April's Bridal Shower

What's the next best thing after your own wedding? Your sisters wedding!

I have been having so much fun these past few months helping my sister prepare for Holy Matrimony. I am thrilled April and Ryan found each other. He's a great guy; she's a great gal; and together they make a great union. 

April has been so gracious to allow me to help her from start to finish with all the big day preparations. When I got hitched (nearly 9 years ago!) I was absolutely clueless about weddings (and marriage - but that's a post for another day). Since I were only 21 I really had no wedding experience. And there wasn't Pinterest or wedding blogs way back then. When I see all the cool things pop up on the web these days I'm a bit bummed I missed out on some of the wedding planning fun. (Although I did LOVE my wedding. And because it was such a simple affair I was completely stress free the entire time. Maybe being married back in the olden days had it's advantages!) But when your sister gets married, and you have the privilege of being her Maid Matron of Honor, it's like getting to do it all over again. Within hours of April's engagement I had a wedding board going on Pinterest and the ideas where flowing. 

A few weeks ago my mom and I threw April a bridal shower. Being that the guest list was over 40 people and I was 400 miles away I really have to thank my mom for doing so much of the work. 

We had so much fun putting it together and the day turned out lovely. 

My mom had a brilliant idea that both saved money and looked great: she bought my sister a beautiful set of cloth napkins, a large table linen and glassware as a shower gift. We then used these gifts as part of the shower decor. We laid out the napkins as centerpieces, used the glasses as vases, and threw the table linen over the banquet table. 

Proud to report I crafted that banner myself!

I knew I wanted to incorporate a photo of my then-8-year-old sister wearing our grandmother's wedding dress into the day. My mom managed to located the photo, we had is scanned and then used it on the invitations.

Me, April and Mom

April has a very real fear of breaking out in a cold sore the day of her wedding, so I filled favor boxes with Hershey's kisses and chapstick to remind everyone to pray that the Lord would keep her lips smooth and clear for the wedding day and honeymoon!

Beautiful Bride