Desperate Housewives Bridal Shower
One of my all time favorite and most memorable parties was the Retro themed Bridal shower I hosted for my younger sister. I spent weeks researching and planning out every detail and today I want to share some of my favorite tips with you! Be sure to drop me a comment about what you like and have tried!
Tip #1 Get everyone involved in the theme
First things first get authentic! As you can see I decked out the house in 50's themed decor. I sewed custom bunting, a personalized tea cup for the bride and as you will see later retro party favors! To go a bit further I had our guests dress the part! They loved dressing up as retro housewives. For those that weren't able to dress up, I had bought fun cat eye glasses and accessories for them to be included. The cat eye glasses were from our local party planning store. One gal had modeled for Idaho as a 50's pinup calendar girl and had LOTS of fun aprons saved from over the years. I used those as a "clothesline" right through the middle of our table decorations. It was darling!
Tip #2 Bring in joy, laughter and fun!
One of my golden rules about any type of get together is unifying the group. Have you ever noticed how uncomfortable parties can be especially if you know no one!? To alleviate this I always include some type of humor or ice breaker. There is beauty in laughter. For our ice breaker, my older sister and my niece gave the bride to be a cooking demonstration during dinner. This cooking demo really turned out to be a comedy sketch popularly known as "Helping Hands" You may have seen it on Whose Line Is It Anyway? If not type it in on YouTube. There are so many clever ways to play it. The key is making sure your helper stays hidden.
The just of the skit is to have two people. The person facing the crowd has his or her arms behind their back while another person is their arms. The person behind them cannot see a single thing and the idea is to make as big of a mess as you can. The helper makes every move dramatically onscene.
In our case we gave the bride to be tips every good housewife does starting with looking their best at all times. This involved a quick makeup job and fixing of the hair that resulted in lipstick across the face. Next, we prepped for dinner before ending our skit with some baking. By the end of the demonstration we had flour, eggs you name it all over the floor. It was absolutely worth it as the group was in tears from laughter.
Now I didn't want to stop there!
Tip #3 Every good part has something fun to do or learn.
The evening continued with a surprise cookie decorating demo from a local expert. Now this was such a neat experience and look how BEAUTIFUL her cookies are!
Cookie decorating is such a beautiful art and becoming more popular. Google your local area. Often these men and women are teaching classes and may be up for participating at your next event.
My sister was able to work along side her to create a fun vintage cookie and then at the end we gifted her cookies matching her retro theme. These cookies stay good up until 6 months in the freezer so be sure to ask if your cookie person if you go this route.
Tip #4 Think outside of the box for your games
I LOATHE cheesy baby and bridal shower games. For our game two ladies were selected to do a housewives relay race. Throughout my home and yard were various tasks each girl had to do prior to their prince charming arriving. These were ordinary tasks we've all done but literally caused the rest of the group of girls to be in hysterics again.
Tasks included: sweeping, prepping a dessert, putting clothes up on the line, sewing on a button and doing ones hair and makeup all with in a few minutes to beat the other team oh and did I mention they were in heels? What housewife doesn't do everything in heels!
My final tip of this party involves leaving your guests with a fun parting item.
Tip #5 Find theme appropriate thank you gifts that are useful!
I hate wasting items and feel like thank you gifts can often be one of the most expensive and useless items of any party. So I try to make mine meaningful. Now this blog wouldn't be complete without some sort of sewing tutorial! Our local craft store had a sale on hand soaps so I picked up a bunch. I then made matching "aprons" with my dear friend Adelle out of fabric and ribbon. Each lady was able to select their favorite scent before heading home. Soap is something we all (or should) use so it worked out great! How cute are these parting gifts?!? Could you sew some up for my upcoming party? Sure could! I'm always taking custom orders. Shoot me any email uniquetimedesigns@gmail.com
Comment below on your favorite tip! Live in the Buffalo/Niagara Falls area and need help party planning? I'd love to help you!
