Showered with Love

This past weekend officially kicked off the wedding festivities with my bridal shower, hosted by my Aunt Melanie, mom and sister.  It was an afternoon tea party, which was completely appropriate given my love of getting dressed up and having tea parties when I was younger, although the “tea” back then was more sweetened milk with a dash of tea rather than tea with some milk.

I was nervous and excited for the occasion.  Nervous to be the center of attention for the afternoon and excited since it was only my third bridal shower I had ever attended (in comparison, I have attended countless weddings and bachelorette parties…clearly people know where my strengths lie). To calm the nerves, I went shopping the week of the party and made sure I had the best and most appropriate outfit a bride-to-be should wear…  Unfortunately, when trying to explain the shopping spree to Martin, I realized that he wasn’t familiar with the entire concept of a bridal shower.   My explanation went something like this “a bridal shower was originally a time for the women in your life to teach you about being married: how to cook, clean, be a good wife, etc” to which Martin replied “so why are your single friends going to be there?”   I clearly failed to mention that it is now just a good excuse to get together with the women in your life to hang out and catch up before the big show.

And what a great time it was!  In all, there were 18 of us, and the guests ranged from extended family, college friends, lake family and old friends from San Francisco.  It was great seeing everyone meet each other, share stories and made me realize how much fun the wedding in June will be! 

The shower ended with a few party games (name the spices) and me opening up presents.  I was overwhelmed and humbled by the thought that each person put into their gifts (each attendee was requested to bring a recipe) .   I was given Granny Fran’s famous applesauce recipe (with the promise to teach me how to make it) and Grandma Gimbel’s Applesauce Cake recipe from my mom (complete with the loaf pan that Martin swore no one would get us, so just asking for it was ridiculous in his eyes).  I received some amazing other recipes that I can’t wait to try out and I was gifted the infamous and original “Quote Book” from our college years by all of the college girls (something I have been not-so-subtlely hinting that I needed a copy of). 

I even loved the reprimand that each lady gave me for the lack of items on the registry…again, not a concept in Germany (where cash is the preferred gift) that I had to explain to Martin.  Getting anything registered with a man completely against frivolous items (like loaf pans and salad bowls) was like pulling teeth.

This shower has set the stage for things to come, and the bar is incredibly high.   I am overly ecstatic and hope I can live up to the expectations!   

 

M ore photos to come once I get them!