A Sunny Sunday Afternoon

I have to admit that I am typically not a fan of bridal showers. I find them too cutesy and nauseating. I can only stand but so many silly games like "Make a Wedding Dress Out of Toilet Paper" or "How Many Words Can We Make Out of the Bride's and Groom's Names". Less I forget, there is the gift-opening. It's like a kid's birthday party only the presents are boring and the bride is feigning excitement over a garlic press or citrus peeler. I have such an aversion to bridal showers that I carefully instructed my maid-of-honor Cicely to NOT throw me a shower. Additionally, I have not attended a bridal shower in 8 years. When I am invited, I courteously send a gift off the registry and make an excuse that I am busy.

Today I decided to foray back into the world of bridal showers. I have somewhat ulterior motives for attending this shower. First, I have become good friends with the Bride, Wendy and her Maid-of-Honor, Janice. Secondly, I designed the invites. Lastly, when Janice told me her plans for the event, I was impressed and intrigued. Janice styled a beautiful event in the backyard of her new home. The overall look of the event was based on yellow, white, and black color scheme with the use of a damask pattern. It was beautifully executed. Rather than describe it, here are some photos.

The beautiful tablescape
Linens (with exception of the damask tablecloth), tableware, glassware, tables, and chivari chairs were rented from Town & Country Rentals.
Paper floral napkin rings were made by Janice ala Martha Stewart.
Flowers by me (Recognize them from my previous post?)

The favors - Lemon-flavored Mexican Wedding Cookies
Janice custom dyed the fabric. Debra special order the cookies. I designed the tags.

One of my other attempts at Floral Arranging.

The food was amazing. I am, of course, a teeny bit biased. I volunteered Rob to cook for this party. He's a catering chef and I told him he needed "practice". Janice wanted an upscale picnic. Rob created a delicious, light Mediterranean spread.

Here are some photos of Rob and the food:

Rob in action


Grilled Halomi cheese with Rustic Bread


Fresh Taboleh, Hummus, Pita Chips, and Lavash bread


Dolmas, Olives, Marinated Mushrooms, and Marinated Artichoke Hearts


Roasted Eggplant with Feta over a bed of couscous

Luleh (marinated ground beef) and Salmon Kabob


Roasted Vegetables


Janice's Israeli Couscous Salad


Dessert - Cake by Jordana

I have to say I was more than pleasantly surprised. Janice requested we wear black, yellow, or white in any combination. This made for great photo ops. We only played 1 game "How well do you know the bride", which was was the source of much hilarity. Apparently, Wendy had quite a good time in her single days. The gifts were interesting and not your typical bridal party fare. The alcohol was plentiful. The majority of the party was spent gabbing and hanging out. As you can tell from these photos, a good time was had by all.

Janice & Wendy

My photo op with the the bride-to-be

In case there is any doubt as to how good of a time I had, this is how late I stayed.

Cherry Blossoms everywhere!

This is Scott & Aileen. Photo by Bumatay Studio

Aileen and I started chatting when she asked me about the printer who printed my Wedding invitations. In the course of our conversation, I offered to design her invites. They are having their wedding at the chic Shutters-on-the-Beach Hotel in Santa Monica.

Her requests were for me to use pink, chocolate brown, and a touch of sage green... oh and lest I forget... use cherry blossoms. I bought some clip art, which I restyled in Illustrator.

Here is the final product.
Photos have been adjusted for privacy.

Outer Envelope with design
(Due to technical difficulties, I was only able to Gocco a few envelopes)

Invite Enclosure tied with Light Pink Fabric Cording

The Big Reveal

Close up of Invite


Overview of Invite Suite

Close-up of RSVP with Gocco'ed Envelope

Close-up of Directions Card

What's Black, Yellow, and White?

Besides bees and Georgia Tech fans, shower invites come in black, yellow, and white.

Wendy's Maid of Honor, Janice contacted me about designing Wendy's Bridal Shower Invites. She had two requests. They were to use damask and the color scheme mentioned above. Here's what I came up with.

I designed the address and mailing labels using a damask pattern that I bought and manipulated.

Close-up of Mailing Label

Janice thought it would be a great idea to stamp emboss the back of the envelope.
Stamp courtesy of Jordana.

I designed this enclosure and printed the damask pattern on my inkjet printer.
We added a thick grosgrain ribbon to add more texture.

Enclosure with Invite Insert.
Actual Insert has a thin grosgrain ribbon running through the hole.

Close-up of Invite to show paper texture and ribbon.

These invites were quite labor-intensive. Thankfully, Janice called for some back-up and we had an assembly party at her house. Special Thanks to Debra, Jordana, and Janice for helping me put these together.