DIY Bridal Shower

Hi! I'm Becky Haight, Ali's co-worker and fellow lover of all things wedding! You may recognize me from the high maintenence coffee drink here, or the bridesmaid shoe dilemma here, or in general the co-worker who inspires cupcake posts here.

I am so honored to be guest posting for Ali/Violet Hills and super excited to share with you my DIY bridal shower that I threw a couple of weekends ago! This summer I have the privilege to be my best friend's Matron of Honor at her wedding. I really wanted to "go all out" for her shower, but unfortunately that usually means lots of $$$. Lucky for me (and perhaps you) I found lots of little inexpensive ways to make a big impact on a small budget!  

First, lets talk cupcakes! I kept it fairly simple, using a box cake mix and homemade buttercream. The fun flair that these tasty treats got were white chocolate tuiles and some fun wrappers. The white chocolate tuiles were super easy - lay out some wax paper, melt some white chocolate chips, pour them into a frosting bag, cut a tiny hole, and start scribbling away. I made a K for the bride and flowers to correspond with the flowers on the invitations. The wrappers were purchased from Cupcake Social on ETSY - I got 48 and used 1/2 in the decorations mentioned below. This tiered stand is from Willow House - I already owned it, so it found a new use for the day. Oh and those are nuts in the silver cupcake liners - again a simple, inexpensive way to dress up boring nuts.

Invitations were another aspect of the shower I was super excited about! I purchased a design from West Willow's ETSY store that she personalized/customized for our event! These were a post card so I saved on postage and was able to print them at home. Plus as a gift to the bride, I asked that she make a corresponding Thank You card that I had printed at Costco Photo Center.

My last DIY project for the shower were these adorable coffee paper filter and cupcake liner garlands. The bride mentioned of something similar that her photographer uses as a prop in some of her shoots. All you need is a large needle (to poke holes), twine or other string (I purchased mine at Cupcake Social), coffee filters and cupcake liners (remember I said I repurposed some of the extras from the cute cupcake ones and also some silver ones). Ali and I busted 4 of these out in about an hour after a slow start and some improper tool usage.

 We repurposed these white tissue paper pom poms from a baby shower thrown the day before and made up some blue ones to go with them.

I also repurposed this glass "pickle" jar that I used for beverages at my wedding. And added a little extra flair with the fun paper straws (also from Cupcake Social).

And for something that adds no cost to the party thrower, we asked the restaurant to have ingredients for special cocktails and verified they could do these for a flat $5 per drink if guests wanted. Golden Groom and Blushing Bride drink recipes from Martha Stewart.

I could go on and on - clearly.  Hope this provides some fun projects and inspiration for all you bridesmaids!