Lifestyling: Five Tips for Throwing a Beautiful Bridal Shower

Wedding season is upon us yet again and I couldn’t be happier to partake, now that I’ve figured out I actually enjoy (elements of) entertaining. When I was planning my own wedding my mom called me the “Creative Director” (as I may or may not have shown up to vendor meetings with a moodboard…if you’re curious, I totally did and can share it as a future blog post). Perhaps she was on to something. I get very clear visions of how I want things, be it parties or photos or outfits, to look. As I get older and wiser and all that jazz, I’m getting better at bringing these visions to life.

I decided that perhaps it would be helpful to share my mentality on bringing my vision for this wedding shower from concept to fruition as the behind-the-scenes posts got a good bit of attention on my insta stories.

1. Choose a Non-Traditional Wedding Shower Theme

I think sometimes it’s helpful to remove the traditional “type of gift” shower mentality from the picture. In this case, we went with a floral theme (not unlike Elle’s first birthday party…if you don’t know, now you know: I have a thing for florals). Being that this was a different audience than a child’s birthday party, I wanted to leverage some of what worked, but made sure that it felt more grown up.

2. Think Like a Creative Director

As I mentioned above, it’s helpful to think through the whole vision for the event and then break down the individual pieces. From the invitation to the plates to the serving platters to the outfits, I spent time ensuring each element was “on brand” for the shower. Yes, it takes time, but each go ‘round it gets easier. I also like to use my dining room table as a catch all…it pretty quickly paints a visual and enables you to determine what fits and what may be best held for another event (for example, some pink glass pitchers that I bought will be saved for something else).

3. Create a Mood Board

Pinterest is beyond helpful and is a wealth of inspiration, so perhaps you’ll create a board for your event. For me, relying solely on Pinterest gets challenging because sometimes an idea you want to capture isn’t properly visually represented (i.e. I pinned Mimosa recipes but the look wasn’t what I wanted to create). Once I’ve gathered inspiration and ideas on Pinterest, I find that putting together a few slides in Keynote or Powerpoint is helpful (I also did this for Elle’s nursery).

4. Find Freedom Within the Framework

Once you decide on a wedding shower theme and start determining your visual aesthetic, open your eyes to anything that might be a fit. I was at Target and happened upon the dollar section, which was full of signs and wooden boxes with the word “bloom” written on them. (Not sure why it’s taken me so long to find this section considering it’s at the front of the store and has AMAZING things!) On a later trip, I found rose gold Mr. & Mrs. balloons and scalloped-edge cake plates, which perfectly matched the SophistiPlates that I used (paper plates make life so much easier and these are really beautiful…so many shower guests wanted to know where I found them!). I ended up placing the plates as if they were cakes and it was darling. These weren’t a part of my original concept, but I had my eyes open and the universe put them in my way!

5. Pick Vendors Wisely (and Reuse Them!)

After you’ve spent time deciding (and discussing with other co-hosts, perhaps) which ideas to turn from concept to reality (for this wedding shower we did a Mimosa Bar, an Iced Coffee Bar, a Dessert Table, Flowers, a Sign In Book and Photo Props), research vendors in the area and once you find vendors you like and have an easy time working with, use them again! I worked with Jared Hughes, Alicia of Pum’s Sweets, Elissa of Law and Letters and Heidi for Elle’s First Birthday and was able to engage them again, this time with experience under our belt. Of course, each party is different but if you can get into a rhythm and collaborate on ideas, you’ll seem like an expert in no time (case in point, this shower!).

There are so many more details of this bridal shower to share…I’ll be adding another post (or two) when the mood strikes. Stay tuned!

Dress, Zimmermann. Shoes, Charlotte Olympia.

Plates, SophistiPlate. C/o and Lucy’s Market. 

Bride’s Dress, Club Monaco. 

Need a Hand Concepting Your Event?

Because it’s been fun to flex this “lifestyling” muscle, I am entertaining (wink, wink) the idea of consulting in this space. So, if you’re having a party/event and want me to deal with all of the aforementioned steps or need some guidance, shoot me a note and let’s discuss!