Bridal Shower Planning: 101

The key to any successful shower or party is in the details. Your guests will notice the little things you did to go above and beyond preparation. Sometimes, prep work and planning takes a team. In my case, it took me and two other bridesmaids to throw my sister an epic bridal shower. 

Make a budget. 

We started planning months before the actual bridal shower to make sure we didn’t over spend. I had to reign the other girls in a few times because, let’s face it, this gal isn’t made of money. But for the most part we stuck to the plan. 

We thought about where to get food, what we would use for favors, drinks, everything. Start planning in advance so the money for everything isn’t a shock when it’s a week before the wedding and you still have to buy meats and cheeses! 

Plan your menu

Originally we were going to try and have Chick Fil A cater everything. Sadly Chick Fil A isn’t open on Sundays. Plan B, Sam’s club for food in bulk! We decided getting lots of meats and cheeses to make sammies was the best idea to feed a large amount of people. We were able to get some of the meats on sale with coupons and manager’s specials for the Salami. (win!) 

Fruits are always a great idea! 

Just keep in mind who you’re feeding. We struggled with having a few guests that couldn’t have gluten, so obviously bread for sambas were off limits. Instead we offered gluten free crackers and popcorn. Finger foods are perfect for showers like this. 

Stay hydrated! 

Obviously we had to have a mimosa bar! We offered both OJ and Grapefruit juices to mix things up. (Hint, the grapefruit was my favorite!) 

Don’t worry, we had options for guests that might not want to day drink with us. (I swear I’m not a lush)

We got a great deal on the four drink dispensers. In addition to the mimosa bar: we had lemonade, sweet tea, and water. 

It’s all in the details 

I cannot take any credit for crafting portions of the bridal shower. That was all on one of the other bridesmaids. She essentially told me and the matron of honor what to do / how to do it and we did. 

|| Polished Brides. 

Hot glue + flowers / mini veils on nail polish = these cute little favors for guests. They were able to choose a color they loved to take home. 

|| Chocolate Sunflowers

Yes we melted chocolate. Yes we had to dye it. Yes this was a pain in the butt. 

|| Mint To Be

Mints + Hot glue / hand written decor = cuteness galore. 

|| Date Box

We painted / added pictures / decorated this cute little box from the craft store to make a date box idea for my sister and her soon to be hubby. All of the guests at the party wrote down a date idea for when they get stuck on what to do. They choose a date randomly and have an adventure! 

|| Gifts for the mom’s / Step mom’s 

Because they’re important too! We threw these little “spa” boxes together for the amazing women in the bride’s life. 

|| Letters to the bride

When invitations were mailed out, we asked everyone invited to write a letter to my sister. It could’ve been a memory, a funny story, anything. We made sure to have the letters a week before the shower so we could make a scrap book. We gave her the book as a gift. She knew nothing about this until we surprised her with it. We even had her finance type up a letter. (Everyone else’s was hand written) Her reaction was priceless. 

Needless to say, we felt like the shower was perfect. We had games, prizes, and lots of laughter. Even unwanted advice from Grandma. No one was surprised with that though. At the end of the day, we were thankful for the mimosas! 

Check out This Month's Daddy Llama

Philippians 4:13

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" 

(This is my all time favorite Bible verse, and it really spoke to me in the last few weeks.)
Having said that...
Y'all, I need to take a moment to brag on my husband. Also to take a moment to boast about how really super happy I am right now. It really hit me last week when I was reading Liz's blog, Simply Complex Mom. She had a post about Foreboding Joy. How we force ourselves to be unhappy... like we're always waiting for the next bad thing to happen. Oh. My. Gosh, y'all I cannot tell you how much that post spoke to me.

Do you know how much I have doubted my decision to not go back to work? A LOT. I've texted several girls from my tribe, and all of them have reminded me that ultimately it's the best choice I've made. They've reminded me that I AM contributing to the house. I'm making sure the kids are cared for, cleaning, cooking. I am working. Sure, I'm not bringing any income to the table, but I AM helping.
That. That right there is so easy to forget, y'all. Especially when the crap does hit the fan and, if you're like me, you feel awful about not bringing in any income!

A few weeks ago, Josh's car (the ONLY car we have) stalled out while he was driving home from work. Luckily he was able to get it to a shop so they could look at it. We were thinking it was just the spark plus. WRONG. $1,300.00 later, the car is working. And I'm freaking out about how we're going to make it. How are we going to feed the kids?
Let me tell y'all something, between my friends... my tribe... and PRAYER I was able to chill the EFF OUT! I gave it to God. I let it go.

And then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Last week, in the middle of the week of all things, all of the bills were paid. All of them. And you know what, y'all? We even had enough left over to where we could get Zander a little something for his birthday. (I was thinking he'd have to get a belated gift from us because we wouldn't have anything extra). That wasn't the case. And you know what? I wasn't relieved. I wasn't excited. I was content. I was 100% happy, and I realized that I had 100% faith that we could do this.

Because of my husband working so hard, getting overtime, working the occasional weekends, we CAN DO THIS. Josh didn't panic once about our situation. Sure, he got upset that the car needed repairs, but not once he did freak out about anything else. I'm definitely appreciative for what we have. Our home is full of love. We may not be able to go on fancy dates anymore, or go to the movies every weekend. But that's OK. What we have is enough, and I may need to remind myself of this a million times a day going forward, but it's true. We have each other, the kids, God, and love. It's like the verse in the picture says,

"Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." - Ecclesiastes 4:12 

With my husband by my side and God in our marriage, I am confident we can get through anything. Plus, it really helps that I have some amazing friends just a text or phone call away!

