A Storybook Bridal Shower

Well, as much as I wanted to throw my dear sister-in-law, Merri, an "I am Woman Hear Me Roar" lingerie shower, especially after learning that she does not like animal print anything, I (to her great relief) did not. But I admit, I couldn't help but to gag her a little - a fun laugh to get the jitters out the night before her big day (I am married to her big brother, after all)! 

Inspired by her "faery tale" wedding theme, I went with a "storybook" theme for her bridal shower. Taking advantage of the October harvest, we found some beautiful "storybook" pumpkins in tones of orange, grey, white, green, and black, and used them to help set the scene.

Her favorite flower is the tulip, but since it isn't the right season for them, we found a gorgeous tulip print for the napkins and cups at the party store.

Because I love feeding people, I just had to cook up some finger foods for our guests.

Here's the menu I came up with:

• Gus's Cheese Ball with Pita Pan Chips
• Three Little Pigs in a Blanket with honey mustard dip
• Chicken Little Sandwiches
• McGregor's Garden Salad with ranch and homemade honey vinaigrette dressings
• Peter Pumpkin Seed Eaters
• Briar Rose Cake
• The Queen's Poisoned Apple Cider

I can't tell you how much fun I had coming up with these themed hors d' oeuvres! I cooked all of the savory items, and my husband baked a five (5!) layer cake for the occasion, boasting three layers of Coca-Cola Cake (her favorite beverage) and two layers of White Cake with a Coca-Cola frosting in the middle and white sugar frosting around the outside. This cake could've fed an army, it was so big! But what kind of storybook isn't bigger and grander than average? (At least that's what we told ourselves at three in the morning, when we decided to bake the thing LOL.)

All week I had worked to prep for the big day: folding the napkins with plastic ware, cleaning the pumpkins, organizing the grocery list, shopping, making name cards for the food...

But I will say that my favorite part was carving our grand centerpiece for the food table: a Cinderella-inspired pumpkin carriage!

With the help of my wonderful husband and grandma, as well as the helping hands of his aunt, here's how the whole thing looked when it came together.

Sprinkled throughout are some of my beloved Golden Books, which I have had since childhood, as well as some cute white mice that my mother-in-law found.

My co-host, our cousin Cassie, provided the bridal shower activities, including a "How Well Do You Know the Bride" quiz game (I won!) and a "What Did He Say" game where the bride had to guess what her fiance's answers were to a huge list of questions (and for every one she missed, she had to pop a stick of Dubble Bubble - now that was hilarious). Cassie also had a very special gift idea for the bride, which was to ask all of the ladies to write a word of advice on a piece of paper and place it in a glass mason jar wrapped with a bow for her to keep and read throughout her time as a newlywed (I just loved that idea!)

Then came the lingerie gifts. No pictures of that, folks, but I did manage to bring my gag full circle by putting her gift into this bag.

I have known this girl since she was fifteen, and now she's a grown up, beautiful, married woman, and it brings my heart great joy. It was a pleasure to throw a party just for her. We love you, sweetie, and pray that your marriage is one full of God and love.

Always,
J&K