Picnic Garden Bridal Shower
My amazing bridesmaids threw the most wonderful bridal shower for me this past weekend!
We had an all white party, where guests wore white and I was the only one who didn't. I thought it would be fun to switch things up since it would be reversed on the wedding day :)
Every bride-to-be is different. Some like to oversee and micromanage while others are totally type B and give it completely to the bridesmaids. I think I'm somewhere in the middle, leaning more towards the second type, and all I asked is that guests wore white and that the location was held outdoors if possible. The rest of the details were up for grabs and I didn't even know where the location was until the night before! To my surprise, it was at my favorite park (which none of them knew) and when I got to the shower, I was blown away by how beautiful everything was. Since I'm visually led, I melted at all the thoughtful details the girls added to the shower. Ivy printed photos of Patrick & I from Artifacts Uprising and hung them with streamers. I loved all the different textiles, glass jars, pops of yellow (my favorite color.) You know you have good friends when they know what you would like better than you do.
Starting with food (the life of every party), Katie & Ashley prepared picnic appropriate finger foods like bruschetta, caprese on a stick, watermelon, short bread cookies, strawberries and cream, ice tea, and one of my favorite Filipino desserts - cassava! Ashley makes them perfectly and have been baking them for me since we were in high school, so it was extra special to have that at my shower. At the end of the table, there were brown bags filled with chips for guests to take, which I thought was so simple and adorable. The girls set out blankets and rugs for guests to enjoy the food picnic style~
After eating, we did an ice breaker for guests to get to know each other better. My sister asked each person to either share 2 truths & 1 lie or a story of how we met for the first time. It was so amazing to listen to everyone's stories and I was hit with nostalgia. Some friends had really hilarious stories of me from 12 years ago, while my newer friends were shocked to hear them. It reminded me how much I've grown as a person and also how each of my relationships have impacted me. After ice breaker and some games, it was time for gifts and the guests played bingo while I opened the presents. For party favors, I passed out jars filled with soil and moss that were personalized with each person's name. I had out a little garden of succulents which guests could pick out and plant into their jars. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to take photos of them or much of the event but with the collective help of everyone's iphones, we were able to capture these special moments. Now, onto more photos!
I'm so grateful for all the lovely ladies who came out! & special thanks to my amazing, beautiful, kind, thoughtful, creative, sweetest bridesmaids for planning this shower and for loving me so well <3