Shower the People You Love with Love

**10 cool points if you can name that singer!**

So last weekend was the most awesome party I've ever attended- and that's really saying something, as I myself have thrown a few awesome parties in my day.

**all photos in this post are courtesy of Mr. Potion**

Mom Potion, BM BabySis, me, MOH

It was my 50's Housewife - themed bridal shower!

My sister- the artist and most awesome maid of honor- organized a lovely afternoon of food, games, and gift-giving.  As everyone arrived, they were given an apron she had decorated with ribbons and fabric paint in one of our wedding colors- and mine was decorated with all four.  Since Mom Potion and MOH are wearing red in the wedding, they got red ribbon on their aprons, and BM BabySis is wearing purple, so hers was purple- clever, right?  Each guest's name was written across the top- notice the name on my apron?- and she used the names I've always used for these important women in my life, so my mom's says "Mom" and my grandmothers' say "Mammaw" and "Grandma".  The bottom of each apron had my and Mr. Potion's names and the wedding date.  The pocket of each apron was stuffed with a wooden spoon decorated with another ribbon.

all decked out in my vintage-inspired get-up

a yummy spread featuring a lovely silk flower arrangement courtesy of my super talented MOH

Everyone worked hard to pull together a delicious spread of 50's-inspired party food including deviled eggs, spinach dip, and a delicious punch.  There were even tiny glass bottles of Coke!

these were a huge hit with my younger cousins

As guests grabbed snacks, they were asked to contribute to a few secret games that were then revealed when we all sat down together.

BM BabySis reads the "love story" everyone helped assemble

First, there was the "love story".  BM BabySis started the story by giving it a title- "A Geeky Adventure", of course!- and writing the first line.  Then she handed it to the next person to write another sentence.  Then the paper was folded backwards so that all that was visible to the next person was the line that was just written.  This continued, with guests adding just one sentence to the story at a time while only being able to read the sentence that came before.  BabySis added the last sentence, knowing how it started, and then read the whole thing to me:

A Geeky Adventure
-A long time ago, in a geeky summer camp far, far away, our two lovebirds met for the first time.
-Miss Potion saw Mr. Potion and said, "Wow, his calculator is hot!"  Mr. Potion thought Miss Potion was cute, so he called her a nerd.
-Miss Potion knew she could really love and nurture a nerd.
-They were made for each other.
-And then they broke the mold.
-And so they lived happily ever after <3
-Sometimes there are rainbows and sometimes clouds.
-But Miss Potion is always a princess.
-Except for that one time when...
-You two crashed while texting each other.
-But then they had hospital rooms across from each other.
-They cried and cried to be together and soon they united and got well.
-They lived happily ever after and had seven geeky children.
THE END


...it got a little dramatic towards the end there.  They said it's because every good love story has some tragedy in it.  Trust me, though- we don't text and drive :D

MOH reading the advice she collected from everyone

Then, there was some advice.  Everyone's pockets contained a slip of paper on which MOH had printed some tips that every good housewife should know.  Guests were asked to include their own advice on the back, and then MOH read them all aloud.  Most of the advice was actually very sincere words of wisdom for a happy marriage, met with many chuckles and caveats to "Do as we say, not as we do!"  The most repeated bits of advice were to "not sweat the small stuff" and to "not go to bed angry"- which we later all admitted might mean that I'd never get any sleep!  Some of the advice was more humorous; one of my younger cousins, for example, advised that I should always let my future children have candy before school, and BM BabySis gave what sounded like sage advice for any dog owner- give him plenty of food and belly rubs.  All in all, I think I've got a nice list of rules to follow to be a successful housewife :)

Then, of course, it was time for presents!

thumbs up for the KitchenAid!

I received many wonderful things for our kitchen, and Mr. Potion is salivating already at the thought of all the dinners- and most importantly, desserts- I'll be making with all my fancy new gadgets and serving on my fancy new plates.  And then my cousin's wife presented me with the most creative gift we've received so far- remember how we translated our names into Tolkien's Elvish for our invitations?  She downloaded the same font I mentioned in that blog post and cut out our names with her vinyl cutter for a gorgeous piece of framed art that will be making an appearance as a wedding decoration!

so.  freaking.  cool.

But I'm not the only one who received gifts!  There were two contests played during the festivities.  The first prize went to the guest whose birthday is closest to The Big Day- my cousin, one of our flower girls.

MOH and I posing with the contest winner // also, see those tissue poms?  MOH is quite the Martha Stewart ;)

Then we played a rousing game of Wedding Pictionary.  In teams of 3 and 4, we raced to guess the wedding-themed drawings of our teammates, and each round involved a different restriction- sometimes you had to draw with your eyes closed, or with the opposite hand, or without lifting the pen from the paper.  There were a few freebie rounds, though, and that's when my team did the best.  The winning team was awarded kitchen accessory prizes for being the best artists and fastest guessers (mostly the latter).

Finally, we nibbled on cake, guzzled some more of that delicious punch, and headed outside for a group picture of all the lovely ladies that attended.  Sisters, grandmothers, aunts, my mom, and a whole slew of cousins- we're quite the clan!

  Did your bridal shower have a theme?  Did you receive any creative not-on-the-registry gifts?