Matron of Honor Duties

As the Matron of Honor for my sister's wedding, I had the honor to co-host her bridal shower with her soon to be mother-in-law near Baltimore, MD this past weekend. I think she had a fantastic time thank goodness but I'm not going to lie, I think I stressed more about this party than I did my own wedding. Is that crazy?! I know, I'm a little psycho, but it really is more stressful throwing a party for someone else's tastes rather than your own. Amiright? 

Anywho, despite the minor (hah, riiight) stressing I did, it was fun to get back into the planning mode after having put it all in the back of my mind after our wedding last September. My sister and her fiance's wedding colors are navy blue, grey, and pops of orange so I focused on Blue Ombre as the general theme. 

Of course being me I wanted to DIY as much as I could. I started by creating a blue ombre fabric garland with fabric quarters I got from Joann's and then created a "Bride-to-Be" banner out of pre-cut chipboard triangles and silver Sharpies. You really can decorate for a bridal shower on a budget and still make it personal and meaningful! 

I puffy painted a plate (from the dollar store, shhh don't tell Lindsay ;) ) that served as a guest book as well as something that Lindsay could take home to remember all of the ladies that traveled near and far for her shower! 

On the same table, I had a Ball jar that I had painted "L <3 N" on that was a Date Night Idea Jar. I wrote in chalk some basic instructions for the jar to encourage guests to think of specific and creative date night ideas to fill the jar. We filled about half at the shower itself and then one of the bridesmaids who also traveled from afar like myself for the shower (Thanks Sarah!) brainstormed with some wine after the shower to complete the rest of the Popsicle sticks with cutesy date ideas. 

Some of the festive food and drinks we had included a spiked drink called "Brunchy Punch"  that was so yummy, fruit kabobs with heart shaped watermelons on the top that I made thanks to a bridesmaid's awesome suggestion, and cupcakes in the shape of a wedding dress made by the groom's mother. They all turned out so delicious and cute at the same time!

 The favors were one of my favorite parts for sure! One of the bridesmaids (Thanks Amie!) handmade the cucumber sugar scrub as well as many of the foods we enjoyed and I made the tags for the jars. Funny story: my sister and her fiance met on Halloween three years ago while she was dressed as Puss in Boots and he was dressed as Batman so to this day her nickname from him is "Boots," hence the Boots' Cucumber Sugar Scrub, hehe. 

Of course what's a party without a DIY Photo Booth like the one I put together for our wedding?! I packed up my trusty tripod & camera, picked up a cute grey, polka dot fabric from Joann's for 50% off (what, what?!) and created some pretty funny cardboard cutouts of my sister and her fiance from the night they met to add some pizzazz to the pictures. Honestly, my first idea was to try and find a way to make lifesize cardboard cutouts of their costumes but in an effort to not be too creepy and without a human size printer I didn't get a chance to.

Here's a taste of our photo reel: 

Lindsay looked gorgeous as always but it was definitely the best feeling to see her smile as big as she did when she walked in the door of the venue to see twenty of the ladies that love her in her life. Cheers to the soon to be Mrs. Jarosinski! She's going to make a beautiful bride! I love you big sissy! 

Et Cetera
Lindsay's Thanksgiving Proposal
Lindsay's Engagement Photos by Moi

Peace, 
Allison