Six Years of Marriage, Many Years of Love

Some of y'all may have seen this post on Amanda's page, but I had to bring it back to life today since it's such a special day today. ((AND YES, I realize yesterday's was similar to this, but I don't care #sorrynotsorry!))

Thanks right, y'all, as of about 3:00 (ish) today, Hubby and I are married for 6 years. Amanda was there from the beginning of it all! I know it doesn't seem like a lot, but after being together for eight years and married for (almost) 6, I feel pretty accomplished. I feel better this year about our relationship than I did last year- that's for sure! I know a lot of my favorite bloggers either just got married or are planning a marriage, so today I wanted to share some things from Josh and myself. *and yes, Josh did help me write these! Isn't he the greatest?*

// Communication. We talk about our day. I tell him everyone I talk to, and he tells me about his day. We never run out of things to say. This is so important for any relationship. For a while there, we stopped talking. I mean we would talk, but it would be about normal household stuff. We weren't joking, or laughing, or telling each other how we feel. I cannot stress enough that your partner needs to know how you’re feeling. Don’t assume they know you’re mad. Don’t assume anything. If you don’t like a certain meal, tell them. Whatever it is… just tell your partner. Things that get left unsaid tend to sit and boil until the point of no return, and by then you’re so mad at your partner it’s just madness.

// Religion. Let’s be clear, I’m not telling you that you have to have religion in your house or not. That’s totally up to you. We’re not here to force certain beliefs down anyone’s throats. I will say having an understanding in our house that we do believe in God and that we do pray daily (as a family) has helped us a lot. In the past eight years, Josh and I have been though a lot together. From evictions, to new jobs, kids, one or both of us getting fired. You name it, we’ve probably been there. And sure, if something comes up these days at least one of us will have a brief freak out moment. (Usually me, and usually via twitter). Sorry, sad but true. But, after the freak out has passed we sit and pray together and it always works out for the best. It might not be the result we wanted or expected, but in the end it worked.

// Jokes. We still laugh at each other. I call Josh a Goober all the time (to which he replies with calling me a peanut). He knows it makes me laugh because a goober is a peanut. We have little inside jokes that we know most people don't understand, but that's why they're special. Because they're ours. Mostly Josh laughs at the stupid way I pronounce certain words, and I laugh at his obsession for WWE.

Us, 2014

// Share the chores. Let’s face it, y’all: we’re not all super human. We all need help, and we all need to know when to ask for help. Sharing house-hold chores makes everything so much easier. Sure, I may not like the way he loads the dishwasher, but he does it and I’m not about to complain and risk that going away! We have a balance.

// Raising the kids. If you remember my post “A Letter to New Moms”, raising kids is not an easy task and there’s no rule book to it. So taking two people and trying to figure out this whole kid thing is, well, amusing really. Sure, we both lose our cool and lose our patience with the kids but that’s bound to happen with anyone. The beauty of our marriage is we both agree on what we should (and shouldn't) do with the kids.

Us, Wedding Day 2008

What would you include in this list? What would you remove? I'd love to hear your thoughts! I think marriage is like raising kids. There's no right or wrong way to do it, and it's always a learning process. Things are always going to change. You have to be willing to adapt to those changes and work with your partner. It is a partnership after all.

Love, and Marriage, and Children

Marriage is hard. We all know this. Throw some kids in the mix? Then it gets, like, calculus hard. Yes... that was just said by me... on the blog... for the whole world to see. No judgement here, y'all.

So how do marriages stay alive even after kids? 
Linking up with Christine, Brittany, and Ashley for Mama Tells All



Well, it doesn't come easy that's for sure. For Josh and I it takes a lot of planning. Tomorrow is our 6 year wedding anniversary and no lie: we've been planning what we're going to do for weeks, y'all. Last year wasn't a great year for us, and we honestly didn't do anything to celebrate our 5th anniversary. Sometimes that's OK to not do anything (The Florkens did it this year!) But honestly, after kids I totally think it's important to make time for each other. We still haven't nailed down all of our plans for this year, but we know it'll involve dinner, maybe a movie, definitely an overnight hotel stay.



Oct 2013 Family photo

Why is it so important to take time for each other? Well, you get lost in the daily activities. It's so easy to get lost! Hell, as a mom / wife / sister / aunt / friend / granddaugter, I don't even take time for myself! I have to make sure to keep my marriage going!! For me it's important because I take my vows seriously. Sure, I wish we had been creative enough to write our own vows like Cassie did here, but we said vows and that means something. I want to be able to teach my kids that the divorce rate in the US doesn't have to be the norm. I want marriages to work to be the norm.

In my opinion, it doesn't even have to be the big plans that you schedule for to keep your marriage strong though. Josh will still send me random text messages throughout the day with a simple "I Love You." No matter what I'm doing in the day, it always makes me smile. It's special to me to know that even in his busy day, he's thinking about me. I do the same with him. His job is hard, and annoying, and I know he enjoys hearing from me even via text.

We also kiss each other every night before we go to bed. Even if we've argued about something or I might be pissed because he didn't feed the cat that night and I had to do it, we still take a moment. We always lay down, give each other a kiss; What I call a "real kiss" because I always want it to be a deep, meaningful kiss... not just a quick peck on the lips. After that we tell each other "I Love You", snuggle up, and go to sleep (sometimes not as quickly as Josh would like though). For us to keep our marriage alive is really very simple: Yes, it take a lot of planning for alone time but it's the little things that are most important to us.

Oct 2013 Family Photo

My wednesday wish (linking up with Anne from Love the Here and Now) is simple this week: I want to wish my husband a happy anniversary tomorrow. I love him to the moon and back, and even though we argue and disagree there's a lot of love. He's my special person and I wish for many more years together.

What do y'all do to keep your marriage going after kids?