Wedding Wednesday: My Minneapolis Shower

Hello from Chicago!  I am back here for another work trip - I flew in yesterday morning and will be here until Thursday afternoon. Hopefully this is my last work trip before the wedding! With the wedding just over 5 weeks away, this is crunch time!!!

I've put in lots of work over the last several months into planning our wedding, but this past weekend I got to shift my focus to enjoying some pre-wedding celebrations! On Sunday my college friends threw me a beautiful wedding shower.  They are very good at planning parties, so I knew it would be a special event. But they really exceeded my expectations!

First things first, the invitation!  They really did a great job of tying in the book theme of our wedding!

Now for the event!  My friend Heidi hosted it in the club room of her apartment building. I was greeted with a mimosa!

Cheers!

Here is am with my hosts:  Brooke, Heidi and Amanda. We met in the spring of my freshman year back in 2000 when I joined the sorority they were members of. I know there are a lot of stereotypes and opinions about sororities, but I made some amazing friendships through the sorority that will last a lifetime. These girls have seen me through so many peaks and valleys that have occurred over the last 15+ years. On the light side, there are lots of inside jokes and stories and memories to laugh about. On the heavier side, we've stood by each others' sides through health challenges of our own and our family members, cross-country moves (both wanted and unwanted), and the other challenges of life.

There were so many details to take in at the shower.  My favorite was the banner that I plan to use at the church or reception. It's so pretty and ties in with our theme and colors so well!

From the tablescapes...

to the place setting wed-libs game...

to the thank you treats ("bookworms" aka gummy worms)

to the platter of macarons...

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the brunch spread they prepared for us. But take my word - it was oh so good!

No detail was overlooked. It was truly a beautiful event that I will remember forever. What made is all the more special, though, was the people who were there. 14 friends from different corners of my life joined together to celebrate my upcoming nuptials. It gave me a small taste of how wonderful it's going to be to have all these special people in one place as Phil and I say "I do" for always and ever.

As soon as I got home, I got busy unpacking the many gifts my friends generously bestowed upon us. Since Phil is a total minimalist, I made sure to pack up anything that we will no longer need thanks to these new gifts! Within 2 hours, I had unpacked and delabeled all the gifts and packed of 6 boxes of things to give to family members or goodwill. I don't know what etiquette is about using gifts you receive for your wedding, but whether or not it's appropriate to put them to use right away, we are because I can't handle the chaos of lots of boxes! Plus it's great to reuse the boxes and tissue paper to pack up the things we want out of the house.

I have one last thing to share! The day after my shower we received an unexpected gift from the mom of one of Phil's college friends. Phil has gotten to know this set of parents so well as they live on a lake in Minnesota and have hosted Phil and his other college friends many times. She sent us the coolest gift!

It's currently being displayed on our piano but will definitely be on display at the wedding as well!

The pre-wedding festivities are just beginning, though!  Next weekend I have my family shower at the lake which I am oh so excited about!!  Then 3 weeks later, I have my "Girls Gone Mild" bachelorette Party. Let the good times roll!