For April Fool's day, my parents arrived for a little visit just 60 days out from the big day. With my sister. And my cousin J, who's never visited us before. But nothing funny was going on. When I tried to pin down activities for the weekend, they were vague and indecisive. Bridesmaid R and my FMIL had been unusually quiet in the previous weeks. And poor Mr. Pain au Chocolat had been stressing all week about preparing the house for my family, stockpiling food and scrutinizing every corner of the house. What is going on?
My (surprise) bridal shower!
With all of those clues, it doesn't Nancy Drew to solve this mystery. The shower couldn't have been a surprise but the who, what and where blew me away. While I was out shoe shopping with my family, Mr. PaC, his mom, BM R and an army of helpers invaded our little townhouse.
FMIL directing with a glass in hand. Mr. PaC is the blue blur.
BM R taking care of some last minute details.
I suspected something was up. But pulling up at our house, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. (This was because Mr. PaC had played valet and hidden all the cars around the block.) Inside 20+ friends and family were waiting for the door to open and yell "Surprise!"
(My keys stayed in the door for the remainder of the party. Distracted much?)
Mom, cousin J, yours truly, MOH/sister L... and one blinking LED wine glass
Still in shock, posing with FMIL
The cousins: do we look related?
The house was filled with cut flowers and potted bulbs to emphasize the spring theme. Mr. PaC hid in another room to see my reaction, said hi, caught me up on some of the details, then skipped out the back door.
Mr. PaC's brother and best man catered the event.
This very generous surprise blew me away!
Appetizers: cheese platter, grilled shrimp, baba ganoush
Some of my favorite cheeses: St. Andre, Prima Donna (!!!), bleu cheese,
cranberry goat & Humboldt Fog
Shower co-hostess Bridesmaid R & groomsman J's wife
October 2010 bride K with BM R
Friends from near and far
North Jersey family and best man M's girlfriend
Mr. PaC's step-mom with BM R
More north Jersey family
The main course: grilled salmon with guacamole and pico de gallo, beef tenderloin with bleu cheese, grilled veggies and salad
The chair in front of the decorations in the center of the room? That's my seat.
Not so sure about this...
Sister PaC assists with the cards and kept my glass filled!
Awkward wave at the lady (my mom) pointing the camera at me
Raising eyebrow in amusement
Darling trio of Anthropologie towels
Laughing about something (long since forgotten) while BM R works on the ribbon bouquet
Hiding from the paparazzi with my (bottomless) mango-prosecco-St. Germain cocktail
Dessert! Coconut cake from our local bakery, macarons, fortune cookies, cake balls and ginger lemon cremes
Pistachio, passionfruit and salted caramel macarons from Jose Garces Trading Co.
BM R found lemon and white chocolate fortune cookies that she created 5 custom fortunes for.
Hey, Mr. PaC's back!
Mom holding the ribbon bouquet (great job BM R!); I'm holding groomsman J's bubbly baby girl
The best surprise of all was the presence of so many family and friends that traveled from hours away, the amazing food from Best Man M, the outpouring of love and support, and the enormous effort that my hostesses and future husband put forth to make this an unforgettable event.
Hive, what type of bridal shower would you like? Could your family and friends surprise you?
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