wedding shower in review

this past saturday, on 10.1.11, craig and i had our wedding shower at my parents' house.  our co-ed affair was a "charcuterie", which thoroughly confused some of our guests.  in the end, though, they all loved the affair, which highlighted rustic meats and cheeses, fresh breads, homemade soups, quiche and tons of yummy accoutrements.  oh yeah, and lots of wine & beer!

photo by chad

cheese platter - photo by cailen

my mom, sister (the maid of honor) and my bridesmaids outdid themselves, and the party was a complete success.  the weather saturday was fall-perfection - slightly overcast and slightly chilly.  it really felt like autumn had arrived with the house glowing and the delicious smell of home cooked food filling every nook and cranny.  craig and i were shocked (and pleased) by the number of shower gifts we received, and we were especially surprised by my bridesmaids' lovely joint present - 12 gift cards for 12 dates for the first 12 months of marriage.  what a fabulous gift!!!  we cannot wait to use some of them.

my bridemaids - photo by dad

photo by cailen

in addition to all the amazing registry items we received, my aunt gave a me truly precious gift...my great-grandmother's engagement ring from 1910, set with a brand new blue topaz.  she said it was something old & something blue, but i think with the new stone and the fact that it was my great-grandmother's then passed to my great-aunt then given to my aunt and then finally handed down to me, it is also something borrowed.  that beautiful little gift encompasses all of the time-honored elements of that tradition.  something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.  trust me, the tears were flowing when i opened that one.

me opening ring - photo by dad

nana's ring - photo by cailen

after i composed myself, craig and i concluded our gift opening with a round of the "almost newly wed game".  craig and i each got a small white board and were seated back to back.  then questions followed: "where was your first kiss?", "what date did you meet?", "what's craig's dream car?" - we got most of them right and the ones that we differed on brought some laughs.

photo by dad

me taking pics of the food - photo by dad

then, dessert was served - cheesecakes (one with caramel and toffee and ginger snap crust, the other with a subtle orange zest and a buttery graham cracker crust), brownies (double chocolate and chocolate peanut butter), cream puffs and homemade apple pie.  after dessert i had to take my belt off.  haha.

dinner food - photo by cailen

game time - photo by chad

it was so wonderful to visit with our friends and family and see how excited everyone is getting for our nuptials in just over a month.  we're glad we're not the only ones looking forward to it ;-)

alys, me & cait

after the party, we stayed the night at my parents' and sunday was spent in pjs by the fire watching father of the bride (the one with steve martin) until mid-afternoon when my hair/makeup stylist stopped by the house for my trial session.  i loved what she did, but it felt kind of weird being all glammed up in my yoga pants...

won't be long now til i'm a "mrs."

the wedding is starting to feel very real and very close!!!  11.5.11 will be here before we know it!

hope you all enjoyed your first october weekend as well