Bridal Shower Fun

With great maid-of-honor comes great responsibility! And so I took charge by arranging a chilled bridal shower, or kitchen tea if you want, for one of my best friends. She is really someone who does not like games or being in the spotlight, so I tried my utmost to arrange everything according to her liking and personality.

I decided on a mini food theme and tried my best to stick to it. Luckily I had some help from the bridesmaid. For the wall decorations I bought pink balloons and printed black and white photos of the bride and groom to-be and put it up between the balloons with small pegs. The table was covered with a simple white tablecloth and two fresh proteas.

The beverages were still water and a variety of fruit juices. The water was placed in a beverage dispenser, with slices of lemon and ice, so each person could have refreshing water as needed throughout the day. There were three different fruit juices in carafes (at the back of the table) with a choice of sparkling wine or non-alcoholic sparkling wine to create your own mimosa-like cocktail.

The mini-themed snacks on the table consisted of a freshly sliced French loaf and salt crackers with a choice of spreads, cold meats and cheeses. For some freshness there were tomatoes, slices of apple and white grapes.  The mini savoury bakes included scones with a choice of cheese and jams, quiches, meat and cheese pastry puffs as well as banana bread muffins. I made the banana bread muffins without egg by replacing the egg with an extra banana - it worked just as great.

For something sweet there were mini-cupcakes and home-made chocolate balls dipped in coconut and chocolate pieces. As an extra, there were white and pink marshmallows and popcorn cups for each person with a cute little note: "Groom's name popped the question, Bride's name said Yes!" This was a great hit among the guests.

Let the games begin

All guests were asked to arrive at the venue 15 minutes before the bride-to-be. This was to get everything in place, and to keep the surprise (she thought she was helping me with my birthday party preparations, which was later that evening). The guests were asked to bring a gift, without writing from who it was from, and a recipe. I also distributed items for the first game - DRESS THE BRIDE!

After the guest of honour arrived and settled in, we started with the first game. I read a story and as I mentioned the items the guests were handed earlier, they dressed up the bride. What fun!! The items consisted of a sash, glass, crown, ring, pearls, wand, garter and a purse.

Before everyone got a plate of food, we played Guess the Spice. This had a twist as the bride-to-be does not cook and had very limited knowledge about food-related items. There were a total of 12 spices in small containers, each numbered and distributed among the guests. Everyone could smell and touch but not taste, except the guest of honour. A list of spices (and some additional ones) was also supplied for the game to make it easier, or to cause confusion. Afterwards there were two prizes (a variety of chocolate slabs to choose from) - the first prize was the guest who got the most answers correct and the second was the guest who got most answers the same as the bride-to-be.

After this, the guests grabbed something to eat and socialised a bit. For the next event, I created a scrapbook recipe book where every guest could paste or write their recipe. For the guests who forgot to bring a recipe, I shared my own recipe book with. I also supplied some scrapbook items to bedazzle the recipes, to give the recipe book a real scrapbook feel. I placed a list of spices in front of the recipe book and indicated which spices complement which food. This event took a bit longer than expected and we never got around to playing the third game - who does what the most between the love birds - no one, both, him or her.

Finally, we got to the presents - the final game. Each gift was marked with a number and the guests had to guess from who it was from, instead of the bride-to-be, since she does not like games. The winner and runner-up each received some chocolates.

Last but not least, the thank you gifts - each guest received a small packet with pink coloured Lindt balls and a thank you note.

The Invitation

I created two invitations: The first one was sent as a 'save-the-date' and the second one had the final details of the venue, time, etc.