Hello Wedding Wednesday! Finally made myself sit down and get together my bridal shower recap for you. First, I want to say that I’m thinking of all of my fellow 2020 brides. This is a hard time for all of us right now and I’m praying for all of you! I’ve been giving little updates on my Instagram Stories lately of what we’re doing wedding wise (which is still undecided by the way!), so be sure to follow along there if you’re a fellow bride in the same boat. xx
I was lucky to have my bridal shower scheduled for March 15 which was right when all of this craziness began. We went back and forth many times on whether or not to reschedule and I spoke to my entire family about what we should do and since everything was unknown even then, we decided to have the bridal shower still and have the immune-compromised stay home.
It was difficult without grandparents and some very close friends but we made it work and it turned out to be an amazing afternoon. I’m so grateful we were all able to get together and celebrate!
The Venue
The shower was held at Sarah’s Vineyard in Cuyahoga Falls and it turned out so beautifully. I loved the wood surrounding us, it was exactly what I had envisioned! It’s a very intimate space which was perfect since there were about 40 people on the guest list. The venue is up a few flights of stairs and is right above the winery.
The venue can hold about 40 people in the loft which is what we decided to rent. I know that during the warmer months, you’re able to rent the patio which is absolutely stunning. Since I had a smaller guest list, we were good with the loft space! They offer catering themselves but you can also bring outside food which was helpful. My mom and bonus mom brought some of my favorite appetizers and drinks. The one thing you cannot bring is alcohol however, since the winery wants to keep it to theirs. The wines were amazing!
We booked the venue about 45-50 days before the event which was beginning of January and went from there. We decided to wait until the holidays were over and I’m glad that I did! It was relatively quick to get everything together for the shower since we were using Sarah’s Vineyard as our caterer. All of my girls and my mom/bonus mama were so helpful with this! The few things that we did have to plan, I share below!
The Florals
The Saturday before the bridal shower, I had all of my bridal party over for the afternoon. I woke up early and went to Trader Joe’s to grab all the eucalyptus and white roses I could find. Luckily, there was a ton when I went (right at opening!). We decided it would be a more affordable option rather than having a florist do the bridal shower. I made small arrangements with all the girls for each table. I’m a huge “groups of three” person so we worked with three different sized mason jars as one arrangement and had multiple ones on each long table.
We found this linen fabric at JoAnn’s a few weeks before the shower and my bonus mom had it cut into table runners for the shower. I love the rustic touch it adds to the tables! It matched all the decor perfectly and was a much more affordable option than ordering table runners online or finding them elsewhere!
My matron of honor added the twinkle lights to the main tables which I love! It felt like a dream in there, I definitely wish I could go back and relive the day over and over again. It flies by so quickly!!
The Decor
The majority of the decor for the shower we plan on reusing the for the wedding on certain tables. We’ve been collecting them for a few months now and some are from Hobby Lobby (they have a beautiful rustic wedding section!) and others are from Home Goods. I wish I had links to them but they’ve been random finds throughout the last couple of months!
There are a few things that I found online including the exact “Miss to Mrs” banner my bonus mom found online! It matched the theme so perfectly. I also linked our polaroid cameras and a burlap photo album. They took photos of everyone who came to the shower and the guests taped their photos into this album for Alex and I with a little blurb next to their photo. I love that I have this to look back on!
The Treats
My bonus dad is a baker so this always helps me decide who’s baking our cakes for events, lol! He made this cake for the shower and it was amazing y’all!! He made it for my step-sisters engagement party we threw for her and I immediately asked him to make a few for the shower. It’s so light and delicious.
My matron of honor had Erica of Little E’s Cupcake Creation make these custom cookies for the shower and she nailed it. She has made us cookies on numerous occasions and they are always so good! Highly recommend her if you’re local and looking for custom cookies for any event. My favorite!
The Games/Party Favors
My bonus mom found these bridal shower games online in a pack of 10! She printed them off for us and tied the ones we chose to do together with some twine. The games were so much fun and it was hilarious seeing everyone’s responses and also Alex’s for me.
We decided to do raffle prizes instead of party favors. Some of my bridal party each got to put together different baskets for people to win if they guessed a certain amount of questions correct. The baskets were a big hit! I’m glad we did them!
The Dress
I tried on quite a few different dresses for my bridal shower and went back and forth so many times! I wanted something cute but comfortable that I wouldn’t mind wearing all afternoon. This exact one is still fully stocked and under $50. It was SO comfortable to wear all day! Also, my heels were very comfortable, too. I linked all the options I tried on which is still on my bridal shower highlight on my Instagram if you want to see them on!
The Welcome Sign
My wonderful friend, Allyssa, made me the welcome sign for the shower and I absolutely love it! She has her own lettering/calligraphy business and is very talented. She bought the wood herself and stained it to the color that we had requested. She also does a ton of other prints, letters, wood signs, etc., I linked to her website here!
There are so many photos from this special day that I’d love to share but it would be the longest post ever! Thank you to everyone who came and made my bridal shower so special. Appreciate and love every single one of you!
So thankful for all of these beautiful girls in my bridal party! They have been amazing through this entire journey. Hope you guys found this post helpful and if there is anything that I left out, please let me know! Happy to answer any of your questions! 🙂
