Back in August, my sister Katie got married! I was honored to throw her a bridal shower a couple days before the wedding. I was supposed to arrive in Salt Lake at 1pm the day of the shower but our "direct" flight had to stop in St. Louis to make sure that the cargo door was secure. As we landed I was a little worried I'd be late for the shower but mostly worried that all my hard work would fly out the cargo door midair! But luckily everything was fine, we arrived at around 3pm and I was able to make it to the shower in plenty of time to set up.
My mom was awesome and reserved us The Velvet Room at Thanksgiving Point. It was really nice and worked out perfectly. They prepared the refreshments and set them out on a beautiful buffet for us. My mom, mother-in-law, and Katie helped me set everything up that I had prepared. Thank you to my sweet cousin, the beautiful Aubrey Nilsson, for taking pictures for me!
I made the table runners out of some grey chevron fabric I found at Hobby Lobby. They were quick to whip up and I really liked them. The centerpieces were provided by Thanksgiving Point. I purchased the white doublesided picture frames for .99 each from IKEA and filled them with free printables that talked about home that I found on Pinterest. I then printed off little house templates on white cardstock and cut out the windows with a razor blade. This took quite a while but once the little battery operated tea lights were inside I really liked the effect.
For the gift table I bought a wall hanging at Hobby Lobby that said "Bless This Home". It was my gift to Katie as well as a little sign to indicate where to put gifts. Perfect!
The entry table was set up with ink pads and a page that said "Home Sweet Home" Zach and Katie 8.30.2013. I found the "Up House" image online and drew in some straight black lines then the guests stamped their fingers to create a balloon look. Then they wrote their names in their fingerprints. I loved how it turned out. A little keepsake for Katie's new home.
Here's the final framed result-
Also on the entry table was an intro activity for people to start working on as they arrived. I had asked Katie and Zach a bunch of questions about themselves and I went through all their answers to find the best responses. I put their quotes on a "He Said, She said" half page I designed. For example, "I am afraid of heights." or "When I was 16 my favorite TV show was Smallville." Then the attendees had to decide if Zach said it or Katie said it. They circled the mustache or the lips.
When it came time to play the game, I would read the statement aloud, the guests would hold up their mustaches or lips to indicate which one they guessed and then Katie would tell the correct answer. It was fun and cute. Here's the beautiful bride with her lips.
We also did a door prize that didn't get pictured, but what I did was a game called Who Has the Groom as you see on this site. I cut out generic tuxedo bodies and taped on various celebrity heads. One lucky person had Zach's head on theirs. I taped them in envelopes underneath their chairs. At one point I told them to reach under their chairs and find their "dates" for the evening. Some of the ladies were very pleased with their dates! :) The person who had the real groom got a prize.
Anyways, it was fun and we had a nice turnout. Katie got a lot of great gifts to stock up her new home! On the invitations (I got them on etsy here), I wrote down which room of the house their gifts were supposed to be for, so she got a good variety of dishes for her kitchen, placemats for the dining room, and of course a little lingerie for the bedroom.
Here are some photos of everyone enjoying themselves at the shower.
And as a little take home gift, I don't have a final picture but I got these little treat bags and stuffed some of them with Zach's favorite candy (Mike & Ike's) and one of Katie's favorite candies (Peanut Butter M&Ms). I thought the little "Thank you for making Katie's Home SWEET" tags were a nice touch.
For all the printables I found and even more ideas, check out my Around the House Shower Pinterest board.
