Spring Bridal Shower

When I found out my sister was getting married, I started to think of all the fun things I could help her with, from baking a cake, to invitations, to party favors. Eventually I realized there was only so much I could ( and should) help her with, and decided to make an ernest effort to only get involved when asked.
This is why I was so excited for the Bridal Shower. Despite the fact that I was planning it with two other bridesmaids and my mother, I decided to take full control of the decorations for the event. We had decided on a flower theme, which worked perfectly given that it was spring and my sister has an extra special love for flowers of all sorts.

Right away I started to think of and research favors, and decorations to fit the occasion.

Here are some of the ideas I came up with:

-Seed Packet Favors: I first saw this done at a wedding my Mom attended on a farm in Rhode Island. They grew all the flowers that they used at the wedding, and gave the guests cute little envelopes with the same seeds they used, so they could grow their own. I thought this would be a good idea, and conveniently had seen an idea in Martha Stewart that showed a nice way to package them up in a tri-fold card. Using this general idea and some rubber stamps, I was able to create personalized seed-packet cards for each member of the shower.






-Paper Flower Garland: I spent a bunch of time researching how to make paper flowers, which though time consuming, would be cheaper than buying tons of fresh flowers, and would also be something she could keep long after the event. I found a simple pattern using tissue paper, and connected all the flowers together using florist wire and florist tape. It was the perfect thing, when paired with some colorful balloons to make a special shower chair in which she could open her presents. I also created a larger flower that I put as decoration on her present.




-Pen Bouquet: As I was looking through ideas of how to make your own paper flowers, I found one particular image that I thought was really beautiful. I thought it would be fun to make, but also was inclined to do something more functional, than just a paper flower bouquet. I decided to take plain ball point pens and attach three of these flowers to each pen using florist tape. I then made a bunch of them and put them together in a vase, to create my pen bouquet. I thought it would be fun for the Maid of Honor to use as she kept her list of who gave the bride what. These worked perfectly with the simple pre-made form I made using rubber stamps that kept track of all the "givers" and their "gifts".






The funny thing was that due to a boat delivery I had already committed to, I wasn't able to make it to the shower, though it seemed like when it all came together, it worked out quite well.