Kelly's Bridal Shower

My sister is getting married! Yay! 

I was super excited to celebrate with her and 50 others at her bridal shower!  

Below are TONS of pictures of the fun day we had...

The invite

in my sister-in-law's backyard

the bride

the table

the centerpiece 

the ladder "chandelier" 

the bunting

queen anne's lace everywhere!

the personalized favors that guests were encouraged to fill with...

lemonade, strawberry-lemonade, peach-lemonade or water

made by my sis-in-law who is also Kelly's soon-to-be-sis-in-law :)

(cake topper in the middle is from my parent's wedding cake!)

the wonderful dresser that was so generously lent to us was the centerpiece 

of the shower as well as the serving table for hors d'oeuvres and later - desserts! 

 

a closer look

looking forward to a september wedding!

I PROMISE you this was COMPLETELY a coincidence 

and TOTALLY not planned, but was too hilarious to change!

  

 

 

hor d'oeuvres: caprese skewers, spinach balls & cantaloupe wrapped in prosciutto

I cannot take credit for any of these scrumptious delights that 3 super ladies pitched in to make  

 pictures of the happy couple on the day of their engagement along with pictures of their parents on their wedding days

it's me!

bride-to-be with her mama

bride-to-be with her mama-in-law-to-be :)

quick story:

4 days before the shower it was looking like thunderstorms would come just in time for the shower.  I went to bed that night talking to Jesus (with much boldness) about the exact weather I wanted for the shower, which was: partly cloudy and 78 degrees.  The next morning I woke up to a changed weather forecast that was showing *no* rain!! with a temp that was a bit higher than requested.... but I was okay with that. I still had complete confidence that 78 was in reach!  As shower day came along I intended to look at my phone to see the temp at 4pm (time the shower started) to see my 78°, but in my craziness/busyness I forgot.  A little before 5pm, I was chatting with some of the guests (under partly cloudy skies :) about the beautiful weather we were enjoying and telling them about my exact request of 78° with partly cloudy skies and how I forgot to look at my phone...
well wouldn't ya know - one of them pulls her phone out to show me the temp!

  Yeah - that says 78 degrees!!
Jesus loves me - this I know!
the end :)

the first game we played as guests arrived

when finished, guests placed their guesses here

I don't like yelling to get people's attention, but for some reason it is easier for me to get loud when I stand on a chair :) I got up on that chair quite often to make an announcement  or explain a game.

next game: mad libs!

 

and the "he said, she said" game

here we are announcing the answers

  

the menu for our main course

made by 1 grandma, 2 moms and 2 sisters of the bride

buffalo chicken taquitos with blue cheese

chicken curry on naan with mango chutney

smoked pulled pork sliders

mongolian beef skewers 

tuna-olive or cherry-cream cheese pinwheels

(made by grandma who also made these for mom's shower too!)

everything was SOOOOOOO yummy!

 

 

time for dessert!

chocolate chip cookies

by sister of the groom and bridesmaid Julie

chocolate covered vanilla bean cake bites

made by bridesmaid Danielle (her dessert blog here)

strawberry and nutella stuffed phyllo cups

by my wonderful sis-in-law Pina

the bride and her bridesmaids

 1 bride, 4 bridesmaids, 1 junior bridesmaid and 1 flowergirl

time for presents!

guests were asked to bring small gifts or gift cards since Kelly will be moving (hence the suitcases)

                                                 suitcase to collect everyone's cards

pillows made by mom

apron made by grandma

one more game in the middle of opening presents!

"find the groom"

everyone look to see if a picture of the groom is under your chair

hmmmm.... NO one has found the groom??

"WHERE'S THE GROOM???"

THERE HE IS!!

a surprised Kelly

  

and lots of surprised guests!

John flew in from Missouri just to surprise his bride at the shower

 

time for a few more presents

  

and of course the hat! 

(kelly LOVES this part ;)

So thankful for such a great sister!

The success of #OperationShowerKelly would not have been possible without the help of SO many hauling tables and chairs, setting up the tent, picking weeds on the side of the highway, lending me furniture, tying bows, threading bunting, cutting and folding papers, building a ladder, cooking/baking DELICIOUS food, making lemonades, setting up all my crazy little details, photographing every little detail, packing up every little detail, taking down tables, chairs and tent and hauling it all again.  PHEW!

I am SO thankful to SO many!