Hello Brides and Grooms!
Well, we are winding down the one year engagement with the 11th month, and it looks like we are entering the home stretch to wedding day! In the eleventh month of me and my husband’s engagement, I had attended most of the bridal parties that family and friends hosted in honor of my engagement.
My First Bridal Party
My first bridal party was an engagement party my maid of honor and bridesmaids organized in the first few months of being engaged that consisted of just my close girlfriends. We all looked snazzy in our cocktail dresses and we headed out to a nice restaurant downtown. After eating and drinking a few cocktails, we took a cab and visited a couple places that had entertaining nightlife and dancing. My gals had even bought a pretend veil and pretend light-up engagement ring for me to wear out that night, and I wore it proudly!
My Second Bridal Party
My second bridal party was a Bridal Shower my mom organized for me, and one of my bridesmaids hosted at her house. My mom and bridesmaids worked to together to plan this for me and it was delightful! The theme was a Tea Party–a true Southern Soiree– here all the ladies that attended wore big hats, gloves, and other finery!
The bridesmaid that hosted the shower has a house that was built in the late 1800′s and is absolutely classic and timeless. The house was decorated in pink in honor of the day, with a beautiful bouquet, tea, champagne, finger foods, and even a cake with a teapot on it. My mom did an excellent job preparing the finger foods and working with a local caterer for petit fours and the cake. Later on, another bridesmaid held a couple bridal shower games, including dividing everyone into teams, and giving them puzzle pieces that were to create a picture of the bride and groom. Another fun game involved questions all about the groom that I had to answer, and if I didn’t answer correctly, a piece of gum was put in my mouth. Bubble gum has never been the same to me since! Good times!
My Third Bridal Party
My third bridal party was another Bridal Shower my mother-in-law and sister-in-law hosted for me. The theme of this party was Pampered Chef. A Pampered Chef consultant came in and performed a demonstration including letting all of the guests know of the various Pampered Chef products. My mother-in-law created a wide array of food as well, and I absolutely loved being “pampered.” The products that guests ordered that day were gifts to me, and I now have a great amount of kitchen utensils, bake ware, serving dishes, and plates. I am forever grateful of this party, because it really helped out in food preparation for me and my husband, as well as created beautiful centerpieces and serving dish options for anytime we have a get-together at our home.
Time for The Bachelorette Party!
Finally, there was the famous Bachelorette Party about two weeks before the wedding! We had a suite rented out for the weekend, with several bedrooms, living room, dining room and fully stocked kitchen. Our suite overlooked the ocean and was absolutely wonderful!
We dined on appetizers the first night and enjoyed the nightlife the first night we arrived. One of my bridesmaids was so sweet and even bought me a massage at the spa located in the hotel for that next morning. The second night we were there, we went out to eat, and later on, the gals threw me a lingerie party! We reminisced on old times, and head out again for some nightlife spots. It was truly an incredible weekend.
My year of engagement was beyond my expectations, and my wish is for every bride to have such an amazing journey as I did.
Best Wishes and Happy Planning!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit more about the Pampered Chef party. My cousin is thinking about having one, but online there seems to be a lot of concern about sales pitches from the consultant. Did you feel like the consultant kept it all about you and not about her making money? What was the feedback from your guests? Thanks! And congratulations to you and your hubby!
Emily,
Althought it was about 4 years ago the Pampered Chef party was really nice, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Will there be a sales pitch? Yes. The consultant is coming to show you the products and provide everyone information on the products. Afterall, many of those in attendance will be purchasing products not only for themselves, but for you. Now, how the consultants go about doing the “sales pitch” is something I would definitely have the host of your party discuss with the consultant. Should the consultants be overbearing or pushy in any way? No. Are they going to want to sale products? Of course, as they are trying to make money too. My suggestion would be to get a good understanding of what the consultant will be doing throughout the party. If you want the party completely centered on you, and not really about the Pampered Chef products, then I would say you might want to find another avenue for a party. If you are going to have several parties, maybe you can have one that is just centered on you, and then one that might still be centered on you, but also the Pampered Chef products. The way I felt about it was that the people in attendance for the Pampered Chef party were not only coming for me, but they were also buying me items while I was there, which would help provide me and my husband some excellent items for our kitchen, dining area and home. I really couldn’t ask for more. Thank you for your kind words and take care!