Brianne's Bridal Shower

Sophie and I had been looking forward to my cousin Brianne's bridal shower for weeks.  I don't remember ever taking her to one before but Sophie adores Brianne and is very into the idea of brides and weddings lately so a party that was "only for girls" was soooo exciting.  I could tell she felt important because daddy and Will couldn't go with us.  "Just for girls."  The whole concept of a "shower" was confusing though and took some repeated explaining that Brianne would not, in fact, be in the shower and the presents she was opening would not be getting wet.  Then once she finally got it, she kept explaining that to anyone who would listen.  "We're going to a shower.  It's only for girls and Brianne won't be in the shower... it's just called that and she gets presents."

The day was beautiful and so was my little lady.  :)

Sophie came early with me to help get the food and things set up and entertained herself with her magic wand and her dance performances for us.

Bowing for her audience.

Casey and mom spent Friday afternoon/early evening with Aunt Shirley and Brittany setting up the hall and decorating.  I LOVE the cute, country décor on all the tables.  Brianne's grandma's pretty blue mason jars, trimmed with lace and filled with baby's breath.  And most were sitting on small slabs of wood from a tree in her parent's yard.  Pictures of Brianne & Matt were scattered on all the tables and the wedding color (blue) was tied into all the rest of the table décor.

There was a kids' table at the front near the bridesmaids table and Aunt Shirley had stocked it with coloring books and snacks.

Near the coffee service, four wine bottles were set out and labeled with the anniversaries of one, five, ten and twenty-five years.  Guests were asked to write messages (words of wisdom, congratulations, funnies, etc.) on slips of paper and tuck them into each of the wine bottles.  And then at the appropriate anniversary of their marriage, the couple will break open the bottle and read all the messages.

Grandma Verna a.k.a. Wonder Woman.  There is no limit to what this woman would do for her family.  She supports everyone of us with everything that she has.  And she's such a huge help at all parties and functions.

The bridesmaid table was up a few steps on a sort of stage at one end of the hall and Sophie took that to be her location for more dance performances before guests arrived.  :-)

Lots of bridesmaids!  And a sweet, little flower girl.  :)

Sophie and Reese.  Check out the pink cowboy boots.  So cute!

We served brunch for the meal since the shower took place in the mid/late morning.

Brianne's adorable Godson.

The yogurt bar was a fun hit.  (Wishing the pictures weren't so dark though.)

Guests filling out their words of wisdom...

The food was delicious and then after a Q&A which put Brianne on the spot with a "he said, she said" humor, we moved on to opening gifts.

Brianne had no shortage of little helpers to run the gift wrap to the garbage bag or ribbons to the rehearsal bouquet.

Lots of babies within Brianne's soon-to-be in-law family!

Sophie chatting up Aunt Tracy and Emily.

Reese took off her boots and socks and then entertained herself so intently with trying to get them back on.  Haha!

The table mints turned our tongues blue! 

And bubble wrap provided some obnoxious stomping entertainment for the 4-year-olds.

Towards the end of the shower, I caught Sophie at a random table eating mints out of the dish with a spoon!  Stinker.  I told her she could count out five of them and eat them with her fingers and then she had to be done.  Well, not longer after, Nana found Sophie hiding under one of the tables eating mints again with her accomplice, Mya.

Outside the church hall, we planned to take a few more pictures.  Mya & Stella realized they could see back into the hall through the glass block window opening and called out to specific people to come out and get in the picture.

I absolutely love these pics of our girls.

Sophie hammin' it up with Brianne.

Brianne and all the little girls.  They were asked (along with Will) to pass items out at the wedding ceremony and are ecstatic about this special honor!  And we all can't wait to see Reese in her tutu and cowboy boots walking down the aisle.  Did I mention already that all of us bridesmaids are wearing cowboy boots too??  So excited!

Brianne with her closest ladies.

And mom is Brianne's Godmother.

The grandmothers.

And Brittany is matron of honor.

After the shower, all the bridesmaids drove to the dress maker's house to try on the dresses she has in the works for us.  We'd already been measured but this was just to get a better idea of adjustments still needing to be made.  They're tea length with a belt and boots.  I can't wait to see how everything looks on the wedding day!  Originally, Sophie was supposed to go home with Nana to take a nap, but it ended up that the timing wouldn't have been any better for her to go home with Nana than to go with me to the dress maker's because Nana stayed on to clean up the hall.  Sophie was a very good and patient little girl today and I was so proud of her.  She rolled with the flow and did so well even without a nap. 

Counting down the months now until September 1st!