My Fairytale Bridal Shower: Set up and Party
“ONCE UPON A DREAM” I had a Fairytale Bridal Shower and it came true! Saturday we had my long awaited Bridal Shower and I could not have asked for a better party! The entire day was a whirlwind, but I am grateful I was able to exprerince the day with family and friends.
The entire week I had been preparing for the upcoming weekend, I cleaned my house, moved my furniture, and began to organize all of the shower necessities for the party. My house looked completely different and for sure had tons more space than before. You could not get to the backyard though do to my couches being backed up against my back door and wall. I went ahead and took down all of my nicknacs and photos from my living room and placed the table covers over them. I set up 2 of the 3 tables that Brandons granparents generously lent me for the shower (the 3rd is from my mom) and I placed the sheer table runners as well as the Cinderella carriage centerpieces on those tables. By this time Brandon was begging me to come to bed. (I was very motivated to get everything done, I was pretty excited!)
Friday after work I picked up the cake and finger sandwiches from Publix and met Kassy at my house where we took a trip to walmart for sugar cookies, fruit tray, and meat and cheese tray. Target was next on the list. I needed to get two more cake stands to place the cookies and finger sandwiches on. I came home with a small ceramic gray stand and a 2 tiered wood and metal cake stand. After getting back to the house I started the Buffalo Chicken Dip while Kassy cleaned up the counters and cabinets. Next we dragged out the gigantic box with all of the Bridal Shower decorations, we first set up the tiny bar area where you first walk into my house for the party favors. Which were little clear Cinderella slippers with sixlets’s in a baggy attached with “THANK YOU FOR BEING OUR GUEST" tag! I bagged up the chocolate candies while Kassy made the thank you tags. (she has amazing cursive) Finally we placed the goodie bags in the plastic slippers and had them set up on the arm shelf. We then set up the 3rd and final table and I moved onto the fireplace where I set up a photo collage of mine and Brandons relationship through out the years. (pretty much just random photos of the 2 of us that I had around our house lol) I placed a white table cloth over the mantel and then the photos and the letter sign that has our saying on it. I then placed the game prizes and the Bridesmade gifts (and mother of the bride and groom gifts) on my tv stand and finally moved onto the photo booth area. Here kassy and I hung up the backdrop, that also has mine and Brandons saying on it, on the wall and added pink rose string lights to give it a pop of light and color it also just went with the theme of the shower! (This backdrop is also what we are using as the background for the ceremony at the wedding) After the tapestry was up we put together the photo props that I got in my Miss to Mrs. Box a few months ago! The last big thing we did before heading to my room was set up the dessert table. The cake stand and donut wall and we strung together the HAPPILY EVER AFTER sign that was taped and hung on the front of the 2 cube shelves that we used for this section of the party.
At this point it it was nearly 12am, we hopped in my bed, I painted my nails while Kassy cut the game papers to size. We made the answer key to “How well do you know the Bride" and tiebreaker questions for each game. Lastly I made a schedule for the party and a checklist for what was left to be done. By 1am it was lights out!
The next morning cam quickly! I got up a little early and took a hot relaxing bath and talked to my honey on the phone for a while and then it was back to work. Kassy and I had to run to the store again and grab some confetti balloons because I could not find the ones that I had gotten in my Bridal Box a couple months before. We were making good time when we made it back to the house and I finished making the chicken Dip I had prepped the night before while kassy swept and mopped the floor. I then moved into the living space where I began to place the delicate rose petals and pink and gold glitter crown confetti along each runner on all three tables. After the tables were all set we had to re-hang the Happily Ever After sign because it fell… AGAIN! We triple taped this time. After that was done I moved onto the game table. I took the game pages that Kassy had cut into size the night before and placed them neatly on the tray used for this shower section. Next… the most strenuous part of the entire set up…. the BALLOONS! We started with the “ONCE UPON A TIME” balloon banner. We had to individually blow up each letter and then string them up in order. Thank God I invested in a balloon pump! Unfortunately the “U” for the word UPON had a nice sized hole in it. We both tired taping the hole closed, but it was still deflating. So Kassy took a drive to Hobby Lobby and grabbed another “U” while I continued to blow up the remaining letters. I had finished before Kassy arrived back at the house so I began to inflate the “MISS to MRS”, “BEST DAY EVER”, and confetti balloons with the helium tank. I had not even gotten through 4 balloons when both my sister and mom walked into the house. (I was struggling tremendously with the tying of the balloons!) At this point Kassy finished stringing the inflated letters while mom and I took to setting up the kitchen. I helped Kassy get “ONCE” tacked to the wall and then watched as my mom placed the donuts on the specified dessert wall. It was getting crunch time and we realized that another silver letter had a hole In it! Thankfully it was the stand alone “A” and I was actually able to plug the small hole with tape and it worked! Do you remember the confetti balloons that I thought I had lost… well my mom found them! I was not thinking because they were in the package that held the large diamond balloon! If I had only flipped the box over!
