A good friend of mine is getting married in May — a destination wedding in Charlotte that I cannot attend. She asked me to be her Pittsburgh Bridesmaid, however, so that she could have a shower for local friends and family (and in the future, a bachelorette party).

I was tasked with planning my first shower (oh, the stress and time that went into it, which is why I had to step away from regular blogging for a minute), and I think it went really well. Thankfully, I had the help of her mom with location and catering, so that I could concentrate on all the “fun” stuff… and some of the not-so-fun stuff. Like stressing over whether I “forgot” something or whether my friend would like everything and if all the guests were having a good time. Phew.

I planned three games:
The purse hunt (this ended up being such a perfect ice breaker!), via Blue Moon Designs on etsy
Bride Bingo (I made the chalkboard bingo cards and keys — this was a huge task! And, of course, something I left for the last minute)
He Said – She Said, via Sassy Graphics (also on etsy)

And all the fun decorations to follow the wedding colors (gray & yellow), centering around chevron print, chalkboard and Ball jars.

Finding two of the games on etsy was a HUGE timesaver. I had other creative (and labor-intensive) ideas… but realized it was too late to create THREE games from scratch.

My mom made all the cloth napkins, which doubled as place settings for guests and favors (my mom’s etsy shop is Spun Designs — mostly knit, but I’m trying to talk her into making these special order for others). Each guest received a set: one yellow and one gray. The Ball jars were perfect for simple centerpieces (chevron-printed paper straws for all that Southern Sweet Tea!) and for the “wish” containers on the gift container.

I had so much fun “pinning” great ideas and using my creativity to make the theme even bigger. Thankfully, at just the right time of the planning stages, Pinterest allowed private boards.

Have you ever planned a bridal shower? Tell me about it in the comments! And share your links to these shower-hosting posts.