Lauren's Bridal Shower

This afternoon was my niece Lauren's bridal shower. Isn't she beautiful? And she's sweet and smart and talented, too. She's going to be getting married in the Fall and going to Tahiti for her honeymoon, so we decided on a beachy honeymoon theme for the shower. Here are the invitations:I bought the card blanks at Archiver's (I love that store), printed up the text at home, and embellished them with heat-embossing and tiny silver beads. We hadn't decided on the beachy theme at that point, so I just went with colors close to her wedding colors. Here's the tablescape for the guest tables, etc:

I found the pebbles at Hobby Lobby and loved that they looked like beach glass, so I planned everything else around the colors of the pebbles. I had the hurricanes filled with sand and shells on my mantle, so I brought them along - I think it worked out rather well!

Here's the menu:

And links to the recipes:

Gazpacho

Watermelon Salad with Lime-Ginger Dressing

Buttery Ham and Swiss Sandwiches

Benedictine Sandwiches

Isn't this the cutest cake you've ever seen?

I think that's the ideal way to use a sheet cake and cupcakes together. And it was DELICIOUS! Lauren's Aunt Becky got it at Sam's Club, of all places - who would have thought??

Of course I gave Lauren a copy of For Women Only, since I truly believe it's like an owner's manual for your husband (some things just don't apply to certain models).

It was a great group of ladies to spend the afternoon with and Lauren went home with some wonderful gifts to get her married life started off well. It was a happy and relaxing afternoon - I had forgotten showers could be so much fun! I'm going to do the rest of my partying online and in my jammies this weekend. Join in the fun at The Lady Bloggers Tea Party and Virtual Girls Night Out!