a bridal shower

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I mentioned in a previous post that I am going to a wedding in South Carolina next week. Over the last weekend I got to play a small part in throwing a shower for the bride-to-be. It was so much fun! And thanks to the hard work of my friend Jen, the house looked gorgeous and the food was awesome! Not that I would have expected anything less.

I threw some simple invitations together with the ink I had left in my printer and paper I had on hand. They inspired the colors for the decorations. I love the way it looked! (luckily Jen had some ribbon and white cardstock to dress one up for a keepsake.) I made some cake balls a la Bakerella for favors. They were lemon cake dipped in white chocolate. You can sort of see them in their cellophane bags under the invite.

Tissue pom poms, by Martha, adorned the windows.

An assortment of little sandwiches: curried chicken, waldorf chicken, and the quintessential crustless cucumber. (thanks to Jen for the recipes, found below)

Why yes, this salad did taste as good as it looks! Blueberries, strawberries, candied almonds, feta and mixed greens. She used Brianna's blush wine vinaigrette. That's my kind of salad. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to sit down with that bowl all to myself.

Really, who doesn't love a fruit kabob? (Even if the picture is blurry!)

I loved that she reused these lemonade bottles instead of pitchers. I thought they looked so cute!

And I've not jumped on the cupcake-love wagon, preferring more traditional pastry type desserts, but I have to say, these. were. AMAZING. I had blueberry-lemon and I can barely talk about it with bursting into tears of joy. They were from local bakery Baked and Wired.

We had so much fun celebrating our dear friend! Can't wait for the wedding. Did I mention that I'm going sans kids? I think I will be sleeping a lot. Not DURING the wedding of course. Just in the car.


The Recipes

Minty Cucumber Sandwiches

1 8oz. Cream Cheese1 Stick Butter
3-4 T. Fresh Mint (minced)
1 tsp. Fresh Tarragon (minced)
1-2 tsp. lime juice
Salt & Pepper to taste
2 cucumbers, sliced
Sliced bread

Blend ingredients until creamy. Spread over bread of your choice, followed by one layer of sliced cucumbers, cut off crust. You can make these as open faced or close faced sandwiches.

Chicken Salad Sandwiches

Waldorf

1 lb. cooked chicken (minced)
½- ¾ C Mayonnaise
½ Celery (minced)
3-4 Green Onions (minced)
¼ C Dried Currants or Craisins
¼ C Slivered Almonds
2 tsp. cider vinegar
1 T. Sugar
Salt & Pepper to taste

Curry Chicken

1 lb. cooked chicken (minced)
½- ¾ C Mayonnaise
½ Celery (minced)
3-4 Green Onions (minced)
¼ C Raisins
¼ C Slivered Almonds (optional)
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 tsp. Curry Powder

Mix and adjust to taste.