showered with love

i love a good party.

i especially love a good shower.  it signifies the beginning of something special, a marriage, a baby.  food, gifts, flowers, what's not to love?  and if our family had a shower committee i would be one of the co-chairs.

i love researching and coming up with ideas.  but more than anything i like to make the shower a very personal experience.  i've been asked before if i would ever consider starting a party planning business.  yes and no.  i think it would be fun, but i'm not sure i would be willing to give up my weekends with my family.  i enjoy putting it together but mostly because i know the person and want them to feel loved.  not sure it would work for people i don't know.

over the next year our family will have 5 weddings.  and with that comes 5 showers.  and over the next few years many baby showers, we hope.

i thought it might be fun to share some of these ideas.  don't worry, i'm not giving away any secrets about what is being planned for these amazing brides.

it really all starts with one little idea.  maybe it's an invitation that catches my eye.  or a theme i see in a magazine or website.  but it all kind of flourishes from there.  sometimes i take charge and others pitch in.  other times i just lend a hand where needed.  my mother in law is usually my partner in crime.  in fact i call her "the ethel to my lucy".  if i need help she's always there to give it.  and she never tells me how crazy i am until after the event.

i have collected dishes, napkins, table cloths, silverware and party supplies throughout the years.  i even have those mini salt and pepper shakers for the table that nobody ever uses.   i could have my own rental business at this point.

my sister and i put together this "baby" shower when i was pregnant with sofia.  after having two boys i really wanted to celebrate having a girl and the wonderful women in my life. so we put together a tea.  my sister and sister-in-law found each guest a tea cup and saucer at the second hand store.  we had tea sandwiches and little desserts.  no games, just fun times hanging out together.  we made a cd with music about girls/women with songs like "isn't she lovely" by stevie wonder and "this ones for the girls" by martina mcbride, to take home with their tea cup.  a very simple but lovely party.

one of the things i loved about this bridal shower was the game we played.  sarah, the bride, loves the cookie decorating station at the annual cookie bake.  so as a game we had gingerbread men and women.  the guests had to decorate them and sarah picked the one she liked the best as the winner.  steve and sarah holding their 4 babies.  we packaged the cookies and included a cookie cutter as their party favor.

food has to be amazing at showers.  we usually end up making the food ourselves.  we decide on the menu and everyone signs up to bring something.  there are some amazing cooks in our family.  i like to experiment and try out new recipes.  like fried ravioli.  and there are the must haves, pasta salad, lemon bars and brownies.  we even invested in a chocolate fountain.

for this tea i made the sandwiches.  chicken and apricot salad on rolls, caprese canape and egg salad sandwiches.  most of these are recipes i have collected over the years or found on the web that are tasty and look pretty, they have to look pretty.

favors are one of my favorite things.  i like useful gifts that go with the theme. i love this favor from a wedding shower.  one of the other hostess put lemon drops in small mason jars.  i made the tags for the jars with my scrapbooking supplies.  so cute and easy.

for another baby shower we came up with the idea to do a book theme.  i looked on the web and found this idea.

i printed the book covers and glued them to lollipop sticks.  then inserted them into the chocolate cupcakes.  they were a hit.  once the theme was set i just googled "book themed baby shower" and i got lots of ideas.  guests brought books for the baby's library and we gave bookmarks as party favors.

my mind is racing with ideas for my sister's bridal shower.  i've already shared them with some of the bridesmaids and i think we have a theme set.  now it's just gathering ideas, recipes and items.  i'll be helping out with a few of the others this year and look forward to capturing it all on camera.

here's a list of some of my favorite sites.
martha stewart
oh happy day!
one charming party
good life eats pretty food
utterly engaged makes a beautiful e-magazine

there are a ton of resources.  but i find that setting the theme or color scheme helps to narrow down the choices.  then a simple google search brings thousands of ideas to choose from.

looking forward to a year of celebrations.