Some brides like to go literal with their color schemes, others like to use their favorite color as an accent. These shower arrangements are about as literal as you can get with the color palette that was at hand; Green and purple!

The vases were made from recycled yogurt tubs wrapped in wax paper and white floral mesh, and topped off with a pretty purple and white striped ribbon.

The floral shopping list: Green Spider Mums, purple-ish/pink Spider Mums, green and purple Hydrangeas, and some cool looking dyed purple branches.

A few flowers here, and a little branch there, and the arrangements are ready for your bridal shower. The best part about these arrangements is that they can be taken home by your guests as little treats.

What girl doesn’t love her sweets? After all, it’s an essential part of our daily diet! (Of course we all do extra mileage on the treadmill to work it off…. Right ladies???? Yep… that’s what I thought….)

Bridal Showers are about all things girly. Some do special Mani-Pedi outings, some will have games like “Make a Bridal Gown from Toilet Paper Contest”,  but just about every single Bridal Shower will have (in some shape or form)…. Wait for it….. CAKE! So, why not have a cake and sweets only Bridal Shower? Talk about a bunch of giddy women on a sugar high! Watch Out!

Vines and small objects are great way to accent a table that already has a lot going for it.

Now, you can’t just have your cake and eat it too… you MUST have flowers! Have your bride-to-be pick her favorite flower or color, take a look at the location of the party, and come up with some fun whimsical placement of flowers, leaves, and objects to set the tone for your fun filled shower.

Oh, and um… please save me a piece of cake. Thanks!

Pretty Peonies

Texture and color are equally as important.

Floral highlights set the mood.

Place flowers in and around the venue to bring the whole event together

Last weekend, after months of planning, we finally had the bridal shower!  It was fantastic and everyone loved the food and had a great time.  After all of the planning that went into this, I realized that even thought I thought I could do it all myself and save money, it is important to know your limits and know when to ask for help.  The shower would have been impossible to throw without the help of my sister and my mom, and all of the other bridesmaids.  As you get ready to plan your shower, you should keep these tips in mind…

Similar to planning the wedding, you should start with a list of everything you need to take care of and give each item a budget.  To start, keep it simple by listing out the major things you need done for the shower.  Here is how I had it broken down: invitations, decorations (includes all plates, utensils, etc.), food and beverages, favors, and games. From there, add in the projected budget for each area as a way to keep you in check so you do not get carried away with any one thing and spend more than you can afford. If you are lucky like me and you have a lot of helpers, then it should be pretty easy to divide up the responsibilities.

To make decorating easier, you should pick a theme and color palette.  We stuck with the beach theme of the wedding, but feel free to use any theme or colors you choose, you do not have to use the wedding colors.  One of the other bridesmaids found some great vases and filled them with sand and starfish, which looked fabulous on the tables.  Instead of typical placemats, we used 12×12 scrapbook paper.  It was easy to make all of them coordinate and there are so many more paper choices than you get with fabric.

I thought the food was going to be the toughest part, but it turned out to be pretty straightforward and we got so many compliments!  Here is our menu (along with some of our secrets!)

Appetizers

• Pita chips and hummus
• Cheese and Crackers
• Veggie Platter

Entrees

• Quiche (frozen quiche from Costco, super tasty, but also low in cost!)
• Orzo salad (homemade)
• Barbeque Chicken Chopped Salad (from California Pizza Kitchen)
• Asian Chicken Salad (from BJ’s)
• Fruit salad

Dessert

• Red velvet cupcakes (Duncan Hines red velvet cake mix, but with homemade cream cheese frosting piped on)

I do not know how all of you feel about bridal shower games, but my friend hates them.  She was pretty adamant about not wanting to have games, but we ignored her wishes.  We played my favorite shower game: gift BINGO.  Blank BINGO cards were passed out to all of the guests, who then filled in the squares with gift predictions.  As the bride opened her presents, people crossed off items until they had five in a row.  We ended up with 4 people winning the BINGO game and it made the present opening a lot more interesting!

Good luck with all of your shower planning!

