wendy's bridal shower

My friend Wendy (from high school) got married a few weekends ago.  It was a freezing November 1st, but it was such a fun day!  Since I was a bridesmaid, I threw the bridal shower (with some help from Wendy's family).  

It turned out to be a great party full of laughs and family jokes.  It's so funny seeing how other families interact - this family's interactions were hilarious.  Wendy's cousins were so mean to each other, but no one got offended.  I love it when you don't have to step on eggshells around your family.  Amen, amiright?  (PS - I don't have that kind of family.  Everyone gets pissed and stomps out like a three year old.  Don't be jealous.)

Wendy's sister made these bride & groom pumpkins and I copied threw together a chalkboard sign.  I messed up the first time around and tried erasing, but gee whiz, why would a chalkboard erase?   I ended up having to use black construction paper.

I've said it before and I'll say it again:  alcohol is the key ingredient to a fun party, regardless of the type of party.  I made two versions of apple punch - one regular and one with champagne.  It was amazing and not super strong.  I didn't want people jumping off tables or saying how they really felt about the groom.

You can see I used rolls of packaging paper as my tablecloths.  Best.  Idea.  Ever.  I was then able to use a sharpie directly on the paper to label the food & drinks.  I hate labels.

Apple Orchard Punch

1 (32 fl oz) bottle of apple juice, chilled

1 (12 fl oz) frozen cranberry juice concentrate

1 cup orange juice

1 1/2 liters ginger ale

1 apple (sliced horizontally and placed on top)

(For the adult punch, use a bottle of champagne in place of the ginger ale.  Also, I totally would have doubled the punch with alcohol.  You can see in my punch bowl that the recipe doesn't yield a whole lot.)

My centerpieces were so simple and consisted of things I already had (bonus!).  Mason jars, field corn, twine and votives.  Next time I will use larger jars - these felt lost in the large room.

At each place setting I had a bag of this delicious trail mix.  All the guests were chowing down on it while Wendy opened her gifts, so they weren't bored and waiting around.

It doesn't look exceptionally appetizing, but this pumpkin pie was the highlight of the party.  I happened to be obsessed with pumpkin pie, so having these baking the whole day prior to the party pretty much made my day.  I did end up making the dough the weekend before the party and just put it in the freezer until a day before.  It only takes a few hours to thaw out.

My neighbor had cooked down pumpkin from Jeff's pie pumpkin patch, she added all the spices and canned it.  She gave me four cans of it - all I had to add was the evaporated milk and the sugar.

It seems easy, but ya'll.  This was tough.  Patrick helped me roll out the dough and mix all the ingredients.  My kitchen was an effing disaster.  Patrick's entire body was covered in flour.  But hey, we made memories right?

The only thing I'd do different next time would be to bake the pies in a ceramic pie plate rather than aluminum.  Each pie took almost two hours to bake (I did two at a time) but it seemed like an eternity.  Seriously, with the prep and the clean up, the pie baking took the entire day prior to the party.  I'd say it was worth it though!

I bowed out of making my own whipping cream (which I typically do) this time.  I bought a couple cans of Reddi-whip and set them out for the guests to use.

Wendy was a beautiful, blushing bride-to-be the whole time.  She was so thankful and grateful for all the hard work put into it, but gosh.  Don't ask me to throw another one ever for a couple years.


xoxo, love you girl!


//invitations via