With everything that went on, I feel like I could write a whole recap series on the shower alone, but fear not, I won't! Instead, I'll break this up into bite-sized chunks for you! Well, first things first:
The Invitation
 |
| The design is "Chandelier Bridal Shower" by Snapfish. |
The Surprise
Just because the shower wasn't a surprise, doesn't mean that there weren't some surprise elements! As planned, MOH Curls came in town the day before the shower, and since they were awesome and had everything under control for the following day, we headed to the New Orleans Museum of Art for a charity silent auction hosted by LSU Med School students. It was a really awesome event, but by the time Momma P, Nanny, and Curls were dropping me off at my house, I was tired, and knew I needed to get a good night's sleep for the festivities the following day. So I thought it very odd that after walking in the house, Momma P held up her phone and started saying "Now it's time for us to party! I said - IT'S TIME!" Crazy confused Miss P. And then this happened:
 |
| Genuine surprise and excitement! And lots of arm waving. All blurry photos captured by Momma P. |
BM Perk popped out of the hallway! I had NO idea that she was coming in town for the shower, and I hadn't seen her in about a year, so it took a second for me to process that she was there standing in my living room. My exact reaction was "Oh my God! You're my friend! You're in my house!" Nanny had called her a week or so before and offered to fly her in if she could get off of work. Sphinx picked her up from the airport when we were at the auction, and she hid in the house until we got home. Honestly, I had heard no whisper of this surprise and was completely caught off guard in the best of ways. Great job, ladies. Perk and I caught up all night, then got beignets and manicures in the morning, until it was time to head out to Nanny's house to get showered upon.
The Decor
First of all, Nanny's house is gorgeous and is perfect for throwing parties. She has thrown me birthday and graduation parties at her house, but I'd definitely have to say that the shower tops them all.
As soon as our guests entered, they saw a table with the cookie favors and adorable baby Pyramid pictures.
All of the food was set up in the dining room, and the table was decorated with flowers arranged by my godfather's wife, Aunt V.
Another flower arrangement was displayed outside, with our monogram included here too. Aunt V is so talented, I'm constantly amazed by the crafts she just "throws together" with flowers from Whole Foods!
The patio bar was stocked with mimosas, wine, and soft drinks. The day before the shower, it was monsooning all over southern Louisiana, so we were really glad that the clouds parted and the sun came out to allow us to use the backyard.
 |
| BM Dino is looking bashful because I'm reading the sweet card she wrote me. And apparently my sister and I have rubber ankles. Perk is hard at work on that bow bouquet. |
The bridesmaids and I sat at the front of the living room, and the guests were seated in white folding chairs for the opening of the presents. Speaking of presents...
The Gifts
I cannot even begin to express how overwhelmed I was at the generosity of my guests - both those who attended, and those who were unable to. If I went into all of the gifts and how excited I am for them, this post would never end. So let's just talk about some special ones for now.
Remember how I said all of the guests were asked to bring a recipe to the shower? My grandma went a few steps beyond that. First, she gifted me all of the volumes of Pots, Pans, and Pioneers, which is a cookbook compiled by the Telephone Pioneers of America, from recipes submitted by locals, first published in 1977. My grandma worked for years at the phone company, and I always remember my mom having these cookbooks growing up. The funniest part of this is that my grandma does not cook, except for a select few things, so this was the best she could do. She brought on of her few recipes for Sphinx though (her lace cookies are a favorite of his) along with the ingredients and a cookie sheet!
The very first gift that I opened got me all choked up and it wasn't the baking sheet, although we sorely needed some new ones of those. One of Sphinx Mom's coworkers compiled a photo book with "Marriage Advice from Friends, Family, and Strangers." I had heard this book mentioned before, since it's something she's been doing for married couples for several years, but didn't realize that we would be getting one! Each couple wrote a quote or bit of advice to us, and it stated their names and when they married. I recognized some of the names, but not all, and just skimming through it had me brimming with tears. It was so sweet to have all of these people caring for Sphinx and I, and that these family and friends had taken the time to provide very meaningful advice. I think this is a great tradition, and so glad that we could be a part of it!
