Last weekend, I had the pleasure of hosting a bridal shower for my best friend. The bridesmaids and I decided on a pumpkin/fall themed shower, and it was beautiful, as was the bride-to-be. I’ve known Dana longer than I’ve known my little sister, so she is family to me. I love her like a sister and was so excited to throw her a shower that I knew she’d love.
The decorations and favors were my favorite part, which is probably no surprise. We decided on a fall/falling-in-love themed shower early on, so for decorations we used pumpkins, flowers, gourds, etc. Emma made the cutest bride and groom pumpkins:
I carved a pumpkin (with a steak knife… don’t do that, btw) to use as a vase for the centerpiece on my fireplace mantel. And Emma made an adorable “Falling in Love” banner to hang there, too. Isn’t it adorable?!?
With decor that cute, we had to have Dana open her gifts there.
And she got a lot of gifts. That girl is loved!
Dana is a baker & chocolatier, so food was a big deal at the shower. We had a shmorgishborg or fall goodies: mini pumpkin pies, pumpkin rolls, apple pie dip, spice cake…
Dana’s future-mother-in-law made a beautiful cake, too.
For games, we played the “Don’t say wedding” game. Dana’s mom, Jen, was the winner — she is a champ at that game. It is impressive!
We also tried a game I’d never played at a shower before, so for a lack of better name I’ll call it the “Paper Plate Bride” game. Here’s the gist. Everyone takes a paper plate and puts it on their head:
Then someone (me) tells everyone what to draw. They cannot look at their plate.
I had them draw:
- a line
- a bride standing on the line
- a veil on her head
- a bouquet in her hands
- a church next to the bride
At the end of the game, we did eliminations.
I had everyone put their plate in the air. Then started running through the elimination. “Leave your plate in the air if the bride is standing on the line.” *plates go down* “Leave your plate in the air if the veil is on her head.” *plates go down* “Leave your plate int he air if the bouquet is in her hands.” *plates go down* … and you get the idea. It was so funny to watch.
We turned the winning plate into Dana’s ribbon bouquet.
For favors and prizes, I made canned goods. Probably not too, shocking, huh? I also design the cutest labels for them all!
I also had signs throughout the house noting the different stations. Everything matched. I loved it.
My gift to Dana was a kitchen towel cake — I’ll share a tutorial on this soon — and it was one of my the best things I’ve ever made, if I do say so myself.
It even had pumpkin salt & pepper shakers as cake toppers!! OMG THE CUTENESS!
It was a wonderful day for a wonderful bride. The bridesmaids made it spectacular. Here we are with our favorite bride-to-be!
A Smith of All Trades 