Think Beyond the Vase

It has been a very busy few weeks with several out of town trips. However, yesterday I hosted a bridal shower for a good friend of mine, Marje.  I am honored to be her Matron of Honor for her upcoming wedding.  I gave the shower a baking theme because my friend enjoys getting her bake on.

The Bride to Be poses with some of my out door shower decorations. I used chalk paint to paint the flower pot. I found chalk paint paper and added a "Welcome, please come in" message to the middle of the door wreath.

I used my faux photo canvas technique to create personalized photos from the brides engagement photos. The Bride To Be banner and the other matching banners seen in these photos came from etsy seller, BannerCheer. 

Eat, Drink, Get Married. I've had these chalk painted wine bottles for years. In fact, they are the very first chalk paint project I ever did. And I am still using them!  I love using chalk because rather than purchasing themed decorations, I can erase and create my own personalized decorations.

 More chalk paint. This little piggy hangs in my kitchen and I change it for the seasons.

The Food! Yum! I added a bunch of paper fluff, bells and lanterns to the chandelier along with some tulle down both sides. 

Check out the Veggie dip in their own individual cups with dressing. These were a big hit! The fruit pizza were another fan favorite.

 The cucumber and cream cheese sandwich hearts were a favorite. I ran out of them very quickly.

The Kitchen-Aid mixer center piece paired with cheese grater vase were my favorite. I used a wet flower foam to help place the roses in the wide mouth mixing bowl. 

Champagne + OJ = Mimosas! You can never go wrong with Mimosas! I also added red and white wine, sparkling cider, a variety of soda, and water. Lots of options to make everyone happy!

The brides first name starts with an M. I filled this industrial M shelf with mini photos of the couple.  The tree log to the left is my first experience with wood burning. It is tough to see but I burned the couples initials and their future wedding date.

I skipped the traditional sign-around-the-photo idea for a more kitchen themed write-on-the-spoon idea. Everyone enjoyed writing on the spoons. I plan to put them together in a sort of collage for the bride.

My words of wisdom :)

I arranged a bunch of items into a personalized vignette with a baking theme.

 I gave away these mini heart whisks as party favors. Super cute! They came prepackaged with a ribbon and little "Thank You" tag so no extra work for me!

In lieu of traditional bridal shower games, I hired the awesome Aubergine Chef to provide a butter cream icing demonstration.

After the icing was made, it was time for all the guests to get a try at creating beautiful icing flowers on cupcakes.

The Chef made it look really easy.

Everyone really enjoyed the interactive demo and dug right into creating their own works of art.

The Bride with her cupcake and personalized apron!

My friend Amber, decided I needed my own cupcakes. So she made me these. Thanks Amber.

Overall the bridal shower was a great success. I received many compliments on the special touches I added which was nice to hear. I've been planning this event for a long time now and it was great to see everything come together.