50 Shades of Coral

I"m baaack!

After taking an impromptu blogging break, I'm excited to be back and ready to share what's been going on in my absence!  I never really planned to take a whole week or so off, but at a busy time of year---it was just what I needed.  

I am normally much more of a homebody than a social butterfly, but these last few weeks have been packed full of fun stuff.  Graduation, end-of-school-year luncheons and picnics, bridal showers, retirement and bachelorette parties---craziness.  But one of the most special events was the bridal shower that we put together for one of my besties this weekend. 

Let me tell you, working with the other girls in the bridal party was like working with the Bridal Shower Dream Team.  They had such great ideas!  For example, the bride is learning to cook, so we included a cute recipe card with each invitation and asked each guest to come to the shower with a recipe to share with the bride. So smart!

Anyway, we held the shower on the patio of a local winery, and decided to create simple, rustic decor in shades of coral. We achieved our goal by combining a lot of natural wood, burlap, and chalkboard elements with various shades of coral and white.

As you can see, we hung tissue paper poms from the ceiling....

....and created simple centerpieces using three sizes of mason jars.  The bride's dad was sweet enough to cut us some wood slices from a tree on their property to bring it all together.

We used painted and distressed quart-sized mason jars as pretty vases for white hydrangeas, and wrapped burlap and lace ribbon around pint jars used to hold a candle.  A twine bow dressed up the half-pint jars and was a perfectly simple pairing for the variegated malted milk balls inside.

We kept with a simple approach for our food choices as well, opting to serve tea sandwiches, pasta salad and Caprese skewers alongside fresh fruit and veggies.  And wine of course :)

Always wine.

Glass milk bottles dressed up with coral baker's twine and some paper straws made a pretty drink display....

....and a candy buffet in shades of coral offered a sweet finish to the meal!  

One the girls in the bridal party had the great idea for a joint gift from all of us. We each bought a bottle of wine for one of the various 'firsts' in a marriage....first fight, first Christmas, first anniversary, and so on...and put them together in a fun little basket.  Each 'first' came with a cute little poem detailing the occasion it should be saved for.

Pinterest in action.  It was quite a hit!

The gift table was the perfect spot for our Bride to Be banner (Etsy), as well as baskets to hold cards and the recipe cards. 

It was such a wonderful day to celebrate an amazing friend. 

Have a fab week!!