Cooperating Long Distance on a Bridal Shower by renie gile

There was a wedding shower this past Saturday and it was for the fiancé of our grandson, the first of the grandchildren to be getting married. His mother is our favorite oldest daughter and her sisters and sisters-in-law gave the shower. Three of our children and their families live out of town, actually across the country – Salt Lake City, Charlotte, NC, and the Baltimore area. Fortunately, the other three are in-state. In addition, the East Coast Maryland crew flew in for the shower and an additional family event. The three handled the actual “day of” details – the decor, the favors, the entertainment, and the cake which was also the centerpiece. It all started with the invitation picked out by Elaina, favorite third daughter, who of course consulted with the others via text messages.

One of our local children, favorite 2nd daughter, acted as the main coordinator, and she picked out the cake, and the location, trying to make it most convenient for the state-side residents. Can you believe the cake and how well it goes with the invites?!?!

Jordan's cake — Perfect with the invitations and tasted as good as it looks – dark chocolate and a raspberry filling and buttercream frosting – Yum!!!

She also ordered one half of a no carb cheesecake for all those, including the bride-to-be who expressed that preference. And for her shower gift, she gave the bride-to-be a soft-side insulated casserole/food carrier which allowed her to take home the leftovers. That’s our planner! She thought of everything – accessories for the gift table and the plates and napkins for serving the cake, plus a cake server with a wooden handle to coordinate with the rustic wood and marble pedestal cake plate.

pedestal cake stand
Cake and cheesecake

And the favors – white jordan almonds wrapped in beautiful paper tied with ribbon that looks like leaves on a vine, and topped off with a “thank you” tag — all thanks to Mary, wife of our favorite older son.

And from Etsy, courtesy of Dawn, married to our favorite younger son, the bride quiz, which I failed miserably. But, we did learn a lot about the bride-to-be, and fortunately, the mother of the groom got the most correct answers.

the photo that inspired the vase choice: the bride to be loves vintage and milk glass so……….

Last but not least were the flowers and vases, courtesy of Faith and myself –– Faith, favorite youngest daughter, interacting remotely as adviser and facilitator, and I using vintage milk glass and a yard full of perennials that would hopefully provide just the right bloom at just the right time.

using my collection of milk glass and adding a couple light green vases plus Japanese porcelain then playing around with various greens real and faux, getting an idea of the “look” we were envisioning

On to the real thing.–all fresh from the garden…

early Saturday morning, before the shower, putting together planters of myrtle and cut flowers for the vases

We went with green and white to echo the color of the invitations and the cake. The white flowers (bush clematis) bloomed just in time, and I planted the 3 planters with greenery and put enough cut flowers in a blue enamel pitcher within a galvanized bucket, so water wouldn’t splash out all over the car. We arrived at the restaurant a little before 11. The luncheon shower started at 11:30, so we had to hustle to scope out the room, and figure out how we would arrange everything.

the cake, cheesecake, coordinating napkins and flowers…

The Shower was lovely. Many of the gifts were gift cards, because the newlyweds will be driving cross-country to their first home where Mark, our grandson, will finish grad school and where Jordan starts a new job in her chosen field – counseling young children. It was so much fun to see so many of our children, their spouses, and our grandchildren and to celebrate the upcoming marriage of Mark and Jordan.