CONGRATS to my sister Liz and her fiancé Ryan! And a huge thank you to my parents who let me host this shower at their home in the Northwoods of Green Bay, WI and all of us who worked so hard to pull this off.
This was pretty much the first event I've planned since my own wedding over two years ago since I've never been a bridesmaid before. As back then, I drew a lot of inspiration from websites like Pinterest and personal blogs to come up with the theme and details for this wedding shower. I have to give credit to a couple blogs I particularly drew ideas from:
My sister and her fiancé live in Michigan and don't make the long trip back too often, so I wanted to include Ryan in the shower and give him an opportunity to get to know my sister's hometown friends a little better before the wedding. My sister also expressed that she would rather have an untraditional shower, so this was the perfect opportunity to throw a laid-back couples shower with hot drinks, food, and some card games!
I scoured the internet for couples shower ideas, but I couldn't find many besides the lumberjack themed ones. I decided to go ahead with this theme since it fit perfectly with where we live, the time of year, and the bride & groom's rustic winter wedding style.
For decór, I kept it simple and consistent with red tones and chose one main area to decorate. The kitchen countertop was easiest to serve the appetizers and I pulled items that I already owned to help fill out the space. The chalkboard label drinking mugs were leftover from my wedding and we still use them for parties and entertaining here and there, so I brought them along.
I bought adhesive mustaches for guests to wear during the party which helped everyone get into the spirit! The Christmas tree was an afterthought, but my parents usually put it up around Thanksgiving when us kids are home anyway, so we killed two birds with one stone by having it for the shower.
I bought the shower invite on Etsy as a JPEG/PDF file and emailed them to guests to help cut costs. I did print out one invite and framed it for my sister though. The tiny black lanterns and other decorative items belong to the bride and will be incorporated in the wedding.
Here is where I found the invite: Sunnyside Print and Party Shop
For games, we had a vast array of both card and board games out and let guests play if they wished. The bride really wanted the shower to feel like friends and family coming over to hang out and catch up, which worked out perfectly. We also played charades and taught everyone how to do the Cupid Shuffle dance for the wedding reception! It was so much fun; I wish we caught it on camera.
Thank you Liz and Ryan for letting me throw this coed shower for you! And a huge thanks to everyone who came and played along - see you on the dance floor!
xo, beth
