Wedding Shower!

In general, wedding and baby showers are not known for being particularly fun.  Often times, they involve masses of people who are all strangers to everyone but the bride and consist of cheesy games and extended gift-opening.  Confession - I had actually never been to a wedding shower until my own!

I wasn't sure what to expect, but can now say with confidence that it was the loveliest wedding shower I could ever have imagined!  My sisters and mom held it for me at my house, but they kept the majority of the event a secret (which was perfect because I looooove surprises!) and the entire day was perfect in every sense of the word.  I seriously couldn't have planned a more beautiful afternoon.

The house was beautiful decorated, with lots of little Pinterest-y touches everywhere.

  

This little vase was a TON of fun, and the marriage advice I received was phenomenal. 

We had punch in the Waterford punchbowl, giving to us by my grandmother.  This is only the second time in my entire life that I have memory of using it!

There was gorgeous spread of delicious food.  Shower food is always great, isn't it?

The only glitch happened before the guests arrived.  Apparently the store didn't get the memo that the shrimp were supposed to be peeled, so Courtney took one for the team and frantically took care of them all before everyone showed up!

After all of the guests had eaten, Courtney led a "what's in your purse" game, which was absolutely hilarious!  My favorite part was when she offered 10 points to any member who had birth control pills in her purse.  Clearly she didn't consider the fact that most of the guests were 50+ years of age!

 Meanwhile, my father was sneakily hovering around the food table waiting to receive permission to eat some of the leftovers!

Next it was time for presents!  Bonus points to this person for matching my outfit perfectly!

And of course, we had to document the gorgeous gift from Paula, my future mother-in-law who couldn't be there to celebrate with us!

I loved the gifts from my bridesmaids, too!  A hanger for my dress...

And some sheer little underthings for the honeymoon.  

For the record - I blushed like a madwoman when I first opened this box.  I wish someone had caught it on film!

It wouldn't be a wedding shower without a ribbon hat! 

Thanks, Aunt Mary, for putting it together for me!

We wrapped up the afternoon with a gorgeous cake (in my wedding colors!) and chocolate covered strawberries - yum!

And the BEST part?  People hung around with us for HOURS afterwards!  Here's proof that we still had guests, almost six hours later...

A big THANK YOU to all of my fantastic guests, and especially Mom, Courtney, and Kelley for throwing me the most gorgeous shower I could have possibly imagined.  I'll remember this forever!