showering the bride
in a few weeks miriam is marrying martin. this past weekend i got to throw her a bridal shower.
invite.
address changed to protect the innocent. . . which is you- my neighborhood can get kind of sketchy. chip deserves the bulk of the credit here. he took my little sketch of the design on mim's ring, put it through several filters and got this. i'm withholding the very sad attempt at designing an invitation all by myself in order to protect my ego.
the decorations.
don't know what to call them, but the confetti streamer things were inspired by these amazing mobiles and by the invitation itself. cardstock, needle, fishing line, a lot of little knots, glass bead at bottom for weight and a 2"circle punch (my new favorite thing- it totally takes me back to 1987, watching my mulleted older brother walk around the house, squeezing his squeaky grips over and over and over to bulk up his wrists).
;)
oversized confetti spread on the tables. among the many solid pieces were these with the invitation design and words; words that come to martin's mind when he thinks of miriam, his bride-to-be. reading that e-mail almost made me cry.
pictures of mim in banner form. because if you spent the bulk of your childhood with a bowl cut, i'm going to celebrate it. sewn together with a zig-zag stitch; my favorite fast and lazy way to make a banner.
and of course there were balloons, because balloons mean party time.
the table.
without chip in the house to help me take pictures while i finish all the last-minute details i miss important shots like the final version of the table. but it was filled with really yummy stuff, which i can mostly thank the internet for.
if you don't normally put vanilla in your crepes, do it. fresh off the stove, these were the best things i've eaten in months. the next day at the party they were great too. for topping options: lemon curd, mascarpone/ricotta cheese filling, hot fudge sauce, strawberries, bananas, raspberries, fresh lemon juice and powdered sugar. mini quiches- made with this cream cheese tart crust (half the butter)- crazy easy and good. barefoot contessa turkey tea sandwiches- i'll use any excuse i can find to make these. i first had them years ago at brooke's house and have craved them often ever since. baby spinach salad with pears, avocado, goat cheese and raspberry vinaigrette. plums for refreshing before diving into the lemon chiffon cupcakes, ginger snaps and chocolate toffee cookies. and as people parted, there were truffles. i used this recipe with some adjustments (a bit of cream added, and a good amount of bittersweet chocolate in place of the semisweet). and to try to wash all the richness down, juice and lemon-mint water.
album. i love things like this. next to their pictures (which they e-mailed me earlier) everyone wrote a special note just for little mim. hopefully it will be fun for her to look at every now and then. . . to remember all these people when she's an old married woman. . .
among all these little details, which i loved preparing, there was talking, laughing, opening of really great gifts, sighing, over-eating and, above all, celebrating miriam. and that was by far the best part. because this bride-to-be, my sister-in-law (who also happens to be one of my very best friends) deserves to be celebrated.
Saturday, September 13, 2008 at 10:18PM
Reader Comments (25)
Katie you are the fancy party guru, I bow to you. All the details are so awesome, and so thoughtful. It must have been so fun to do, as well as attend! Great, great, great ideas. And congrats to Miriam too!
question: what did you hang the circle mobile things from? (And I totally got the picture of Dave in my head with his squeezer thing - classic)
jean- like every decoration ever hung in our house, we just used tape to hang each strand on the ceiling! i'm high class like that. ha! but not so funny now that we are peeling paint off as we take them down (should have used masking instead of packing, i guess. . .)
Love them... I'm pretty sure you throw a shower fancier than i do a wedding! But it is all classy and fun, just as it should be. It makes me feel like I must get on the ball for the shower I am throwing for a friend in just a few weeks, lest I be put to shame with only crepe paper and balloons...
Katie, are you kidding me with this? What an amazing party. I love, love, love the invitations and streamers and oversized confetti. You're amazing. And congrats to Miriam, who I don't know, but I'm certain must be great b/c she is a Rich.
the very bestest shower i've ever been to-- and all in my honor! i guess that helped make it more fun. (but even still, i think it was the bestest.)
thank you, thank you, thank you katie. it was all so beautiful. every detail was tasteful, adorable, and meaningful and the food was d.e.l.i.c.i.o.u.s.
as usual every detail is perfect! i don't know how you do it.
and congratulations to Mim!
Katie, I love reading about the parties and get-togethers you host! All the decorations and details were so thoughtful and well done, and the pictures and descriptions of the food were incredible. Nice work. :)
What an awesome shower. You made my mouth drool. Your pics are amazing. Great angles and framing. I hope she had a good time and appreciated all your hard work. It looks fantastic!
looks like an absolutely beautiful party--well done!
