to showcase the bride over the years, but also make it fun.

Guess the age!

This was a huge hit at the shower and was extremely funny how off people's guesses were on most of the pictures. I will give you a little tip though. If you do decide to play this game, I would have a few pictures in the backup pile in case there's a tie. In our case, there was a tie so for the tie breaker, I held up 3 different pictures for 10 seconds each and made the girls guess the age.

Mike Money Madness

For the second game, we chose to do a little game of let's see how well the bride knows the groom. Normally this game is played as follows: the bride is asked multiple questions about the groom and for every questions she gets wrong, she has to put a piece of bubblegum in her mouth.

Well, due to my mother-in-law's concern that Ame would choke at her own bridal shower (gotta love how moms think), we decided to put a twist on the game. In attempts to get everyone involved, before people arrived, I taped an envelope under random chairs and tables throughout the room that were numbered 1-20. When it was time to play the game, I had everyone look under their chair and table to see if they had an envelope. Inside each envelope was a question to ask the bride about the groom and the answer. It was up to the person asking the question to use their judgement on whether or not her answer was suffice or not. Included in the envelope was also a single dollar bill. This made the game fun. For every right answer, Ame would be given the dollar bill, however for every wrong answer, the person that asked the question got to keep the dollar. Not only was this fun to watch Ame rack her brain in trying to figure out who her fiance's biggest celebrity crush in high school was, it was also a great way for everyone at the shower to learn a bit about her soon to be husband.

Good Wife's Guide

Ahhhhh the wonderful good wife's guide. This was something that I had found online as I was searching for a fun decorational piece for the shower. However, after reading over it, it was just too funny to not make it into an activity. After recreating and formatting the 1955 good wife's guide, I then also created an empty good wife's guide for Ame. The idea on this was that people could read what was written in 1955 and then write down a tip or guide for her now. This was hysterical to read and made for a great keepsake for the bride and groom.

The Food: Last but not least..... the amazing menu that Sarah came up with. The best part about the food, was that all of the items were incredibly easy to make, but were incredibly delicious!

                          

Coconut Island Shrimp Canapes

Pistachio'd Grapes

Cranchix Salad Cups

 

 



 The Drink Station:


The Groom's sister decided that she wanted to make all of the party favors for the shower. She chose to make personalized glasses for everyone which turned out to be absolutely adorable. How many times do you go to a party and forget where you put your glass. With these, everyone was able to write their name on their cup, and have a cute and practical favor to bring home.

The drinks that we offered during the shower were White Sangria, Red Sangria, Cucumber Water, and Homemade Lemonade.

 

 

 LOVE IS SWEET:

The Sweets Table

Wine Cork Name Holders

French Vanilla Cupcakes with Orange Tangerine Frosting Covered in Edible Pearls



Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting and Gold Shavings

Orange Supreme Cupcake with Green Buttercream Frosting Topped by a Gold Shimmer Spray




Overall the shower turned out be an absolute blast. It was classy, it was chic, and it was just what she wanted.