I used to think weddings were easy, HAH! Never a bride but always arranging flowers or decorating or doing something useful for my friends, I thought planning my own wedding would be a piece of cake.

WHY? Because I thought I was sooo organized and OCD that I’d make plans in advance and everything would be perfect.

OKAY so I can admit when I’m totally WRONG. Geez… this wedding stuff is super time consuming and kinda overwhelming. I mean, this is my first and definitely my last! Luckily, Anton absolutely agrees LOL.

I wanted a simple, fun, big shower. I totally skipped on having a bachelorette because, well, not only is it time consuming but I guess I’m at that age where strippers and a long girlie night out in Vegas just isn’t my thing.

I’ll probably celebrate and have a spa day for those willing when we get back from Italy.

Let’s talk about my shower and how I started out six months ago super bossy and OCD, then totally had to give up last minute control to my sister, Dad’s GF and one of my BFF’s. WHY? Because I was so freaking busy planning everything else wedding and working that I literally ran out of time for my shower!

Can I give a HUGE shout out and thank you and hugs and kisses to my sister, Lolly and Melinda for throwing such a perfect “me” shower. I mean seriously, I was a total pain in the ass. 

When people throw you a party you should totally be grateful and shut the heck up, right? NOT ME. I have to get soooo OCD and perfectionist about every little detail. Thank God my sister is pretty chill and relaxed. Not to mention she’s dealt with me for like 33 plus years of her life hahaha! And Lolly is a party planning animal. She’s so amazing at throwing shindigs- they come second nature to her!

A week before the shower I kinda gave up and let my sister, Lolly and Melinda do their thing based on my psychotic requests in the previous months.

My idea was to keep everything pretty and simple. I wanted my aqua colors OF COURSE so I went with my sister to Party City to pick out all the decorations. They have great stuff in just about every color imaginable btw.

I was also extremely selective with my flowers. I wanted a bunch of beautiful white roses with babysbreath everywhere! And remember my mason jars from our engagement party? Yep, we totally reused and put them to go use! Well, I shouldn’t say “we,” because I owe all the credit to my beautiful friend Melinda. She designed and created all of these gorgeous floral arrangements. These are the perfect decoration guys and you can even pick them up at Von’s! I’m telling you, my shower was gorgeous and we even managed to stay on budget. 🙂

I am not into balloons… read my blog on change and conservation in 2017 to find out why I am so anti balloons. I am also not into confetti (way too messy to clean up) nor streamers nor signage or anything else that presents itself as “clutter”. Super boring, I know.

I also did not want a bunch of organized games and activities like pin the bridesmaids if that’s even a game lol? My entire life revolves around a schedule and appointments. Just this once I wanted to enjoy the moment without having to usher people into different activities on a time frame! I really wanted to invite my besties… a large group of women who are super supportive of me and super amazing… for an afternoon of delicious food, drinks and great company.

Since our wedding is sooo small I also wanted to be sure to include all my best gal pals not coming to the wedding, to my shower. I may not have mentioned this before, but some of my best friends are also my clients… I mean, how cool is it that I get to work with a bunch of the most amazing, hot, smart, fabulous women ever? Pretty darn fantastic if you ask me.

Our afternoon was definitely one of girl power and boss babes all the way.

Naturally being me, I taught all morning then rushed home to do my makeup and hair (in ten minutes of course) barely managing a shower. Thank God I got my extensions the night before!

Lucky for Anton, he got to play driver and join.

HAHAHA… I decided to make Anton one of our bartenders so he could meet all the girls. And since we were having the shower at my Dad and his girlfriend’s house, what better way to include the excited father of the bride than to put him to work bartending too?

I know… odd that an all women’s shower would include the father of the bride and the groom. But then again, I’m SO not normal and I sooo never do anything normal. Even my adorable nephew came by to say hi and practically steal the show!

