A Bridal Shower

Hello -- how was your weekend?  Mine was great and very busy.  I had the pleasure of helping with a bridal shower for my niece, Anna -- my sister's only child.  We both just have one each, even though we wanted more.  They're almost exactly a year apart in age, so we've all been very close.

My mom and I were the hostesses of the shower because my niece doesn't have any bridesmaids.  She's having a private church ceremony with just the parents of the bride and groom attending.  Then they're having a reception afterward, which the rest of the family and friends are invited to.  I was the photographer yesterday, as well as helping serve the food.  My mom and I worked most of Friday afternoon preparing finger sandwiches, some spreads, and fruit dip.  The cupcakes and cake squares, along with a few other small things, were all purchased.

The shower was held in the old parlor of my parents' church.

My mom worried that everything would look too plain because this room was fairly utilitarian, but I think she did a great job on the decorations.  She's basically a full-time care giver for my dad now, so I think she did an amazing job with everything.  The hydrangea and geranium cuttings on the tables are from my parents' yard.

The ivy cuttings came from my mom's sweet friend and neighbor, Susie.  Susie will be taking care of the decorations for the wedding reception.  She's very talented and does a lot of these events for people at her church.  Susie came late to the shower, and she was kind enough to help us with the cleanup afterward (always the worst part IMHO).

We used silk flowers and raffia bows in mason jars for the guest tables.  Pictures of Anna at various ages were on each table, and I supplied the burlap.

My mother-in-law was an invaluable helper.  She arrived about two hours early, and helped get the food ready to serve.  She cut up all that fruit (quite a chore) and helped mix up the punch, wash dishes, and keep serving dishes re-filled.  We couldn't have done it without her!  She's on the left above, with my mom on the right.  Two wonderful ladies; as my sister said, they can work circles around us, and I've learned so much from both of them.

My mom and I had fun preparing the food, and forgive my bragging, but we got lots of compliments on all of it.  I'll be sharing some of the recipes with you throughout the week.

These pictures are not the greatest; taking inside shots is hard for me and I still have a lot to learn.  The lighting is always tricky and getting the colors to look right is a challenge.  The colors we used were coral and white, but the coral tends to look orange in some pictures.

The Dreamsicle cupcakes looked really pretty with the coral decor.

It's not a southern ladies' event without cheese straws, ya'll.  😉

I so enjoyed meeting my niece, Anna's, cute friends.  Anna is a school teacher (first grade) and many of her friends are teachers.  The young lady in the left foreground (above) moved here from Ohio with her husband.  She was taking pictures of the food and texting them to her mom in Ohio because they don't have the same foods up there; I got such a kick out of that.  They don't have pimento cheese in Ohio, and when I told my mother-in-law that, she said, "Oh no, what do they eat?"  😄  Just a joke, of course.

  
These darling young ladies are sisters.  The one on the left brought her five-month-old baby, and she was so sweet and well-behaved.  I just love that bib!

The little chalkboard was part of my gift to Anna; it has a cork board on the back.

Rachel(?) the guidance counselor where Anna teaches, made her a hat using one of the plastic plates as the base and embellishing it with bows from the shower gifts.  Too cute!

Anna, my mom, and my sister, Lisa.  As they say in the society pages, "A good time was had by all."  😉

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you'll check back tomorrow, as I'll start sharing some of our recipes for the food.  Have a great day!

Denise