"Guns & Roses" Themed Wedding Shower

     When our cousin Chase got engaged to his lovely, then girlfriend, Kiri we were jumping at the chance to throw them a party because we wanted to celebrate. But we wanted it to be special and personal and we also wanted to include the guys, I mean they never get to do any of the fun "showery" stuff we gals get to do! So, knowing the couples story, we knew that Chase had taken Kiri to a gun range on their first date and the first flowers he bought her were sterling roses, well, that got me thinking and I came up with "Guns and Roses" for the theme (no, not the band) with the color palette of purple, silver, and khaki. It turned into a wonderful celebration with wonderful friends and family so we thought we would share. We were lucky enough that the brides fabulous mother, Faye, is a professional photographer and she snapped all the perfect shots! Enjoy!

     We used an invitation from Wedding Paper Divas, and I embellished them a little.  I found this rose and paisley fabric at Joannes, cut strips of fabric, glued them in the center of the invites, wrapped a piece of twine around it, and sealed it with a white fleur-de-lis.

     I made a return address stamp using my 2000 Plus Stamp Kit and a Vintage Marquis Rubber Stamp from Paper Source.  

This is the lovely couple, Chase and Kiri.

     We were going for a rustic garden party, so we rented a few vintage tables from FOUND.  We incorporated the Guns and Roses theme into the speciality drinks, including a drink entitled "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang." And I made embossed guns and roses coasters using a fabulous gun stamp made by Village Impressions.

     The shower was catered by Good Gracious! Events!  The menu included passed horderves like mini BLT panini's and truffle steak fries, and the buffet included salmon and pulled pork sliders.  The dessert table was my favorite (I have a huge sweet tooth), filled with an assortment of lavender colored candy, macaroons, and tray passed espresso milk shakes with freshly made chocolate chip cookies.  They did an amazing job, and everything tasted wonderful!  

     When the guests arrived we took pictures of them with a Polaroid camera and had pre-made sheets for guests to display their pictures and write notes to the bride and groom.

     We had a couple games during the shower, and I made a little prize table for guests to choose there prizes.  One of the games we played I got from my Auntie Mae.  It's super easy and a great way to get the guests involved when the bride and groom are opening gifts.  We call it "The Timer Game."  All you need for this game is an egg timer.  When the bride and groom start opening gifts, just set the egg timer for a few minutes.  Whoever's present the couple is opening when the timer goes off, wins a prize!

     Another quick and easy game was set up as the guests entered.  I made a pin-board with each month of the year, and instructions to write down your name and your Wedding Anniversary (if you were married), or (if you were single) your Birthday, on a tag and pin it to the date on the board.  The guest with the date closest to the bride and groom's upcoming Wedding date, won a prize!  It was especially fun to hear when some of the older couples where married, and how long they had been married.

     The "Family Bingo" game was a little twist on traditional bingo.  I asked questions about the bride and groom's family before hand and made bingo cards with little bits of information about the family members that were going to attend the shower.  The guests then went around asking if any of the family members, for example, "Had their Motorcycle License."  If they did, they would initial the square.  The first guest to get a full row of initialed squares won a prize.  This was a great way for the guests to mingle, and learn a little bit about the families of the bride and groom.

     For the favors I ordered lavender Rose and Gun soaps from Etsy.  I loved working with the shops from Etsy, they were so sweet and helpful.  Please see a list of the shops at the bottom of this post.

     We had such a fabulous time, and it was such a blessing that the mother of the bride is a professional photographer - we have so many lovely snap shots to remember it by!

LLLove,

Jen & Jess

Invitations: Wedding Paper Divas

Catering & Flowers: Good Gracious! Events

Rentals: Classic Party Rentals & Found Vintage Rentals

Photography: Faye's Captured Moments

Chalkboard Sign: Jessica Bailey of Linen, Lace, & Love

Event Design: Linen, Lace, & Love

Favors: Roses by Katy Star Soaps & the Guns by: Delightful Wonders, Broken Road Farm, Love Lee Soaps, Sweet Soap Treat, and The Pig and the Peacock

Gun Stamp: Village Impressions