Vintage Bridal Shower

My sister is getting married!  We’ve basically watched her & her fiancee grow up together – they’ve been dating for almost 6 years now, and we’re all really excited for their wedding!

As the maid (matron? yuck) of honor, I had a lot of fun decorating for my sister’s vintage bridal shower!  She’s not such a “theme-y” person, so we decided to use lots of vintage and rustic decorative elements to make a pretty and girly bridal shower.

 

We used the covered patio space and backyard area at my parent’s house (hey, remember when we lived down there??).  My mom does such a great job with her yard – late May was the perfect time to have an outdoor bridal shower.

My mom dug lots of vintage tablecloths from her attic (all hand-embroidered by family members).  We also gathered a lot of white and lace linens (check your local thrift stores if you don’t have enough in your home!) for the tables.

 

All of the flowers (5 dozen roses, tons of greens/babies breath, 2 big bouquets of mixed flowers, etc.) were bought for under $80 at our local produce junction.  If we would have ordered these through a florist, it would have been a whole lot more expensive!  

 

 

The glass jars were collected (mostly spaghetti sauce jars) and painted by me with paint samples (in mint and peach) from the hardware store.  I just love how these turned out (as I shared on Instagram):

 

On the far side of the tent, we used two of my mom’s rocking chairs for the “present seats”.  I was going to decorate them with tulle, but I ran out of time.  I don’t think anyone noticed!  And I did a funky little clipboard decoration in the back:

 

It’s just paper doilies taped to dollar store clipboards.  My grandma didn’t quite understand the decoration, and one of my mom’s friends asked if we were going to be using them for a game, but I like how they turned out – HA!

 

It was a cute backdrop behind the guests of honor while they were opening their presents:

 

We set up all of the food in the covered patio area.  We made a little drink station – I love the added height with an old crate:

 

I used command strips (affiliate link) to hang up a little thing I made for their new house.  I’m bummed you can’t see it in the pictures – but it has a little map in each of the circles of places that were significant in their relationship.  

 

We used room dividers that my mom had in her house to cover the propane tanks and gas grill that didn’t totally go with the party decor.  I added some garland (leftover from my bridal shower 6+ years ago) and a handmade rolled book page wreath (tutorial here).

 

Finally, my favorite spot – the dessert table!  The DIY cedar planked wall I made a few years ago was the perfect backdrop for this space.  I had another (bigger) handmade rolled bookpage wreath hanging on the window:

 

All of the china we used was from my mom’s grandparents – it was the perfect touch to the whole vintage theme!

The cakes were from our favorite local bakery, and the cupcakes (lemon blueberry- YUM!) were from a girl at my parent’s church:

 

My sister and I REALLY love the cake:

 

OK – I can’t finish this post without some brutal honesty here.  The decorations looked awesome, we had a perfect 72 degree day, but then this crazy WIND came out of nowhere!  We really struggled right before everyone came – basically all of the vases knocked down (even after we put rocks in them) and the water went all over those beautiful hand-embroidered linens.  We were running around trying to dry them in the sun or the dryer inside…it was kind of a mess.  We ended up ditching a lot of the linens just because they were actually dripping water.  The dividers by the propane tanks were secured with lots and lots of fishing wire – which ended up snapping!!  We all pitched in at 12:25 and were tying things up/securing things down…but it was a little stressful.  I guess that’s just what happens with outdoor events – there’s always such an unpredictable element! 

And now that the shower’s done – it’s time to think about doing the finishing touches for the wedding!  I’ll be sure to share pictures of the wedding later next month 🙂

 

Are you a fan of the vintage theme?  Did you ever deal with crazy weather for an outdoor event?

 

Like this post?  You’ll also like:

1. Dessert Baby Shower

2. Rolled Book Page Wreath

3. Summer Dinner Party Decorating