Bride-to-be Blogger Alyse: My Bridal Shower!
Alyse at her shower this past weekend.
Maybe this is my inner all-girls high school and sorority girl talking, but I love showers. I always have a great time catching up with family, friends, my friends’ parents and my mom’s friends. And now that my days are decidedly not filled with all-female themed events (but those were the days), there’s nothing wrong with a little girl time.
My shower was hosted by the family of one of my closest friends (bridesmaid and another bride-to-be!) at their house. When they asked me what I wanted for my shower, my response was something along the lines of “To have no part in the planning of my shower.” Just because I take things that I do plan very seriously does not mean that I want to plan them all. Besides, the hosts and the bridesmaids are more than capable of handling it, and I wanted to be surprised! The day couldn’t have been better. It was 80 degrees, so we could all enjoy the outside deck. The color scheme was yellow and the theme was birds (a wedding color and theme that never happened—so thoughtful!). It was all over-the-top perfect in a personalized and a general great-day way.
While there were no games, I did open my presents in front of everyone. I know that some brides forgo this, and at first I thought I might have an “eco” shower with no wrapping paper and a display of the gifts, but my mom was not having that. She wanted me to open the presents. I went along with it and thought it might be fun, or at least an experience. The bridesmaids set up quite an assembly line. The presents were brought in from outside, unwrapped, opened, card presented and gift recorded. All I had to do was hold up the gift and announce the name. Despite all of this efficiency, which usually gets me very excited, I got surprisingly overwhelmed. I have given speeches and argued in court with little incident, but opening presents at my bridal shower nearly made me pass out. I needed a few minutes to compose myself before I could join everyone for dessert.
So now, I have two concerns: First, my pre-wedding events have been nothing short of fabulous. My bachelorette party and the shower were so great and fun. I really hope the actual wedding follows this trend! Second, now that I learned that I get overwhelmed when there is personal (but not professional?) attention on me, I am afraid I am going to be one of those brides who passes out on the alter. Stay tuned for that one!
Were your pre-wedding events so awesome you worried they’d be a tough act for your actual wedding to follow?
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