So what if I this party was back in May....and now I'm posting it in September. It's whatevs.....
So
here's the thing with my sisters wedding. It was destination (San
Diego) and the guest list was relatively small....about 60 people or so.
I was talking with my sister Bree as we were beginning the planning
process for her bridal shower. In that conversation we realized that
maybe having two parties wasn't necessary with such a small
group....especially considering how many people were coming from out of
town.
It
was quite a bit of a different situation from my own wedding where we
invited 200 and 150 showed. In that case I had a ton of people who were
invited to my bridal shower that weren't people I would necessarily
invite to my bachelorette party....aunts, cousins grandmas etc. I think
I had 30ish people invited to my shower and 8 girls at my
bachelorette.
In
the case of this smaller wedding we came to the realization that the
two parties would include the exact same group of people. She didn't
have mass amounts of family members and people in town to invite besides
her core group of friends and the two moms. So we pitched the idea to
her of combining the two parties together and calling it a "Showerette"
I was totally pinching my ass in the seconds waiting for her reaction
because I was afraid she would hate it. I didn't want her to feel
cheated out of the whole bridal experience.....but luckily she loved
it! She liked the idea of having one laid back sort of "hang out"
party and calling it a day. Plus she isn't a "Penis straw, penis
necklace, penis tiara, go out to the club in a mini skirt" kinda gal
anyway so she was good with not having a traditional bachelorette party.
So we moved forward with the plan of a poolside Showerette. The only real theme we had was bright colors
Guests were greeted at the door by an "I Do" wreath
And
given a choice of floppy hat to wear for the party (the favor) You'll
see pictures of them wearing them later. I just really wanted a
functional favor that went with the theme and a sunhat just seemed
perfect
For food we had my sisters favorite....an assortment of "Pickies" as we call them. Or appetizers in other peoples world
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| Sign made by the bride. Yes...I totally had the bride making signs for her own party the weekend before. Not my fault she has mad drawing and writing skills ;) |
On
the menu: Fruit,veggies, chips and guacamole, salsa, and 7 layer dip.
Shrimp cocktail, chicken tenders and dip, veggie pasta salad, 2 kinds of
empanadas (potato chorizo and corn black bean) and aioli for dipping
The other bridesmaids (besides the 3 sisters) pitched in and brought some awesome desserts
And don't forget the booze station. Complete with a jug o' sangria
As people mingled
and ate I let them know that we were having a "tidy whities" decorating
contest. I had a station all set up for them complete with fabric
markers and iron letters to make a sexy (or not) pair of undies for
Brian to wear for Kinsey.
I
had my niece make this sign and she was pretty mortified about the
entire thing. You want me to do WHAT??? "Draw a picture of your uncle
in underwear...no biggie!!" (scoffs at the child)
My
first idea for the comment bubble was for him to say "Make something
hunky to hold my junky" My sister Bree said..."Dear god somebody PLEASE
think of something else!!" I was all...whyy? Too much?? So I came up
with the "Make me a pair that will make her stare" I'm still partial
to the first one though.....
When they were done they hung them up and at the end of the party she chose a winner. Can you guess which one she picked?
After that we played the name game. I gave
them all a sheet of paper (face down so they didn't know what it was
until I explained....kinda like timed tests in elementary school)
I wrote her full name to be and gave them 6 minutes ( I chose 6 because she was getting married the 6th...5 minutes would do) to make as many words as they could out of her name.
Every word was worth 1 point except for one 10 point word because it was pretty uncommon. I was really happy I decided to do that 10 pointer because two girls tied with 58 words but one had the 10 so she won with a score of 68. Worked out nicely
Because we all know there is NOTHING more thrilling in this world then watching other people open gifts (are you sensing me sarcastic eyes?) ...I took the challenge and kicked it up a notch
That's right ladies.....Bridal Bingo!
(waits for screams and applause to subside before moving on)
You filled up your card with gifts you thought she might get. Lingerie, a toaster....whatever.
As she opened gifts you marked them off and the first to Bingo wins.
Depending on how many gifts you have to give away you can do more people....I know I did at least two...maybe 3? I can't remember. It was just a way to give people something else to do while she opened gifts
Oh and while we're at it....here's the outfit I gave her as a gift prior to the party
Since I was giving away bright colored sun hats as the favor I wanted hers to be white. I also got her a white bikini and swimsuit cover up. There's also a white garter with a pink bow under there
I bought the same cover up in yellow for fun
After the gifts I geared up for Bra Pong! My sisters one request for the entire party.
After the Bra Pong tournament we lounged by the pool. It was the perfect time where all the "events" were done and people that needed to take off could but then a good amount of girls hung out by the pool with us for a while. It was nice to just chat and relax and tell our bridesmaid dress drama to anyone who would listen lol
And just to close this post out I just wanted to show some of the general decor
I made about a zillion tissue poms and hung them in the tent along with lanterns
And in the pool I had a ton of beach balls and floaties in all different colors since my only real theme to the whole party was the colors It's too bad it was windy and I couldn't get a picture of them scattered all over the pool....instead they're all pushed to one side. Oh well....can't win em all
I was alllllll about these flamingos and put them everywhere. I even gave one away as a prize
Well I think that about covers it all. I highly recommend the "Showerette" if it fits in with your group. Saves time, money, and quite a bit of sanity. Sanity is important