We had less than an hour to go and I really needed to begin getting ready, but I was running around the house trying to make sure things were getting into the right place. My friend Andrea showed up at this time and joined in on my sister and mom beginning me to go get ready while they finished up. Andrea and I headed to my bathroom where I started my makeup and she showed me a dress she was thinking about wearing. I then remembered that I needed to get the balloons outside on the Easel so people would know what house they were looking for. I ran out into the living room and grabbed the huge diamond balloon that was coupled with a few others and tied them to the easel that held the sign “PLEASE PARK IN CUL DE SAC”. (FUN FACT I ACTUALLY LOST A CONFETTI BALLOON WHILE TYING THEM UP, SO I HAD TO GO GRAB ANOTHER ONE.) I then went back to the bathroom to finish getting ready when people began to arrive! Ten minutes later I made my entrance wearing my off the shoulder white dress paired with my suede light purple ankle buckle heels and accessorized with my white “BRIDE TO BE” sash lettered in glitter purple letters! I was a little flustered when I walked in because we had run behind in the last hour (STUPID BALLOONS) and was not expecting to be late.
Moana played on the TV as I made my round of greeting friends and family who had come to celebrate with me! After that… it was food time! I definitely went over kill with the food! Lets just say I still have leftovers! After the nourishment of meatballs, ham roll's, sandwiches, and many other shower foods we started the GAMES! Well one had already begun, the RING GAME, where everyone took a princess ring out of the bowl and could not say BRIDE or WEDDING or their ring would be taken. The lady with the most rings WON! A 6 year old wound up winning this by winning a game of Rock Paper Scissors with a 21 year old! (Thus was the tie breaker we held when all else failed, including the tiebreaker questions Kassy and I came up with) The first paper game we played was MATCH DISNEY COUPLES, naturally I got all of them correct, but I was not competing for a prize. We did have to use BOTH tiebreaker questions for this one. We also had to use both tiebreakers and the last resort Rock Paper Scissors on the next game, MATCH DISNEY LOVE SONGS. For the last game “HOW WELL DO YOU KNOW THE BRIDE” we did not need a tiebreaker, I was very impressed with everyone’s answers!
Following the games we cut the cake and dessert was served! I definitely have a ton of cookies left over, but by Monday most of the donuts were gone. Publix made an amazing cake as always, it was soft and moist and flavorful! Lastly it was GIFT time! I was thoroughly surprised and thankful for everything that I received. Two of which I am able to use during my wedding reception and another I will be using on my Honeymoon! I then said a few sentimental words to my guests and handed out the Bridesmaid and Mother of Bride and Groom gifts. After this, generously, my invitees started to help take down the party that took so much, time, money, and energy to put up. (It was bittersweet lol) While in the process of cleaning up, we stopped and utilized the Photo Booth that was set up along one of my walls. Now that was officially the last Bridal shower thing we did!
Overall I had the best Bridal Shower possible! The day went by faster than I would have liked which scares me because I know that my Wedding Day is going to go by even faster! I know I just want to savor each moment and relish in every detail! I am beyond ready and excited for what the next two months will bring.
That was my Fairytale Bridal Shower experience! I hope you enjoyed learning about the process and reading all about the insights! To learn more about the process please reference my Bridal Shower Planning posts here and here! There you will find where I got some of my inspiration and where I purchased most of the decorations. Thank you for following along on this journey with me, but Engagement season is not over yet! Stay tuned for one last Wedding Update as well as the last 3 Bridal Boxes. I also have a surprise headed your way! So stay tuned for more information on that!
Below are links to items that were not found in my previous updates, such as last minute items and my outfit! I will also be adding a menu here of all the food and recipes that we held at the Shower! Have a great weekend!
Links:
How well Do you know the Bride to Be (I changed a few questions with your edit availability)
2 Tiered Cake Stand for Sandwiches
My dress is no longer available, but I got it from Windsor in the Augusta Mall
Other links available for decore items here
Love Shayna