Congrats to Mim! I didn't know she was getting married so soon.. and I LOVE the shower.. those invites and those streamers! And of course, always delicious food at a Katie function of any sort. Oh, I miss them so!
really beautiful party! i particularly love the confetti with the words on it. a nice touch.
Wow, what a party! By the way, I love your new blog space.
blast. why are you so cool? how can i be more like you? this is such a awesome, fancy-pants shower. i want someone to have a baby or get married so i can copy you.
Katie, I can't believe you did all of this, especially with a newborn in the house. I was always so exhausted for months after bringing a new babe home. Everything you did here is so very lovely. Miriam is lucky to have had such a special day. You've also inspired me to share some of my party design and planning projects.
Mim! You are getting married? But what about my brother? I had always hoped... Well congratulations to Mim. And congratulations on having such a fantastic wedding shower. Everything looks so cool and design-y, which makes me think I need to get married so that Katie can shower me with a shower. Of course I don't have years those pictures of me with a bowl hair cut, which Katie is totally right, absolutely must be on display and in banner form (in fact Katie you should think of just keeping them up full time), and then there's the fact that I have no one that will marry me, but if I had either of those things, I would DEFINITELY want a shower like this. Love. But really as happy as I am for Mim and Martin, and I am, and I'm sure Martin is lovely (I say that as though I'm British, because I think they use that word for guys), I feel like I should've gotten a bit more warning that my brother was out of the running. Although maybe I should've told Mim (and Katie) to put him in the running, even if I had to make monthly installments. I love the album. And if I were there I would write all this in there so she could always look at it and think, 'wha?.. who is this?...' and it would be memorable.
And this is why no one will marry me. Oh and I LOVE how you protected us from your sketchy neighborhood Katie.
Katie, I was wondering if you had any pattern that you used for your absolutely adorable little school skirt? (posted Sept 2.) ...I'm new to sewing; I have 3 year old twins and would love to make something like that for my little girl. Do you have any suggestions? Thank-you.
Katie! just found your website...dont know why sarah never shared- silly girl. I HATE you! JK!!! I hate that every thing youve got the girls in I drool over...you are sooooo incredibly talented Im so impressed. Really, its a shame i have 0 artistic talent and no sewing capability in my body. Can I pay you to make all my kids clothes! Seriously Katie you should sell your stuff. Anyway all the best hope you are well.
Amber
Wow, Katie, love the blog. I found you through Raegan's blog. Can I just say you've inspired me? I went out and bought a bunch of cute fabric yesterday so I could start sewing my own clothes. I'm making a cowboy jacket and pants for my little boy. Now I just need a sewing machine (hoping for one on my birthday next month). All this because I saw your little girls "cursive" skirt with apple button and about died. It was soooo cute. So glad to see you're doing so well in New York. You're adorable, as always!
Garian
hey- where are new posts? i am addicted to reading your blog!!
Thank you? for the link to my site Katie. The question mark is because on the one hand it is great to have the traffic directed to my site but on the other I wonder if it is just more crafty people looking for ideas to copy. No doubt your party looks great but I just never know how to feel when I see people copy my work, even when it is for non commmercial purposes. Should I be flattered, mad, neutral? I try really hard to feel good about it, but it is difficult for me.
heather f-
it has been good to correspond with you via e-mail. i feel good that we understand each other a little better now.
everyone-
for the record i have never been an art director at martha stewart (weird confusion leading to that idea), nor am i a professional creative. at this point i've only got time to be a mom to my three littles. this blog is just about the things i do with and for my family.
i have a great amount of respect for the creative professionals out there. it takes a lot of work and vision to really make a go of an idea. i try to support them when i can, and credit them and their beautiful ideas when i use them for my own purposes. like for streamers for a party. thank you beeline mid-century and frazier and wing. your mobiles are lovely.
just so super-lovely! i am inspired and enjoyed seeing the happiness radiate through your photos. what a beautiful invitation!
wow.
I just discovered your blog and I am in 'awe.' But I must admit I'm creatively-challenged. I want to make a photo banner like the one you did for your friend's wedding shower. Can you walk me through what you mean when you said..."sewn together with a zig-zag stitch; my favorite fast and lazy way to make a banner." THX!