My youngest daughter is getting married in September!!!  

Can you tell I am excited?  

So many wedding-related events are coming up that I have started calling this the summer of Love.

I couldn’t wait to start party planning with her and her sister who will serve as her maid of honor.

Today, on the blog, I am sharing all the pretty details.

Welcome to our Garden Party Bridal Shower.

this …

My oldest daughter officially hosted the Bridal Shower but left the decor and actual planning to me- because, well…it’s kind of my love language.

Once my daughter chose a date for the shower, we started the planning process. Pinterest was filled with bridal shower ideas (you can follow my boards here), and to be honest, we scoured it for days!

We knew finding the perfect venue was the first item on our list. Initially, we were thinking about an outdoor space, but once we thought about it, we didn’t want to worry about a plan B in case of rain. A friend mentioned attending a garden tea party at a local greenhouse, which gave me the idea to start searching for greenhouses to host the party. Because an indoor garden party sounds fun, too, right?!

We ended up choosing The Downtown Market Greenhouse in Grand Rapids, MI, as the venue (it is breathtaking) and was the perfect place for a garden theme.

The Venue Details:

This is a gorgeous space, and we were thrilled it was available to rent for small gatherings. They also rent this space for weddings, which I think would be magical!

It is a light-filled space with plants everywhere you look!

The crew at the Downtown Market made it so easy for us by having options to rent items like tables, chairs, and linens directly from them, saving us from having to find a rental company.

Garden Party Bridal Shower details:

Invitations:

The invitations we chose are from Minted (here) and helped us set the party’s tone. I love that they offer guest addressing & custom envelopes. The Minted address book app allows you to upload your addresses directly to them, and they handle the rest.

We chose this bright Pink, Orange, and Green print, which became our primary color theme. It felt like a custom design.

Bridal Shower Decor:

The Tables:

I knew the greenhouse would need big, bright pops of color to break up all the beautiful greenery.  

For the tables, I started by layering with brightly colored table runners, bright green napkins over the rented white tablecloths, and buckets and buckets of gorgeous fresh flowers (peonies, gerbera daisies, and roses, oh my!).  

We added small bud vases (here) filled with pink and orange roses pulled double duty as bridal shower favors and placeholders. The placeholders were found locally and hand-lettered by a friend.

I designed the larger flower arrangements using containers I had from home.

Personalizing a Bridal Shower:

Flower Crown for a Garden Party:

When we began planning a garden party theme, I knew I wanted to make a floral crown for my daughter. She has such a bohemian soul.

I also wanted to avoid a “BOHO RUSTIC” look, so I went for larger, brighter flowers.

It took a couple of stops at local floral haunts to pick out the PERFECT flowers, but in the end, it was so much fun to make, and it looked beautiful on her! I love those vibrant colors.

In addition to all the flowers, we added bright orange and pink balloons as an inexpensive way to help carry the color theme throughout the space. We bought a small electric balloon pump to blow up all those balloons. 😉

More special touches:

I love a Bridal shower with special personalized touches highlighting the bride and groom and their unique personalities.

We had a welcome sign designed by a local graphic designer that details how the couple met and some of their favorite things to do and places to go. The sign greeted guests as they arrived. The couple liked it so much they will use it at the reception.

On the gift table to the left, you may notice a puppet set that looks like the Bride and Groom. We have a tradition of gifting puppets of the couple at their bridal shower. It sounds a bit weird, but it works for us (and these turned out soooo cute!).

Food and Beverages

Brunch with Mimosa Bar:

Because the bride’s favorite meal is always brunch, we chose a catered brunch buffet with a menu that included all her favorites: charcuterie boards, chicken and waffles with a bourbon sauce, fresh fruit, yogurt parfaits, bagels, salads, dessert table and of course, for fun, a Mimosa bar.

We decorated the food tables with large pink and orange confetti and handwritten notes with good wishes for a happy marriage.

The Mimosa bar was lovely and allowed each guest to build their own. It also allowed us to save signature cocktails for the wedding reception.

Bridal Shower Activities and Games:

Photo Props:

Since it is a well-known fact that my daughter is a huge fan of the selfie and her sister knows her well, we made sure there were photo props available and each guest had an opportunity to have their photos taken with the Bride-to-be.

Bridal Shower Video

My oldest daughter made an extraordinary video for my daughter; it included her favorite music (Taylor Swift) and photographs of her with each guest in attendance at the shower. It was beautiful, and honestly, there was not a dry eye in the house. If asked, I would have to say it was my favorite part of the shower.

Alex also personalized a playlist to loop while the guests settled, grabbed a beverage, and found their seats. This turned out to be a great ice-breaker. You could see lots of smiles when the theme song from the movie Free Willie played. My daughter was obsessed with the movie as a little girl.

My daughter can be shy, so we had her Fiancé join her for games and the present opening. I highly recommend it! It turned out to be a huge bonus for those friends and family who had not met him before. And he enjoyed himself immensely.

Bridal Shower Games:

We are not usually a “shower game” family. We decided to play a version of the Newlywed game, which was a lot of fun.

Party Favors:

After a few games (making sure the prizes fit the theme), we then sent our guests on their way with favors as a remembrance of the day.  

We continued the garden party theme with mini cupcakes decorated with flowers and boxed in brightly colored boxes, floral-scented candles, and wildflower seed packets.

We provided boxes for treats as well as bags to carry home favors.

Everyone had a wonderful time, and my daughter felt very special. We cannot wait to celebrate with them on their big day.

Now, on to planning the wedding decor!

Thanks for popping in today, and stay tuned for that floral crown tutorial!

If you are looking for more ideas on planning a bridal shower or additional bridal shower themes, take a peek at this post, which has some helpful suggestions.

Until next time,

-Libbie

Photo Cred goes to the ahhhmazing Holly @grauperphoto in Grand Rapids. 

RELATED POSTS:

Seven ideas for hosting a virtual baby shower with a book theme.

decor inspiration for an outdoor wedding

7 ideas for a Fall wedding

 

Until next time,

-Libbie