Wedding Blog

I feel completely awful for not blogging about my bridal shower sooner. My bridesmaids completely spoiled me with an amazing one about a month before the wedding and I have to give them all credit for such a fantastic job! I know they put a lot of time and effort into planning and executing the great food, fun games, super-cute decor and just making the whole event wonderful.

And I was also very spoiled by the plethora of gifts bestowed upon me by my very gracious shower attendees.

As you can probably guess, there was a little bit of a French theme going on with the Eiffel Tower and some black and white decor. They found the table coverings at IKEA (part of the Christmas collection) and made the cutouts out of cardboard and black spray paint. They also used the table cover to paper the walls, which really helped to completely transform my church’s basement fellowship hall into a bridal shower-friendly atmosphere.

There were candles everywhere! I’m pretty sure all of the candle holders were things they already owned, including several beautiful decor pieces from PartyLite. I guess they proved that you don’t have to go crazy purchasing a bunch of new items when decorating for a party. Dressing up items you already own can make a great centerpiece!

(L-R) Mr. Deviled Egg’s cousins, mother, future SIL and grandmother. The little gift bags at each seat contained the most delicious party favor—handmade chocolate-covered Oreo truffles! Yum!

Me being silly and posing with all of the gifts.

At the start of the shower, I introduced my bridal party and then everyone in the room (about 40 people) introduced themselves and said how they knew either me or Mr. DE. My family always does this at bridal showers because you’ll be spending some time with these people at other upcoming wedding-related events—it’s good to know who is who. This was the first time most of my aunts, cousins and friends met Mr. DE’s family.

After the intros, we moved right into the first game. I’m probably in the minority here, but I really like playing games at showers. One of the games we played at mine had everyone write down five numbers between 1 and 40. As the numbers were drawn, each person with the number called was to pick one of the many prizes from the basket. As the gifts from the basket disappeared, the guests were to “steal” from someone who had a gift. This was lots of fun and just about everyone ended up with a gift. It was fun to see people stealing the same wrapped gift over and over because they thought they knew what was inside and wanted to be the one to end up with it. This is a good icebreaker type of game and it’s all done in good fun.

Everyone whose number was called was up and running to snatch a prize.

Up next was food time. The food was AWESOME. Seriously. Check out this impressive spread:

Chicken salad sandwiches, veggie trays, mini quiches, salad, and quite possibly the best dessert ever: strawberry pretzel salad!

The food was spectacular! My bridesmaids really outdid themselves with this self-catered smorgasbord.

Mmmm…Chocolate fountain with an array of dipping choices. The marshmallows, strawberries and graham crackers were my favorites!

After eating, we played another game. This time it was the purse game. I’m sure you’ve heard of this one before. It’s where you get points for every item you have in your purse that the hostess reads from a pre-determined list of common and random items. Some of the items on the list included quarters, tampons, credit cards, pen knives, used Kleenex, and the most unique item in a purse.

When it was time to open presents, my bridesmaids gave me my first gift–a kitchen timer–so it could be used for a game. We played the one where if the timer went off while I was opening your present, you got a prize.

I can’t even begin to tell you how many amazing gifts were given to me. I said earlier that I was completely spoiled, but I’m not even sure if that covers it! We received a lot of gifts from our registry, but also received a few personalized, heirloom-style gifts and some great decor items for our home. We are well stocked with bedding, bath and kitchen items, including the much coveted KitchenAid mixer!

Sometime in the middle of opening presents, Mr. DE showed up with a cute little bouquet of flowers for me! (Sorry! No pictures of that.) He took a seat and enjoyed watching me open the rest of the gifts. I amused myself by busting ribbons over and over again in front of him. Poor Mr. DE had not heard of the myth behind breaking ribbons. I lost count after breaking about a dozen, so maybe the future of the DE household will be similar to that of the old woman who lived in a shoe!

After the gifts were all opened, I posed for some pictures with the members of my bridal party who were in attendance.

(L to R): Mr. DE’s sister Kelly, elder sister DE Jess, me, oldest sister DE Jen, and my high school friend Erin.

I was completely overwhelmed by my shower! The generosity of the guests completely blew me away and the extraordinary decor and food was above and beyond anything I could have imagined! My bridesmaids deserve and A+ for effort and execution!

I have to say that my favorite part of the day was being in a room with so many of the women who’ve been a part of my life over the years. Being able to feel their love and support meant so much to me.

What was your favorite thing about your bridal shower?