April Showers Bring May Weddings

The old saying that April showers bring May flowers is very fitting considering that my daughter and I are hosting an April wedding shower at our house which will then be followed by a beautiful May wedding. 

The bride to be is the daughter of my dear friend "J" and one of my daughter's oldest and dearest friends.  And while the bride and her mother are in the throws of all of the stress and anxiety that comes with planning and preparing for a wedding, I've been having a ball getting ready for the bridal shower.

I love party planning, a trait I inherited from my mother.  And finding just the right invitations, selecting flowers, ordering a cake, these are all things I consider fun!  I love pouring over wedding magazines or searching online for wonderful ideas and budget friendly ways to throw a fun and memorable shower, especially when it's in honor of someone so special.

The first order of business was to find the invitations.  I wanted something simple, yet feminine, and after hunting online for just the right shower invitations, I ended up finding some that I loved at Target.  They're by a company called Jenny Sweeney Designs, and they were everything I was hoping for.

I love the little dress dancing among the hearts and branches of the tree and how it says "Love is in bloom..."!  And I also loved the fact that we could use the printer to fill out the time, date, location, etc. to give the invitations a more polished look.

Next, it was time to find a pretty tablecloth.  The wedding colors are pink and green so this beautiful floral tablecloth from Home Goods was quite the find!  And at only $14.99 it was calling my name!

Then it was time to decide what to use as party favors.  I think favors can be one of the most daunting things to decide upon for a bridal shower, wedding, or any time favors are called for.  I decided to use Jordan Almonds after reading about how symbolic they are in certain cultures when it comes to weddings.  Mr. Tide and I had these sweet treats at our own wedding, but it wasn't until recently that I knew the meaning behind them.

Below are a few quotes from The Knot explaining what Jordan Almonds signify in traditional Greek and Italian wedding culture.

"In traditional Greek weddings, sugarcoated almonds are called koufetta. They are placed in little bags in odd numbers and are served on a silver tray. Because odd numbers are indivisible, this symbolizes that the newlyweds will share everything and remain undivided. Tradition holds that if an unmarried woman puts the almonds under her pillow, she'll dream of her future husband."  


"At traditional Italian weddings, five almonds signify five wishes for the bride and groom: health, wealth, happiness, fertility, and longevity. These almonds decorate each place setting as favors, tucked into pretty boxes or tulle bags called bomboniere that are often personalized with the couple's names and wedding date."

I found some wonderful clear cellophane bags that were just the right size to use to hold the Jordan Almonds, and remember those tags I used for my laundry room makeover?  Well, I went back to Michael's and bought some more, this time to use on each favor bag.  I think we'll put the bride and groom's first initials on each tag.

I also found these wonderful Martha Stewart scrapbooking stickers while I was at Michael's.  I haven't decided if I will use both on the favor bags, but they were just so pretty I couldn't resist buying them.

I love these dainty white embossed heart stickers by Martha Stewart...

And I may just have to use a few of these floral stickers along with the hearts.  They are so pretty and have just enough glitter to add a bit of sparkle to the bags.

I also bought a few spools of this wonderful ribbon in shades of the wedding colors to use to tie up each bag.  I think they will provide the perfect punch to the almond filled favor bags!

And because the bridal shower's theme is a variation on an afternoon tea, there will be plenty of silver, depression glass, and china used.  I found this lovely silver tray on one of my recent thrift store visits.  It needs some polishing up, but it will be lovely stacked with finger sandwiches.

Photo:  The Knot via The Party Dress

There is still plenty more to do, like nailing down the menu, buying the food, putting together the favor bags, and polishing up all of the silver, but I really am having a blast planning this bridal shower with my daughter.  And if I can find a small umbrella (see the photo above which appeared on The Knot but I found it via The Party Dress), this is what I hope my centerpiece will look like!  Isn't that about the most adorable bridal shower table setting you've ever seen?!