My garden party pink dreams came true! My bridal shower was everything I hoped it would be. I planned the entire event with my mom. Traditionally I know people have their aunts or bridesmaids plan their shower. But, you know I am a type A bride and can't let go of control. Plus I only get one bridal shower! I wanted it to be exactly what I wanted. Today I am sharing all of the decor details from the day. There were lots of trips to Hobby Lobby and Etsy orders to make this shower happen. I will link everything I possibly can in this post if you want to recreate this theme!
For my theme I was going for a Loveshackfancy, pink, garden party inspired look. When browsing on Pinterest I never really found what I was envisioning for my bridal shower. So I took a risk and kind of made up my own theme. This was difficult because it is always easier to go off of a picture because you have an idea of what it will look like. I'm so glad I took a risk and did something a little different!
First up we have the DIY sweets table. We got these treats from Toni Patisserie in Hinsdale, IL. We are using them for our wedding cake and sweets table for the wedding as well! I knew I wanted a cute little table of sweets for photos + to enjoy of course. A pink theme for the treats really tied everything together. We got macarons, petite fours, cupcakes, and fruit tarts. Then our venue provided chocolate covered strawberries which was apart of our food package.
For the platters and serving trays I sourced these from a wide variety of places. The pink cake stand and dome stand were both from Hobby Lobby. Hobby Lobby has some great glass serving pieces as well as vases! I got the pink cake stand from their spring seasonal section so be sure to check out seasonal items throughout the year and start collecting things for your event. Not going to lie I have been collecting things for this shower since probably Black Friday 2021. It helps to space out purchases so you aren't buying everything all at once. The gold tiered tray and the white cake stand were both items my mom had on hand. I feel like you could find similar items at an estate sale or thrift store. Then the white tiered stand was from Home Goods! I've seen some really cute tiered stands and cake stands at Home Goods so for sure check there if you are looking. Then the floral tea cup we used for a floral arrangement was also from Home Goods. I saw this idea on Pinterest and love how it turned out!
Overall the sweets came out so cute! Having the sweets match your color scheme is the perfect way to tie everything together. If you are hosting your shower at home you could even bake sweets yourself and get a similar look. With the right serving platters you can elevate any sweets!
Major props to my fiancé Jeremy for building this backdrop. When I was researching to rent a backdrop it was upwards of $800. That wasn't exactly what I had in mind! So we ended up building our own that we can re-use for other events. Naturally it doubled in size throughout the process but it really turned out great. I then added this Bride to Be sign off of Etsy onto the side.
Our balloon arch is from Paris312 which is a local Chicago area business. I was debating creating my own balloon set up but I'm so glad I didn't. First this looks so professional and was HUGE! I could never have created something that looked like this. Plus we would not have had time to do this on top of setting up all of the other decor. Our venue allowed us in 1 hour before the start time and we were hustling to get everything done! Here is the exact balloon garland we got. It is technically for a baby shower but the pinks matched my theme perfectly vs. the bridal shower balloons they advertise. Best part is they deliver it and will install it for you! If you are in Chicago for sure recommend looking into them.
When it came to paper and signage I knew I wanted a more customized look. I looked everywhere for invitations and signage but just wasn't finding anything I loved. With my Loveshackfancy inspired theme most of the things I found on Etsy just weren't the right florals or look. So I ended up getting a custom paper party pack from Party Little Things. They have pre-made paper packs as well as custom. Then all you have to do is print it out! We printed some at home then some at Staples. I got the larger welcome sign printed as a poster from Walgreens.
We had a smaller welcome sign we put in a frame on this little table near the entry. Then we also had a gift table sign.
My mom last minute packed this strand of pearls and I'm so glad she did! It turned out so cute. I also used this Amazon mirror as a little tray for the floral arrangement. When it came to these gold rose frames there is a story behind them! My Nana who has passed had these years ago. My aunt had randomly saved them and asked if I could use them for anything. We ended up spray painting them gold and are going to use them at the wedding. But, I grabbed them to use a few at the shower and they turned out so cute!
We used more of the gold framed pictures on the gift table plus a bud vase. Our card box was a find from my future MIL. I think it was from Marshall's or TJMaxx? I love that is it simple and doesn't say cards or anything on it. That way it is more versatile and can be used for many parties to come!
We had a small gift table sign that coordinated with our other signage and paper. I used pillar candles throughout the party. These ridged candles are from Michaels! They have a great spring seasonal section right now where I found these. Lots of other cute things that would work for a Bridgerton themed shower or vintage kind of look. All of the candle holders are from Hobby Lobby! I opted to just not light the candles and make them more decorative. Most venues require hurricane vases around the candles if you want to light them!
Now let's talk florals. My mom and I were going to DIY these ourselves by ordering Costco flowers in bulk. But, my aunts took over and thank goodness they did because they turned out stunning! They ended up using a local flower market to source the flowers. These flowers were next level. They still look good even days after the event.
We did one big center piece in the middle of each table. It was a mix of roses, babies, breath, and other flowers. You can easily re-create this with grocery store flowers or Costco wholesale flowers. We used glass vases we already had on hand. But, Hobby Lobby has a ton of pretty vases if you are looking! Then we used small bud vases around each center piece. The clear bud vases I found on a FB wedding group. Got around 15 bud vases for maybe $10? So be sure to join local FB groups to see what people are selling. Plus if you are done with your wedding or shower decor you can list it to pass on to the next bride! I got my pink velvet chair from the same woman who sold me the bud vases. The pink bud vases are from Hobby Lobby's Valentine's Day section! Like I mentioned earlier be sure to check out Hobby Lobby's seasonal sections.
To decorate the tables we used custom menus, name cards, pillar candles, table runners, tealights, and our favor boxes! We also had custom favor tags that matched the rest of the paper. For the favor boxes I got them from the maker of the trinket boxes. I then added Amazon chiffon ribbon to make little bows with the tags! Then for an extra small detail I used the pink heart straws that we also used at my bachelorette party. There are lots of extra straws so we were able to use them for two events now.
Probably my favorite detail were the mirrored drink tags. I got these custom made on Etsy with the saying Best Day Ever. This is a nod to Disney + is just a fun little touch! You could make them more personalized by saying Miranda's Bridal Shower or your initials. People also use these as name cards to assign seats.
Where it's from:
Straws: Amazon
Drink Tags: Etsy
Custom Paper Pack: Party Little Things
Venue: Pinstripes Oakbrook
Candlestick Holders: Hobby Lobby
Candle Sticks: Hobby Lobby & Michaels
Favors: Etsy
Ribbon: Amazon
Table Runners: Hobby Lobby
Balloons: Paris312
Mini Mirror: Amazon
Bride to Be Sign: Etsy
Boxwood Backdrop Panels: Amazon
Tiered Trays and Cake Stands: Hobby Lobby, Home Goods
Teacup: Home Goods
Welcome Sign Printing: Walgreens
I love how everything turned out for my bridal shower! At this point I'm ready to just become a party planner and plan cute things all the time. Posting lots of content on TikTok and Instagram about my shower so be sure to check it out!
XOXO
Miranda
