My oldest daughter is getting married in May! (You may have seen a previous post.) And she was only home in Little Rock for a month, which means lots of wedding planning, picking out a dress, checking out the reception spot, and having a bridal shower. Talk about busy!
(And that doesn’t include Christmas, New Years, everyone in the family getting strep, book edits and deadlines on another book, oh my!)
Here’s a behind-the-scenes peek at Leslie’s bridal shower. I got all the ideas on Pinterest! Click here to see my Bridal Shower Pinterest board.
My 7-year-old daughter was the photographer, thus the angle of many of these shots! At the end I’ll share the cost of everything … and prove that you can do a great shower on a budget!
Leslie’s bridesmaids took her out for dinner and dancing for her “bachelorette” party, and I planned the shower … thankfully they helped with it, too. (I really is a blessing to have a bridesmaid who does wonderful cakes!)
Mother of the bride:
Mother of the Bride
Leslie (on the right) with two friends.
Dining room decorations:
Dining room decorations
I bought antique kitchen items on eBay for decorations! (And I’m keeping them for MY decorations.)
Antique kitchen tools
These are Leslie’s colors for her wedding. I love the purple and teal together.
Another view of the dining room
I love this map heart garland since the happy couple is from two sides of the world!
Heart Garland
We set up a hot cocoa bar … and the canvas photo was my Christmas gift! There are mini chocolate chips, candy cane pieces, York peppermint patties, and Cinnamon white bark to add to the cocoa.
Hot Cocoa Bar
We used canning jars for cups and I found these paper straws at Wal-mart. I also pulled out my great-grandmother’s doilies to give it some style.
Canning jars and paper straws
I found the dipped Oreos idea on Pinterest. And I topped them with candy pearls.
His and hers Oreos.
Wedding dress cupcake cake!
Finally, my favorite part! I love the wedding dress cake (cupcakes!) done by Kayleigh Stoltz.
So what was the cost of it all?
Cake? FREE … gifted to us.
Serving dishes? FREE … borrowed.
Canning jars? FREE … borrowed.
Food … about $50 for all the ingredients for the appetizers (not shown).
Glass vases … $3 each/ Wal-mart Clearance ($18)
Paper hearts garland from Etsy … $15
Printables for games & Hot Cocoa Bar .. $15
Flowers … $15
Misc. supplies … $10
Total: $123!
Of course the shower was wonderful! We have about 30 friends who loved on my daughter. It was a great time of fun and laughter. And the funniest part was when my four-year-old son ran in the room just as my daughter opened her first gift … a nightie.
“Underwear!” Casey yelled into the room! “I see your underwear!”
We couldn’t stop laughing!
It’s moments like these that inspire my novels. Real life. Real love. Real laughter.
It’s moments like these that I need to remember to enjoy, even if I have pressing deadlines.
Oh yes, I must go. I have a novel to finish!
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I love your shower ideas. Especially the hot cocoa bar. The cup cake wedding dress was totally awesome. Great that you found all those neat vases at Wal-Mart’s on close out specials. Even better that you could find them in Leslie’s wedding colors. I agree the purple and teal go very nicely together. Thanks to pinterest and Wal-Mart you had a successful bridal shower that Leslie will long remember.
Photography work was well done. Possibly a future photographer in the family?
Blessings
Shirley
Shirley, thank you! Yes, it was a blessing that I got everything I needed on clearance! It was perfect. I love being able to find just what I need inexpensively. And, yes, we must have a future photographer in the future!
Hello Tricia,
I LOVE your creativity! The hot cocoa bar was a nice touch. So happy for your and your family as you gain a son.
Blessings,
Caryl
It all looks so inviting and homey. The color scheme is great! We have years of holiday pictures that we call “the up your nose pictures.” Since the adults get too busy and forget to take the pictures, the kids took over. Gotta say that looking back, they are the best memories.
Congratulations to Leslie and your family.
Rosie, oh, we had some up the nose photos, too!
I’m having a fabulous time following your behind-the-scenes posts about your daughter’s engagement. I love so many of the details of your daughter’s shower, but especially that CAKE! Beautiful!
Looks like a lovely and fun bridal shower!
That wedding dress cake is SO cute, and I love the teal and purple together too.
Enjoy this special time – – you all are creating priceless memories. 🙂
Blessings, Patti Jo (Mother of the Bride twice!) 😉
Looks like a wonderful shower!