La Mariée Future

Ever since we returned from our Christmas vacation this last January, I have been working hard on an enormous project. I couldn't write or post pictures, because it was supposed to be a secret. Well, now it's all over and done with and I can finally tell you what I've been up to with all my free time the last three months!

Heather and I met in 7th grade, when we both moved to the little town of Shelley, Idaho. I treasure Heather because she is the first person I'd ever met who really challenged me - intellectually and spiritually. My first memory of her was when we were taking tests for the Gifted and Talented program in middle school - she finished her tests before me. She got up, handed in those tests, and walked out the door. All while I was still working on mine. Wait....what? She did --- what? She finished ..... GASP! Who was this girl?

Soon after I asked her to eat lunch with me, and we became inseparable after that. She was a "good" girl - and I....well, I had just been yanked 1200 miles away from my childhood home and best friends - not to mention my father -- and I still had a lot of learning and growing up to do. We weren't active in Church then, I didn't care to be active in the church, and I was missing a solid male figure in my life (not an excuse, just the truth). Heather didn't judge me when I hung out with the wrong crowd, took up swearing, and even pierced my belly button (you can tell in these pictures, in case you're wondering). In fact, she did the opposite - she clung tighter to me. She, in all honesty, saved me. It is because of her I came back to church, took out that belly button ring, stopped swearing, cut ties with my "bad" friends, and gained a testimony of my own - after leaning so long on hers. We would write endless notes and fill journal after journal, passing it back and forth between each other. I read through one of those journals a few weeks ago. I never realized until then - just a few short weeks ago - how selfish and ignorant I was. What a terrible friend I was. And she only gave me love. Years later, her 14 year old self is still teaching me lessons. Does that paint a clear enough picture of how wise she is now?
We have been through our good times and bad, Heather and I, our thicks and our thins. But always, we come out stronger.

Now, this sweet lady is getting married. He is a lucky man, I tell ya.
And because our lives somehow brought us both to the East Coast, I had the pleasure of throwing her a Bridal Shower. Keep in mind, I am an English major throwing a party for an Event Planning major. The pressure was on.

With the long-distance help of her other bridesmaid, and my other best friend, Robyn, I decided to make the party French-themed, as all three of us had taken French together in high school, and Heather and I had spent a week in France just one year ago (read about that here, here, and here.)

First, the invitations:

which were then sealed in pink envelopes and stamped with the HOMEMADE Eiffel Tower stamp that my husband HAND-CARVED out of a pink eraser. He is awesome.

Then, the welcome table:

Hand-painted welcome sign, homemade tissue paper flowers (which I made while watching countless episodes of Friends), a schedule of events, name tags, and 12 homemade berets for everyone to wear (at least for the group photo!)

The gift table:

Digital photo frame playing over 100 photos of Heather I creepily snuck off of Facebook, a cute, hand-decorated jar to hold a Wish for the Bride, more tissue paper flowers, and a cute poster made with paint, cardboard, Mime scrapbook paper, and Modpodge.

The Food Table:

Vintage-edited photos I took in Paris on twine, hand-painted Cafe-cup menu sign, scrapbook paper poster, 35 homemade crepes, powdered sugar, chocolate and caramel syrup, Nutella, whip cream, strawberries, bananas, berries, raspberry jam, croissants, ham, cheese, butter, cream puffs, oranges, grapes, 3 gallons homemade strawberry lemonade -- not to mention the adorable banner lining the table (also made with hours of Friends in the background). Plus! I read tons of articles and books on the art of Macaron-making and had one practice session -- and I produced a beautiful batch of Homemade chocolate macarons (though I hesitate to mention the failed batch of raspberry macarons I left at home. aaaand the fact that the chocolate ones got smashed on the way down....but they still tasted great, even if they looked ugly!). Complete with hand-painted French labels for everything!

The Games:

Then we played some silly games with silly prizes, of course. I had a He said/She said game with different things Heather and her fiance had said on Facebook, and everyone had to guess who said what. That was another nasty bout of Facebook stalking, but it was pretty funny. 

The next game required me to get some answers from the Groom, so I set up a time to Skype with him (since he lives in England, and all). Heather had to guess how he answered my questions, and had to put a marshmallow in her mouth for every wrong answer. 

Last, what else but a game including blindfolds, an extra-large pair of panties, and a little too much intimacy?

:

And of course, the gift-opening (which I will spare you the details and Heather the embarrassment):

Finally, the Departure Table, which I did not get a picture of:

Hand-painted Au-Revoir sign, more tissue paper flowers, my favorite homemade poster of all, and a homemade gift bag for every girl that contained a mini-canvas print and a homemade necklace. 

This was my first time ever planning a party quite like this. It was tons and tons of work and time and planning and money, but it was lots of fun and I'd say a success! 

And I have to give a shout-out to my husband, for all his help with everything too. He even drove down to DC with me, helped me unload everything from the car, set up, and then just cruised around DC for two hours while us girls partied. He was so patient and helpful and I really could not have done it without him (two days straight of cooking and baking and last-minute preparing + already sore and swollen feet + a ginormous belly and 40 extra pounds = one tired mama). I love these photos he took while waiting for me: