Weddingbee Blog

When it rains, it pours. At least vis-Æ’ -vis bridal showers of late. This past weekend I had the shower of Liz, the (once) little girl for whom I used to babysit and the weekend before that was Mags’ shower. (Mags and her fiance can be credited with introducing me to Mr. Daisy). Both showers had a couple of things in common: great food, fun people and lovely brides-to-be. Aside from that, they differed greatly and I definitely will plumb both for any ideas to coopt.

In order of appearance:

Shower de Magnolia
Mags’ shower was at the apartment of her sister-in-law-to-be. Although I initially fell for the clever ruse of Magnolia’s mom, the food was not actually all home-cooked by her, but was from Trader Joe’s. The spread included the following:

• appetizers: cruditÆ’©, hummus, another dip (maybe chipotle, maybe crab), coconut shrimp, hot chicken wraps, and probably other things that i am forgetting.
• mains: mini-meatballs, sushi, cous-cous with cranberries, sesame noodles
• desserts: spice cake with lemon frosting (actually made by Mags’ mom) and a trifle with brownies, pudding, heath bars and a whole lot of awesome (made by the hostess).

The shower was low-key and sans bridal games, except for a cute idea that I’d never seen before. As Magnolia opened a gift, the gift giver had to pick a little scroll from a bowl. The scroll contained a question about Scott, her fiance, and before she could open the gift she had to answer the question correctly. As a bonus, two of the scrolls contained the word “gift” meaning, shockingly, that whomever picked that one got a little gift from the hostess. The questions were insanely tough and had I been asked them about Mr. Daisy, I would have gotten maybe 10% right. (Happily, ignorance is bliss, so I guess that means the less I know about him, the happier we’ll be. Or something…)

Shower de Elizabeth
Although it’s still hard for me to accept, Liz is actually a grown-up now and about to be a bride. The shower, thrown by Liz’s two aunts, was a tea at CafÆ’© Opaline in the Dahesh Museum. Not only did the shower coincide with the timing of the Puerto Rican day parade, but the location was just a block east of the festivities.

Despite the proximity, neither J.Lo nor parade grand marshal Marc Anthony stopped by the shower. Too bad for them, because they missed:

• mini tea sandwiches: salmon napoleon, lobster sausage, mint and yogurt rolls, sesame chicken wraps, grilled cheeses, cucumber cream cheese and maybe a couple of others
• petit fours: mocha Æ’©clair, chocolate squares, carrot cake, fruit cream tarts
• scones, clotted cream and jam

This shower also had one game, and that was one where the mom of the bride-to-be (and the woman under whom I have a subsidiary Costco membership, so big ups to her) asked if you had something in your purse (i.e. thread, food, a train ticket) and then whoever answered first received a book that thematically related to the thing asked for. Because I am so utterly charming, I was able to win the book How to Disagree Without Being Disagreeable, since I was able to raise my hand for the “who has had an argument today?” question. I probably will not read this book, since I rather enjoy being disagreeable and fear that, were I to abandon that trait, my own family might think I’d been taken over by pod people and have to exterminate me in order to save the human race. I mean, probably.

Anyway, another shower perk was the favor they gave out:

A little box of two Teuscher champagne truffles. So freaking good! And, they came in a little decorative box, which you can actually create with a custom color box/ribbon combination.

If my guests are extra lucky, I may well try to incorporate these as favors for some aspect of my wedding events. Because they really taste a lot like what I imagine heaven would taste like if it were an edible bonbon.