Oh- and let’s not forget my two baby boys! Of course Vasco and Bushmill were totally invited, tuxedos and all. They were a big hit… I’m just saying, they totally know how to flirt and work a crowd of women!

Our event began at 2pm with no set ending time. I prefer to leave my parties “open ended” so people don’t feel rushed to leave.

I couldn’t believe how amazing everything was. I mean, the presentation was clean and exactly how I wanted it to be. Lolly and my sister Meggie actually listened to me, HAH, you’d think I was paranoid or something. Of course they did!

It totally helps when you pick a venue that fits your personality. Dad and Lolly’s house is this super clean, modern, white and grey home with huge sliding doors that open up to a large patio of sunshine. Very befitting of me and my shower, wouldn’t you say?

As for my dress? I chose an Australian designer from everyone’s favorite revolve.com. I wanted something classy and graceful. After about 2398743 orders and returns, I finally found the one! Oh yeah and good thing it fit since I only tried it on briefly once. Talk about last minute. OMG get it together Shanna!

The food was phenomenal. We snacked on a bunch of healthy finger food because why serve anything heavy to a group of women on a Saturday afternoon :)? We enjoyed baked salmon and tofu, tomato mozzarella salad in honor of Italy, spicy Mexican carrots and guacamole (yes I even allowed for a few chips but did not partake as I was beginning my wedding “crash” diet haha), cucumbers, and vegan gluten free chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies (for those not on the wedding diet of course).

YUM.

I’m obsessed with finger food and these white food picks we found at Party City. They made grabbing a bite while chit chatting super easy.

If I had to do it all over again I wouldn’t change a thing. Why have your shower at a restaurant when you can have it at your Dad’s beautiful home where his loving GF makes such incredibly delicious, healthy food? We had control over everything from ingredients to music (Pandora’s bossanova station was a must) and beverages.

Speaking of beverages, let’s talk about the bar next.

I would have preferred to serve one or two drink types MAX like rose’ and blue margaritas BUT I felt that would have been totally selfish of me considering my guests all enjoy different things. Even I can’t be sooo OCD ha. (But I could and did pick everything aqua blue.)

I compromised. I had my sister get a mixture of rose’, champagne, chardonnay and red wine. We served my own creative “aqua” margarita consisting of silver tequila, sparkling water, a slice of lime and a splash of blue cointreau. DELISH. And since we had complete control of the bartenders, variations could be easily acomomdated!

Overall it was an amazing day. My sister even found some fun “How well do you know the bride” and “Advice for the married couple” cards. Anton and I read these together the following day and I must say they were pretty awesome.

I guess my eyes are yellow not green LOL and my shoe size is anywhere from a 6 to a size 10 HAHA! The best advice I found was to talk to eachother when we are having a disagreement rather than go vent and talk to other people. I soooo love this. It’s totally great advice. Why triangulate and cause more problems when you can talk to each other? Communication is key in my opinion.

Whoa and let’s not forget to talk about my party favors. I wanted to give each lady a little something fun on their way out. Staying true to my mode de vie fit brand, I chose these awesome PETA approved face masks in coconut, almond oil, charcoal and honey almond options. Vegan and 100% organic and natural, I wrapped them in delicate white netted bags with a See’s Candy sucker. Come on, every girl needs a little treat once in a while. And besides… these suckers are sooo wedding crash diet approved. When I’m starving at night, I stay away from the fridge and grab one of these yummy, low calorie treats!

For me, having a large, low key shower at my Dad’s house was perfect. For someone else, the perfect place could be a restaurant or bar or golf club with man servants and games galore!

Remember, have your shower at least one month in advance of your big day. You want and really need time to enjoy each beautiful part of your engagement and wedding. Don’t listen to what anyone else wants. Do things exactly how you envision them because everything leading up to your special day should really be for and all about you!

And now I believe we are landing in Rome so I must sign off. Arriverderci and more from Italy mañana.

xx Shanna