This past weekend I had the pleasure of throwing the first big gathering at our new house: a bridal shower for one of my dearest friends. Of course I started out thinking that I would keep everything very simple and easy but once you go down the black-hole of Pinterest, it is hard to get back out! I decided to use lots of bright colors, florals, and gold- with an overall vintage bohemian feel! I truly enjoyed setting up all the different areas and decorations and it reminded me of how much I do LOVE throwing parties and entertaining. I made many of the decorations myself and used a ton of vintage items that I had saved or pulled from other areas of the house!

I set up an extra small table in the kitchen so that all the desserts could be showcased separately. I used a vintage tablecloth for color and a mixture of cake plates, pedestal dishes, and trays to fill the table and make it feel like it was overflowing with sweet treats! Behind the table I did a little chalkboard art and made a hanging "heart wreath" by attaching some faux greenery to a metal heart I found at Hobby Lobby. I also found the prism shaped gold candle holders at Hobby Lobby and filled the table with more vintage candlesticks that I already had in my collection. I used mismatched colored dessert plates and gold silverware (vintage) for an extra pop of pattern and color.

We set up a drink station in the butler's pantry which worked well and kept the kitchen from being too overcrowded. I set up jewel-toned mismatched vintage glasses, an ice bucket, a trough of iced bottled drinks, carafes of water, and a dispenser with punch. I also set out cocktail napkins and some cute patterned paper straws! I used another vintage tablecloth on the table underneath that had a bright floral pattern and played off of all the bright glasses and colors.

I'm not much for shower games so instead I set up some fun activities outside: a photo booth and a flower crown bar! The photobooth was pretty easy because I use this same backdrop set up for all my markets (it's made from copper pipes and attached to a bench)! I just switched out my normal "Miss Molly Vintage" logo backdrop for a gold patterned shower curtain (originally from Target but found on super sale at Bargain Hunt!), and then added some greenery at the top with a banner (found blank at Hobby Lobby and I wrote on it). I also found this cute bright wreath at Bargain Hunt (also originally from Target) and just hung it in the middle.

The flower crown bar was easy to set up with just a few items: floral tape, wire cutters, floral wire, and some fake flowers. I just purchased a couple of the larger bunches of fake flowers from Hobby Lobby (they were 50% off that week too!) and then I trimmed them and separated each bunch so that they were all individual stems. I used old buckets or canisters I had to hold each different bunch and made a chalkboard sign with basic instructions. I used yet another vintage tablecloth (my collection is out of control) and I decorated above the table with some honeycomb garland (they have all colors + sizes now at Target) and tassel trim (found in the upholstery section at Hobby Lobby).

Everyone had fun assembling their own crowns when they arrived and then wearing them throughout the shower!

Here is the beautiful bride-to-be opening all of her gifts! I wanted to make a special "bridal chair" for her to sit in while opening gifts. I already had this cute vintage wicker chair on my porch and I decorated it even more with a cute pillow, greenery garland, and some foil balloons (Party City has all letters and numbers too!). The gold tassel garland and "Congrats" banner behind her are both from Target. I often find little party things like this on clearance and purchase them to save for whenever I may need them!

My friend RaAnn makes this amazing fresh strawberry cake and it was the star of the shower (it is SO delicious)! I found the cute toppers on Etsy (here and here). All the other bite-sized desserts were from local Versailles caterer Sweet Lilu's. They were all so yummy and Sweet Lilu's was so helpful and extremely affordable!

I put together a bridal shower playlist on Spotify that has all my favorite wedding-themed and love songs- it's perfect if you are hosting any kind of shower or wedding event! You can listen to it here.

Here's a super easy step-by-step look at how to make the flower crowns. You can also use fresh flowers although they might be more delicate and harder to work with.

I kept the menu pretty simple and picked as many things as I could to make ahead. Here's a list of what we had:

cheese + fruit plate with two types of crackers (seen above- check out my easy charcuterie for a sample shopping list. I usually buy everything at Trader Joe's for these including the crackers!)

chicken salad + rolls

mini ham sandwiches

lemony green bean pasta salad (recipe here)

mixed greens with peaches, feta, + walnuts (recipe here)

I was able to prepare all these items ahead of time minus the salad which only took a few minutes to throw together anyways. Having all the food ready to go and serving plates already picked out or set up really cuts down on any pre-party stress or rush.

I purchased lots of cute little bottled and canned drinks and then also made this pink lemonade punch for our beverage station. I got the paper straws at Hobby Lobby where they have just about every color and lots of cute patterns!

All in all it was a pretty perfect day celebrating Natalie with all her closest friends. Congrats to Natalie and Tyler- I'm so excited for you and we can't wait for the big day in October! I hope you enjoyed following along with this fun boho bridal shower- if you have any questions about something I didn't mention- just ask!

xoxo

Emily