Liz and Brandon's Big Day!!: May 2012

Thank you SOOOOO much to everyone who was involved in this creative, thoughtful, embarrassing, awesome day! Brandon and I were blown away by the generosity and thoughtful messages that were given to us. We are truly grateful to have you all in our lives. I had such an amazing time seeing family and friends that I have not seen in years and meeting new women. This was a great opportunity to get mildly prepared for what the wedding will be like... it was a little overwhelming, but in a good way!

So for those of you who could not make it I will fill you in on what it was like: the theme, the food, the company and the gifts, followed by pictures... be prepared Elton John makes an appearance!

My Aunt Liz (mom's brother's wife) opened her home for this event and it was perfect! Lots of space, A/C (which was a must with all those bodies!) and cute cats and dog that some guests threatened to take home. The theme was MOVIES, which of course was perfect for moi! There was a banner that read "Oscar Choice Liz in Love at First Alien" (it is in a picture), mini red carpet, and movie decorations all over.

The food was delicious. Aunt Liz made Lasagna which was YUM-MY! There was a terrific spread of caesar salad, fruit with chocolate dip, a pastry that I am not sure of the name but it is in pictures, nachos and dip, and more that I cannot recall but I am told was provided in the most part by my bridesmaids. Katie (Bridesmaid) and Brittni (MOH) put together a movie themed snack table. Brittni made cupcakes with caramel corn on top and Katie put together a popcorn station. It was a hit! I tried many times to make it up there... I wanted popcorn so badly, but everytime I made a break for it I got stopped... luckily Katie left me a popcorn maker to take home and I got to take home some of the extras :).

There were 24 ladies there including myself and many who sent their regrets but it really was a great group. Everyone had a lot of fun participating in some of the games and watching me embarrass myself in others. I cannot tell you how many ladies groped me throughout the afternoon... my pink bow nipples on my large breast plates where attracting all the ladies LOL.

When it came to gifts as I said before we were blown away by the generosity. Our parents had passed along the message that no gift was required, of course, but we did have a registry and we were looking for contributions to our honeymoon in Disney. The monetary contribution we received was very substantial and so greatly appreciated and will be put towards many exciting dinners and excursions while we are in Orlando. Those that gave gifts found such creative thoughtful things. Brandon's mom gave us a beautiful set of Paderno pots and pans wrapped in such a creative way. She used a set of cute tea towels instead of wrapping paper it was such a good idea. Brittni's mom's gift has Liz written all over it! She found beautiful book ends that look like an old Keystone Movie Projector, a collection of vintage movie posters, and a great beach bag. Brandon's Grandmother got me a great travel bag that was on the registry. I am so excited to break it in on my birthday weekend! Shannon McNea, a friend of Jan's, came up with such a thoughtful gift that also had Liz written all over it but for a different reason. She got me a cupcake tray with Disney cupcake wrappers and put together a little recipe book of Disney inspired cupcakes as well as a La Sensa gift card. Finally, Brittni put together a travel pack for me: a beautiful vintage suit case (for show not really to be used, but I love it!) and inside she put a bathing suit cover up, sparkly flip-flops, Danier passport cover, La Vie En Rose gift card, and 2 really cute travel tags... I told Brandon he can use the pink and yellow bird one :D haha. As you can see the generosity and thoughtfulness was overwhelming.

On the drive home Brandon and I were talking about Thank You cards and how we did not want to use the same ones we will use after the wedding because people would get two of the same... we decided to create movie themed Thank You cards for all the bridal shower guests so those will be printed this week. I hope people like them... last minute design change :)

Now for pictures...*Sigh*