Emily's Bridal Shower!

We just hosted a bridal shower for Emily in our backyard, and I am happy to report that it was a big success!  Beautiful weather, having the tent was a great idea, lots of family and friends attended, all the food was great (although I was not sure of that an hour before it started!), and everyone had so much fun.

Emily and Matthew, the happy couple.  I love them so much!  They are just a great couple.  We had several boys at the shower - Matt, his brother, Dan, his dad, Joe,  my husband, Scott, Genevieve's fiance, Nick,  Hannah's boyfriend, Danny, and another girl (one of the bridesmaids), Sarah's, boyfriend.  Sarah came all the way from Louisville! (we are in the Chicago suburb of Downers Grove)

Hannah had so many great decorating ideas.  She was going to hang some tulle on the front door, but instead, we used my wedding hat from 37 years ago!  I'm sure I gave my mom some gray hairs over this back in the day, as I finished making it a day or two before the wedding.

Matt's cousin, Michelle, Matt, his aunt, and his cousin, Christina.  Matt's mother passed away about 10 years ago, and the family was not close for a while after that.  But they have been close again for the past 5 years or so, which makes everyone so happy.  They are such a beautiful Italian family - his dad, and his aunts and uncles were all born in Italy (Sicily, actually). 

Matt's brother, Dan, Matthew, Scott, and Joe. 

We served the food buffet-style, from our little screened-in porch, which worked well.  Here is cupcakes (white and chocolate), mini BLT's, and prosciutto-goat cheese-basil sandwiches.  Not shown, but on the back table we served caprese skewers, and mini vegetable quiche cups.   Emily's wedding colors (like the flowers) are cream, blush, clear glass, and lots of candles - but we added pink and gold for the shower, just for fun. Again, Hannah found lots of great decorating ideas.  The cupcakes have little wedding dresses on top, make from paper doilies.

Special guests - Emily's aunts, Jean and Helen, came all the way from Burke, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. I put them to work! Here they are, frosting and decorating the cupcakes, about 1-1/2 hours before the  party! It was a blast having them around for the whole weekend.

View from the breezeway, looking out to the backyard, as people were gathering and chatting before we sat down.  Here you see coffee, fresh fruit, and individual monkey bread cups, which turned out great.  I found a recipe using the frozen Rhode's roll dough, which was delicious.  My oven was super busy that morning!

Emily and Hannah, my cuties! Danny is hamming it up in the background, doing security. More decorating - we decorated the wine glasses with gold sparkle paint, and gave them out as favors.

Genevieve, Emily, and Hannah - my girls!

The mimosa bar was a big hit!  Hannah decorated the champagne bottles with glitter to make them extra fun.  Then we had orange or orange-mango juice to choose from for your mimosas.  We

also served water and pink lemonade from some cute glass servers that Hannah found.  She knows how to bring the fun to a party!