bohemian bridal dinner party...

have you ever had one of those nights where you literally feel like there is magic in the air?

those nights where it feels like time stands still and the world seems so safe and peaceful...?

your heart aches to go back and relive it over and over…

well, a few weeks ago i experienced one of those nights.

i got to host my very first {of hopefully many} events.

let me start from the beginning…

all of my relatives {on my dad’s side} are scattered throughout the west coast.

a few weeks ago everyone came to idaho for my older brother’s wedding.

we were all under the same roof for a week- overly crowded and completely happy.

my cousin valerie {from southern california} is getting married in august and wanted me to throw her a bridal shower in idaho so that all of us girl cousins {her bridal party} would be present.

so i started planning months ago.

through all of my preparation i’ve really grown a love for event planning.

it’s one of those things that really gets my heart racing and something I genuinely enjoy thinking about day and night.

since money was an issue, however, i had to get basically EVERYTHING from thrift stores.

which is probably what i would pick to do anyway…

it definitely makes things harder, but it gives any event a much more unique feel.

so for months my mom and i spent our weekends thrifting.

 and with that comes additional projects, of course, like painting and sewing to make our thrifted finds even more perfect.

so here are some pictures of the outcome and i will describe the details along the way :)

 and just to warn you- it's going to be a picture overload.

day-of prep.

oh my goodness…

i planned on giving myself two hours to set everything up.

wrong!

the shower was supposed to start at 7:30 and we didn’t end up starting till close to 9:00.

i only let a few of the girls come out to help me.

i wanted it to be a surprise for all of the rest.

the guys weren’t allowed to attend the shower but they literally saved my life with all of the preparation.

and I have to be honest, it was the greatest feeling bossing around a bunch of guys :)

they were amazing.

so first lesson learned: allow yourself extra time to get everything ready because there will always be hiccups.

like in the picture above, for example.

we had ironed the tablecloth a few days before the shower and rolled it up thinking that would prevent wrinkles.

we couldn’t have been more mistaken.

and being the perfectionist i am- i brought out an iron with an extension cord and ironed the tablecloth right then and there.

oh and through all of this- the sky was completely gray and I was having a heart attack that it was going to rain on us!

I told all of the girls that if it did- we’d be having a shower in the rain because I was not even about to take it inside.

has anyone seen on pinterest where you can fill a shallow bowl with flowers by criss-crossing tape across the top?

i put one of my cousins in charge of that job for our table centerpiece and it turned out beautiful.

And three hours later the whole setup was complete….

i chose to go with a bohemian/fairytale feel.

so our main objective was to scour thrift shops for various candleticks and colored glass candleholders, vases, and serveware.

i wanted everything to be mismatched but coordinate well together overall.

it was really hard for us to find a tablecloth to fit this size of table {above}.

the legs were really ugly so we wanted it to reach the floor.

i had planned on finding something lacey that would work but we couldn’t find any lace that was big enough.

so this is actually an old bed sheet that my mom sewed into a tablecloth.

you would never know, right??

i wasn’t really sure what would work as “bohemian” food so i went with a grecian meal.

we served food to make gyros, greek pasta, and a sparkling raspberry punch.

we got all of these chairs from thrift stores, painted them and made cushions.

{excluding the chair on the far right- that was an old chair of my mom’s that was upholstered with red velvet and we painted it a light lavender color}

it was the hardest thing finding 11 blue willow plates without spending a fortune!

so these were all bought from different thrift/antique stores and a few were even bought at a yard sale.

i wanted mismatched cups so we settled on a yellow hue since that is mostly what you can find at thrift stores.

i had bread ready on the table and garlic infused oil and vinegar in thrifted serving pourers.

also along the table were stacks of little plates for the olive oil and vinegar that were thrifted as well.

on top of the cloth napkins {not thrifted} i placed a sprig of lavender and place cards that i got for $1 at michael’s. 

i used a thrifted coffee table for presents, which you can see in the background.

and i used a thrifted picture frame and painted over the picture inside with chalk paint.

i wanted to find a cute lovey-dovey quote to write on it but i ran out of time! 

i used a small pink table from my room that matched perfectly with the other décor to display the pencils and programs.

i made programs with our itinerary listed and they also included a packet of games that we would be playing.

{black pencils from staples}

i made a photo backdrop using a thrifted sheet and the glittered banner was made with wooden letters from hobby lobby.

the lanterns you can see in the background were one of the few things that weren’t thrifted.

they added the perfect twinkling touch. 

~

when we finally started it was perfect.

i had a playlist with priscilla ahn and nora jones playing in the background.

there was also the peaceful sound of our water feature.

the gloomy weather couldn’t have been better.

it didn’t rain but it covered up the sun and heat and there was a soft breeze.

i gave all of the guys different jobs to do during the shower and we kept it completely secret from the girls.

the first was the groom who took pictures throughout the whole thing and was our photo booth photographer.

i made various flower and feather crowns for us to wear in the pictures and i also bought some asian fans to use as props.

{above is the bride}

// the bridal party //

the second guy to come out for the night was the bride’s dad.

he came out with cucumber water for us to have with our bread and oil and vinegar.

i coached him to come to every girl and ask “cucumber water?”

he did awesome. 

after our main meal, a few more guys came out to clear our dishes so that we would have room to play our games.

we played a lot of scattegories and other bridal games including a “bachelorette party” mad lib which got waayyy out of hand ;)

by the time we were done wrapping up the games it was dark out.

it was so gorgeous, these pictures do not do it justice AT ALL!

the rest of the guys brought out our cheesecake and toppings; they had very specific lines as well.

 then we opened presents, and the night was over.

it was perfect.

a night i will truly cherish forever and ever-ever!