what? no bridal shower?

i know...asinine really. perfectly preposterous. 

which is exactly why my dear, sweet cathie and i took matters into our own hands and made this bride have her very own bridal shower.
see? she's totally bridal. 

another thing she is? a graphic designer...very artsy. 

this made me super nervous because girlfriend has an eye for the visual, she's not afraid of color, and i basically wanted to show her that a bridal shower could be fun...and we wouldn't even make her play games.

well, now that cathie and i are fully recovered from pulling this off, it's time to brag about the menu and decor we snazzied together.

true to form - i'll be tooting our horns. toot toot.

our bride, gina, is also gluten intolerant. (talk about a high-maintenance bride!) so, sweet cathie and i knew we wanted the menu to be completely enjoyable for her, since most get togethers she attends she has to go without or ask a lot of questions...or pack her own. i can imagine this is the pits.

the menu consisted of | veggies and fruits. shrimp, beef, and chicken skewers with a chilled dipping sauce. a bang up sweet potato salad...that i should post the recipe for so that all can enjoy. crackers and cheeses...and of course champagne and wine.
putting together a shower is a lot of work...mostly just the set-up and take-down.

so as soon as guests started arriving, the champagne was cracked and i enjoyed my sips...and what a tease it was. i really really wished i wasn't pregnant at this shower. not only could i not enjoy the soft cheeses, but the tiny glass of champagne from the cute stripy straw was just not cutting it. i wanted five.
alas, we all make decisions. and i made the decision to not only be pregnant for gina's wedding, but four other weddings farmer and i will be attending in the coming weeks. shoot me.

another fun component of the shower? this photo booth. 

what was once farmer and my trash became gina's photo booth treasure. i simply painted some stripes on this piece of wood, and then cathie and i scavenged our costume boxes for props. 

the banner? it says, "he put a ring on it." i wish it was readable.

it was a hit...figuratively and literally.
everyone left sufficiently fed, beveraged (not a word), and with a sweet souvenir of them and the bride to be. 

cathie and i are going to call it a win.
and while cathie and i are oh so happy gina let us bully her into having a shower...we're glad we don't have to do it again.

showers are a lot of work...and that photo booth backdrop was heavy.
 xoxox gina. i absolutely cannot WAIT for august 31!