Cinnamon rolls would be a great addition to a bridal shower menu!  I used to make this cinnamon roll lamb as a kid, and when I made it again recently, it was just as fun as I remembered!  For a bridal shower, this could make a great cinnamon roll bride too!  Instead of organizing the rows as indicated below, I would arrange them starting with a row of 2, increasing until you have a row of 6.  You can use the extra dough for arms, legs, and the face.  Since the original recipe makes two, you have the option of mixing and matching the lamb and the bride for your shower.

Cinnamon Roll Lamb

Ingredients:
Rolls:
2 packages active dry yeast
4.5 cups all-purpose flour, unsifted
1 cup milk
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 tsp salt
2 eggs

Filling:
3 Tbsp melted butter
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg white beaten with 1 tsp water

Orange Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp milk
1/4 tsp orange extract

Directions (makes 2 lambs):
In a large bowl, stir together the yeast and 2 cups of the flour.  In a saucepan, heat the milk, the 2/3 cup sugar, the 1/4 cup butter (cut in chunks), and the salt to 120-130 degrees.  Gradually add to the yeast mixture and blend until smooth.  Add the eggs and beat at medium speed for 3 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally.  With a heavy-duty mixer or wooden spoon, stir in enough of the remaining flour (about 2 cups) to form a soft dough.  Turn dough out onto a floured board and knead until smooth and satiny (about 5 minutes).  Add flour as needed to prevent sticking.  Turn dough over in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (1.5 to 2 hours).

Punch down dough and divide in half for two lambs; return one portion to the bowl, cover, and let stand at room temperature while you shape the first lamb.  Pinch off about 1/4 of the dough portion and set aside for the head, legs, and tail.  On a lightly floured board, roll the remaining portion of dough into a 10 x 15-inch rectangle.  Brush evenly with half the melted butter.  Combine the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the dough.  Starting with the wide edge, roll up dough jelly-roll fashion.  Moisten edge with water and pinch snugly against the roll to seal.  With a sharp knife cut roll into 20 slices, each about 3/4 inch thick.  On a large, greased baking sheet, arrange the slices side by side in 4 rows.  Place 4 slices in the top row, 5 slices in the second, 6 in the third, and 5 in the bottom row.  For the legs, tail, and ears use about half of the reserved dough.  Roll it about 1/4 inch thick and cut into pieces with a sharp knife.  Tuck the legs and tail under rolls where appropriate to maintain a lamb shape.

Gather together the remaining dough and form the head, using scraps to shape the nose and eyes. Set eyes, ears, and nose in place to make a face.  Then, position the head next to the body. Cover the lamb lightly and let rise in a warm place until puffy (about 25 mins).  Repeat with the second half of your dough to make a second lamb.

Brush the entire lamb lightly with the egg white mixture.  Bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until nicely browned.  If some parts begin to brown too quickly, cover them with pieces of foil.  Remove the lamb from the oven and carefully loosen from baking sheet by running a long spatula underneath, then gently slide it off and onto a rack.  While still warm, drizzle the lamb’s body with the orange sugar icing and serve.

If made ahead, let bread cool completely (don’t ice it) and wrap airtight.  To reheat, place unwrapped bread on a baking sheet. Cover loosely with foil and heat in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes, or until warm.  Then drizzle with the icing and serve.

To make the icing: Beat together all icing ingredients until smooth.

Have fun, and I would love to see the photos of your cinnamon rolls!  Or, if you have any questions let me know and I would be happy to answer them for you.

I was planning to make the bridal shower invitations for my friend’s wedding, but as the date neared I realized that I was going to have trouble making them and sending them out in time.  As an alternative, my sister found a great site called Zazzle.  On the site there are hundreds of different card options to choose from.  It can be overwhelming, but I was able to narrow down my choices by searching for starfish, the symbol for the wedding.

The step-by-step process of choosing and then ordering the card was super simple.  After selecting the design of the card you have the option of selecting from a variety of paper types.  This site is great because if you do not know the difference between linen, speckled, felt, etc., each one comes with a short description to help you make your decision.  There is even a recycled paper option for all of you eco-conscious brides.  After that, all you have to do is enter in the specific information (bride, address, time, and RSVP info).  One of my favorite things was that after each change the picture is updated to reflect your choices, allowing for a comprehensive preview before placing the final order.

