As a little girl I loved to play tea party with anyone who would play with me. It didn’t matter if it was my mother, grandmother, my grandmother’s best friend, grandfather, or uncles. So, when I started to think of a theme for my bridal shower I knew immediately it was going to be a tea party. I also knew that I wanted the bridal shower to stand apart from my wedding and not utilize my wedding colors. So, I decided on teal, blush and rose gold for the colors. When I told my maid of honor, my sister Melody, and my mother who hosted my bridal shower they were not surprised and actually laughed.
Anyone that knows me knows I am a very hands on person, okay let me be honest I am a control freak. My mother and sister were the hostess, but I was planning in the background and sending to do list with specific items to order. I know I was supposed to relinquish, but I had an idea in my head and I was determined to bring it to life. My bridesmaids were so supportive with assisting my sister bring everything together and making sure I didn’t lift a finger on the day of my bridal shower.
My mother, sister, and myself started out by looking for a venue, because my guest list out grew my home. The beautiful space we decided upon was The Showroom on Hubbard. I fell in love with this space, because it was so unique. The space is actually a showroom for custom tables made from reclaimed wood and the tables were absolutely exquisite. I immediately knew I could execute my vision with the vendors I had been introduced to by my planner Desiree Dent of Dejanae Events.
Decorations
For my decorations I knew I wanted to have as many teapots and tea cups as I could get my hands on. My mother was alarmed because all she could envision was us going from store to store buy teapots and tea cups. Lol. However, I was very fortunate to know a florist who had a ton of tea pots, tea cups, and the decorations to transform the space. Juliet of Juliet Tan, who is also my florist for my wedding, did an amazing job. She flawlessly executed the centerpieces, gift table, and flowers for the dessert table. Her design was everything I could have hope for and more. My guest were amazed at the intricate details of the centerpieces.
Dessert Table
Let me start out by saying my bridesmaids and guest were standing in front of the dessert table trying to determine if the cake was real. Yes, it was real and it tasted just as amazing as it looked. Yvonne of Penthouse Sweets Chicago is by far the best. She flawlessly put together a dessert table that was so beautiful you did want to disturb anything. Nonetheless, once the first person took a piece there was not a person in the room who didn’t enjoy the desserts. The table consisted of a lemon and buttercream cake that was adorned with flowers and a tea pot, macaroons, peach cobbler verrines, teacup cookies, and decorated chocolate cover strawberries.
Custom Signage
Christy of Calligraphy by CT designed all of my signage for my shower. My signage included a “Welcome to Krystal Bridal Tea Party”, “Advice for the Bride” “Gifts ad Cards” and “Mimosas and Tea Bar.” Christy did a wonderful job of selecting just the right frames and hand drawing a beautiful tea cup for my welcome sign. The signage was the perfect addition to the space.
Catering
What’s a tea party without tea and finger sandwiches. I wanted to make sure that every aspect of my bridal shower said tea party down to the food. Renee of C’est Si Bon put together the perfect menu and the food was delicious. The menu consisted of Turkey English Tea Sandwiches, Cucumber and Herb Cream Finger Sandwiches, Crab Salad in Cucumber cup, Cajun Meat Balls, Chicken Wingettes, Veggie Cups, and Collard Green Eggrolls. My guest were very pleased with the presentation of the food and how delicious everything tasted.
Let the Tea Party Begin
The tea party started with about forty ladies mixing and mingling in the room. They then had the opportunity to continue their conversations as they ate lunch. Then it was time for the games to begin. My bridesmaids executed the games, which were not your traditional bridal shower games. The games consisted of “What’s in the Box”. Instead of doing who know Krystal and Carl the best my mentor gave me the idea of giving my guest clues based on things that Carl and I like and having them guess what’s in the box. The prize for the game was the item in the box. For example, “Krystal loves to host gatherings at their home. When she does host she makes a signature drink that she learned from her mentor.” The answer was sangria and inside the decorative box was a bottle of sangria. The next game was Bridal Shower Emoji Pictionary. The ladies worked in pairs and had to guess the phrase from looking at the emoji. For example one of the phrases was “Bride to be.”
The last game was “What’s in your phone?” Ladies were awarded points for every item they had in their phone from the list. The person with the most points won. For example, a guest who had a picture of the bridal shower already posted on social media that lady would get 10 points.
I had an amazing time. You could definitely feel the love in the room and for that I am truly blessed. To see all of the women in my life that have supported me and loved on me at times when I needed it the most just filled my heart with joy. My bridal shower was so beautiful and everyone jumped right in to help, including my fiancé, bridesmaids, mother, friends and neighbors to make my day exactly what I had envisioned.
The Bachelorette Weekend
One thing that has become my reality with planning our wedding is that in life you can’t get everything you want. I originally wanted to take a girls trip, but I knew with our wedding already being over budget Carl was not going for it LOL. So, I decided to have my bachelorette party in… Can you say Chi city Chi city!!! My bridesmaids executed every detail of our weekend events and I actually stayed out of their way. We spent Friday Night at Flirty Girl Fitness having a blast dancing. Then we continued the night with sushi and drinks at a nearby restaurant. The night after my bridal Shower we had planned to have a night out on the town, but I was so tired. My bridesmaids and a few of, my friends came over and we played games listened to music, danced, and the drinks were plentiful.
Sunday capped off the weekend in pure Krystal fashion, Brunch!!! I absolutely love brunch and I was so happy that my bridesmaids incorporated brunch into my bachelorette weekend. We have brunch on the rooftop at Fremont and I’ll just say I had way too much fun! A special thanks to my friend who shall remain nameless that got us the VIP treatment. You rock girl!!! So, it was definitely mission accomplished my bridesmaids!
Until Next Time, Krystal
You can read more about my journey to the altar {here}.
