Wedding shower fun

Happy Monday! Hope everyone's weekends were productive! We had lots of family time this weekend, so it was a bit hectic, not going to lie, but I was able to sneak in some blog time and some workouts, so it's all good. AND, our office has adopted "summer hours" on Fridays through Labor Day, which means we can work an hour extra per day during the week so we can leave by noon on Fridays. It's life changing, I tell ya! 

Over Christmas, one of the husband's cousins asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding this fall! I'm kind of getting teary writing that because I'm so touched she would even ask! I honestly never thought I would make the cut, and she has a ton of friends, so yeah. I was pretty moved by the invitation. This weekend was her wedding shower. Her sister is the MOH, and she was a great project manager for it all! I figured I would share some photos from the festivities to kick this week off! First, what I wore.

Dress: JCrew Factory (other colors here and here) | Necklaces: Kate Spade layered over Purple Peridot | Shoes: Kate Spade (other colors here)

The husband was at a car club event and it was wayyyy too hot and humid for me to try and mess with my tripod and camera remote for outside photos and risk sweating off my makeup and frizzing up my hair. #thestruggle So, hopefully you can just get the idea from these selfies. 

Polish: Essie "Play Date" | Midi Ring: Topshop

Yes, I'm crazy about this Purple Peridot metal bib and I apologize in advance for how much you are going to be seeing it, either alone, or layered like this. I just love the statement it makes, and it really does give the dress a different look. 

I originally wore this dress on the blog here, and I may have just ordered it in two other colors because I forgot how awesome the fit is. I knew I wanted to wear a dress, but was undecided on which one. I realized this would be perfect because the saturated color is so cheery and the cut is classic. 

Now onto the theme and decor. Her color is purple - actually, I think it's black and white with pops of purple. For the shower, we decided to do purple with a pop of turquoise. When we were brainstorming ideas, we were thinking something along the lines of a vintage-y brunch with a side of garden party chic? I'm totally making that up. Just think -- mimosas, chalkboards, mason jars, and twine.

My sister in law, who is also in the wedding, painted some wine glasses with chalkboard paint then baked them in the oven for a half hour to let it set. Guests could write their name on the glasses and take them home as a gift.

We provided champagne, orange juice, and grapefruit juice for everyone to make their own mimosas. And if alcohol isn't your thing, we also provided lemonade with strawberries and lemons dancing at the top. Bottles of water were also available for the purists!

For the table centerpieces, the bride's mom had a ton of empty mason jars that we ended up just filling with flowers, mints/peanuts, and these pens.

I was in charge of wedding shower bingo, which meant pens and bingo cards. I found this pin on pinterest, which inspired me to make my own version. It was super easy, too -- it only took a little over an hour of my time to make 60 pens, for a total cost of $15.

I cut strips of tulle that I bought from Walmart. Then, haphazardly gathered the material around the lid of each pen, securing it in place with those teeny clear elastic hair ties, then tied some ribbon around it to conceal the hair ties. Ta da!

I simply drew up the bingo cards in Polyvore. Ha! Of all programs, I know. I printed two to a sheet of letter sized paper and punched some holes so I could tie some thin twine at the top into a bow.

The husband's family hardly ever has a big celebration without this mint and peanut concoction! Does anyone else eat this?

And finally, my sister in law also made these favors. I wish you could smell this through your screen! It's a sachet filled with lavender along with a little jar of homemade body scrub - lavender and lemon scented. 

And here's the bridal party. She ended up selected only family members to be in her wedding lineup. I've blogged about each of these girls at one point or another, so don't be surprised if they look familiar to you!

Me and the bride to be!

And to think last year at this time we were recovering from our 39 mile walk! I remember much of that conversation during that walk was about her new relationship! So crazy how much things can change in such a short amount of time! The wedding is in September, so I'm sure you will be hearing about this more in future posts! Thanks for sticking with me on a photo heavy post!

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