Back in September I had the most wonderful bridal shower. It was held outside at my matron of honor's house, and the weather was absolutely perfect. I was told to be fashionably late, and I arrived to find friends and family mingling in the backyard.
On the deck, a vinegar and olive oil tasting had been set up, and as I looked around the yard, I quickly learned I was having an Italian-themed bridal shower. It was incredibly appropriate, as Jeff and I are headed to Italy for our honeymoon. There were gorgeous centerpieces with beautiful red Gerbera daisies in wine bottles, Italian music, Italian food, and plenty of wine.
But back to that olive oil and vinegar tasting table. My sister had recently discovered a store near where she goes to school in Ithaca, New York, that sells all sorts of flavored vinegars and oils. The company is called F. Oliver's and it's based out of Canandaigua, New York. They have three stores, and you can sample all their olive oils and vinegars when you're there. It definitely sounds like my kind of place, and my sister, knowing that, suggested this tasting table and mini olive oil and vinegar bottles as shower favors.
We tasted several varieties of olive oil, including Fresh Bright Basil, Fresh Pressed Blood Orange, Heady Garlic, and Tuscan Garden (which had lots of rosemary notes). And we also savored several vinegars, like Dark Chocolate, Lemon Bouquet, Felix Oliver's 18-Year-Old Special Reserve, and Aromatic Oregano. The Dark Chocolate Balsamic Vinegar and the Fresh Pressed Blood Orange Extra-Virgin Olive Oil were a very popular combination. I thought the sampling was a very fun -- and very foodie -- shower activity.
I mingled with guests a bit and munched on the snacks set out on the tables. There were heaping bowls of mixed olives.
There were adorable red, white, and green caprese skewers.
And did I mention wine? There was wine. And punch too. (I actually picked out the wines for my shower, but I wasn't told the theme, which explains why they aren't Italian... they're just wines I enjoy!)
After a little while of visiting with friends and family, I was asked to lead the way to lunch and was thrilled to see this delicious spread.
There were heaping bowls of Caesar salad studded with grape tomatoes (with homemade croutons on the side).
There were meatballs in homemade sauce and little pizza puffs (that I didn't get a picture of).
There were my mom's stuffed shells.
And there was chicken piccata. (My matron of honor's husband actually made all that chicken for us. He's a great guy!)
And then there was dessert.
My shower was held the day after my birthday, so there was birthday cake for me, and everyone sang "Happy Birthday." The cake was from Sweet Maria's and it was amazing. I saw people going back for more. It was almost like a tiramisu cake... it didn't have the texture of tiramisu but it definitely had those flavors.
There were also mocha cupcakes and lemon cupcakes that my matron of honor and her son made that morning. (Mini cupcakes, of course, because they know me.)
And there were cannoli -- both regular and chocolate -- from Mazzicato's in Hartford. People were raving about these. And I definitely sampled a chocolate one before the day was through.
After all the feasting, I sat with my bridesmaids (minus two -- missed my Lindsays that day but can't wait to see them at the wedding!) and opened presents. I was blown away by everyone's thoughtfulness and generosity. The whole day was just perfect. I may be biased, but this was the best bridal shower I've ever attended!
And I have these two to thank... BIG TIME!
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| My mom and my matron of honor |
On top of everything else my mom did for my shower, she arranged to have both my aunt (who lives in California) and one of my sisters fly in and surprise me. That was the icing on the cake!
Thank you to everyone who made my bridal shower such a fun, memorable occasion!
And thanks to friends and family for taking the pictures I used in this post.