Bridal Shower

This past weekend, I enjoyed my third of three bridal showers before the wedding. The first was thrown by two of Erich's aunts back in late April, took place in Valparaiso, and was attended almost exclusively by Keller-related women as well as my mom and sister, Anne. The second was a mini-shower thrown by my aunt and godmother, Diane, as a 20-minute present-fest in the middle of our Gavin Family Reunion on July 28th. And on Saturday, August 11, my lovely bridesmaids threw me a lovely shower at my parents' house. Anne did most of the organizing, and I was so impressed and honored. Here are some highlights with photos:


My mom ordered these impressive cupcakes from Jewell. Go, Jewell!


Anne designed the menu and prepared the main dishes which featured orzo salad, cucumber sandwiches, various cheeses with fig spread, and fruit with Kahlua dip. Absolutely delicious; a perfect summer menu!



My beautiful niece Alayna made sure her voice was heard.


The bridesmaids in all their beauty. From the left: Erin, Anne, Me, Melissa, and Sarah. I couldn't ask for better bridesmaids!


This is me trying on my new apron and spatula from Erin, practicing my "Don't mess with me" look.


And this is a more smiley version. :)



One thing I really liked about the shower was the variety of people there. Now that I'm working at Bethany, my "work" friends overlap with my mom's good friends, as the ladies there are closer to her age, their kids went to school together, and my mom used to work in the church office with them. Erin's mom was also able to make it, which was very nice. I had also made sure the invitation list included all my Valpo friends who live in the Chicago area because I don't see them often enough and it feels so good to keep in touch. Luckily, at least one person of this group was able to make it--Karen R., who was a great Chorale friend and who survived a History of Witchcraft class with me in my final semester at Valpo. It was good to see her again, and with Sarah, I felt my Valpo connections were well represented.

Anne came up with some good games as well. I believe a good shower has no more than two games which aren't too silly. These games fit the bill rather well. The first one was one I had never seen before: everyone had to guess the names of eight spices with the labels covered up. That one was a challenge! There were some obscure spices there, but it was a fun mixer. The other was Newlywed Game-inspired. Melissa had asked Erich 15 questions about our relationship. Everyone had to guess how many I would get correct, and then I had to guess what Erich answered. I did pretty dismally with only 7 correct. The two most audacious responses from him were that he claims he is the better driver between us (I reminded him I have to coach him on four-way stops, and he reminded me he has to coach me on road rage) and that my favorite color is blue! Imagine! (For the record, it's yellow.)

I'll have more wedding posts to come, but I wanted to post about the shower for posterity and to thank my sisters and other bridesmaids for a very nice shower.