If you are feeling extra ambitious, each design also has a more in-depth customization option.  On this page you are allowed to change the colors, font type or size, alignment, and pictures.  You can even add your own photo to the invitation.  In total we spent about 15 minutes choosing the design, editing the overall look by removing some of the starfish on the front, and adding in all of our own information.  The invitations arrived yesterday and they look just as I imagined, with no surprises.  I couldn’t be happier and am definitely considering Zazzle again next time I need cards or invitations!

Last weekend I attended a bridal shower.  I, like most people, dread bridal showers because they usually involve playing silly games that make the bride and/or guests look ridiculous and sitting around for hours watching the bride open her presents.  At one shower I went to the bride spent three hours opening presents.  Three hours!!

I have a friend who believes that low expectations breed positive results, and in this particular case he was dead on.  The Disney themed shower I went to last weekend wildly surpassed any expectations I had for bridal showers by providing us with good food, entertaining games, and quick present opening.  Here are some of the things I liked the best about the shower:

The Theme

I think that picking a fun theme is a great idea.  The Disney theme brought a different and fun atmosphere to the shower because it made the shower feel more casual and fun. The decorations were very cute and included Mickey Mouse centerpieces for the table, nametags with a Mickey Mouse outline, and a Mickey and Minnie topper on the cake.

Not every bride is a Disney nut, but when throwing a shower you can think about the bride and some of her favorite things and choose a theme that way.  Some ideas I have come up with include: the beach, Napa (wine and cheese), or old movies.

Games

This shower had some of the most fun bridal shower games I have ever participated in.  My favorite was the “Price Is Right” game.  The groom went to The Home Depot and took pictures with the items he needed for his “honey-do list.”  These photos included him holding a hammer, sitting inside a trash can,  and with a toilet seat around his neck.  Everyone had to guess how much the items cost individually and the person closest to the actual cost, but not over, got a point.  The person with the most right at the end was the winner.  The game was really hard, but that, along with the great pictures of the groom, made it super fun.  My other favorite game was gift BINGO.  We were given blank BINGO cards that we had to fill with items we thought the bride was going to open.  It was awesome because it made the gift-opening more engaging for all the guests.  (Does it count as cheating to have your sister pull up the gift registry on her blackberry and see what items were purchased??)

Party Favor

I love getting favors that I will actually use and appreciate, and this one did not let me down…everyone got a small bottle of wine.  What can be any better than that? They added stickers to the back of each bottle to make them more personalized.  They also found some great ribbon that says “Eat Drink & Be Married!” and wrapped it around the neck of each bottle.  Overall, it was a low cost and personalized favor that everyone loved.

Do you have any other tips you would like to share?  Any horrible, or awesome, shower stories?  I would love to hear them!

“Um, the kind with friends and food and drinks?”

Apparently that’s not the answer she was looking for. We’d already determined to go non-traditional and have a Wedding Shower/Couples Shower instead of a Bridal shower. Unbeknownst to me, there are a myriad of shower ideas out there – themes, games, and topics.

And they’re all super lame-o.

Like the Cowboy-themed shower in honor of the groom, where you invite couples to wear farm clothes: overalls, blue jeans, cowboy hats. Use haybales for seats, jam jars for drinks, and burlap tablecloths.

If I showed up to a shower and my matron of honor had replaced her habitual 4-inch heels with cowboy boots and was sitting on a frickin’ bale of hay… I don’t know what I would do. I can’t even finish that sentence.

Or this thrilling game, meant to teach the little woman how to cook for her new husband: Put 10 different white substances in Ziploc bags, like flour, powdered milk, and baking soda. Be sure to number the bags so you can keep track of the right answers.

And then there’s the ever-popular Naughty or Nice shower. Frankly, the last thing I want to do is open a gift of nuptial-themed pasties in front of my mom’s friends.

I’m going to rack my brain for 3 non-lame bridal shower ideas, and please, readers – comment and add.

1. Honeymoon-themed shower. Gifts could be geared towards what you plan to do or where you plan to travel for your honeymoon – such as “dinner for two at the top of Macchu Pichu.” (The web site Honeyfund.com would be helpful for this.)
2. An updated version of the Newlywed Game could be fun to play.
3. Possibly have drinks inspired by your wedding or honeymoon destination – like a Dark & Stormy if you’re honeymooning in Jamaica or a Hot Toddy if you’re planning a winter wedding.