So just one more special present, and it's also a book (noticing a trend here?). Momma P is so cute, she always likes to build up to the best present, or save something really special until last. Like the Christmas that she made my sister and I open a small present first, Backstreet Boys and N*Sync CDs, before allowing us to open up the big present - our very own CD player! Man, those were the days, huh? So in true Momma P fashion, she set aside this present for last. It was a photobook of my blog posts - volume 1! I thought it was so sweet for her to document my journey of blogging like this, but it definitely seemed like a lot of work to do it on Snapfish, and she only got through about the first three weeks! Is there a better place we can go to get blogs printed in book form without all the effort? I think I've heard of somewhere like that before, but can't remember the name.
And for the rest of the gifts, I plan to touch on many of them in a registry post, but for now just know that I make some weird faces while opening presents. Enjoy it.
I remember some of the reasons for these whacky faces, but mostly I'm just as confused as you are. Brides, pay attention to your face when someone is flashing a camera at just you. Or don't, because it might end up hilarious.
The Food
Nanny hired a private chef to prepare this extraordinary menu, and everything was right on point. There was so much food, and it was all ridiculously good. I certainly made sure to sit down and eat a plate, although I wish I would have had more!
Clockwise from top left, that's crab meat filo dough bites, roasted pork loin, fruit salad served with a vanilla glaze and served with Chantilly cream, and prosciutto wrapped asparagus stuffed with goat cheese.
Vegetable and cream pasta, seafood stuffed mushrooms, vanilla cake homemade by a family friend, and seared ahi tuna. Not pictured are hot sausages, Mediterranean hummus and pita, macarons from Sucre, sushi platters from my favorite restaurant, baked brie with a pear glaze, spicy sausage dip, and - my favorite of the day - seafood stuff artichoke leaves with hollandaise sauce.
Right? Amazing.
My Outfit
 |
| Momma P, me, MOH Curls, and Nanny. You can see a bit of my shoes here, and the other fabulous dresses. |
In case you were wondering (and because I love sharing a good deal), my dress was a Noir by Lazaro bridesmaids dress from the Spring 2012 collection. When I picked up my wedding dress from the salon, they had this sample on the sale rack for $50! I had to pin it a little to make it work, but I love it! In trying to find some shoes to go with it, I decided that nothing looked better than my Jimmy Choo wedding shoes! I am really glad I ended up wearing these, since I got so many compliments on them, and most people won't be able to see them at the wedding. The necklace was bought about a year ago on sale at Dillard's, because we figured it would go with some kind of dress leading up to the wedding. Baddaboom, look at that, it matched perfectly!
Random Photo Goodness
My bridesmaids at the shower, BM Perk, MOH Curls, me, and BM Dino. Unplanned dress match by Perk and Dino! These girls were rockstars when it came to planning, setting up, and handling presents at the shower. They are the best.
Nanny and I enjoying mimosas right before the party started. She did an amazing job with everything, thank you so much, Nanny!
Some of my future in laws!
BM Perk was assigned the task of making my rehearsal bouquet out of the bows from the presents. She was skeptical of her ability to do a good job, but it turned out so cute! Doesn't hurt that Bed, Bath, and Beyond wraps presents with purple bows, and that's our wedding color! Now I need to not lose or squish it before the wedding rehearsal.
Totally cute photo of some of my future in-laws and friends in the backyard. I didn't jump in the regular picture but I made my way into the selfie!
It's just like the Oscars, except we got to eat.
Towards the end of the party, we got some manly-man help handling the gifts from Sphinx and my "little" brother, GM JJ. Or they might have just been there for the food.
I've got about a million more pictures from that day, and I treasure them dearly, but that's probably more than enough for you now. Currently I'm working my way through the thank you notes, trying to express to everyone how truly touched and thankful I am for all of the contributions to such a lovely day. What a mushy sap I am being today! Oh well, it was so much better than I could have ever imagined, so I'm allowed to be a little sappy.
No comments:
Post a Comment