Wedding Wednesday #9 - a shower, Red Gate Farm style

Last Sunday was the second and final bridal shower... one with a bit of "Red Gate Farm" flair!

The invitations set the theme and style for the shower.... pink, red and aqua goodness... with a bit of Cath Kidston and country feel.

The weather here has been challenging, at best.  We had downpours on Friday and Saturday... with a bit of thunder and lightening to add to the excitement.  Fortunately Sunday was looking like we might escape the days of rain.  By Sunday morning I had decided to live dangerously and hold the shower OUTSIDE!

So, welcome to Red Gate Farm.... have a stroll around the house to the back yard...

A bit of whimsy in the decorations... and vintage in the honeycomb/paper bells that I found at the local thrift store for $.39 a piece...

Pull up a chair...

The sky may look a bit gray and drab but it was getting mighty warm by now... and the rain was looking like it would definitely hold off.

It took every chair I owned for seating...

Perhaps I could intest you in a little pink lemonade?

And, of course, there are color coordinated paper straws available for your enjoyment, in what else but a little milk glass pitcher.

Now that you've had a little refreshment, it's GAME time!  What's a bridal (or baby) shower without a game or two?  I used to collect ideas for games from a cousin that is the BEST at this... of course now games and ideas abound on the internet... but one idea I got from her years ago was to make the games up in a little packet of some kind.  For this shower the packet is covered with a card I had printed from an image off of the internet.  Then little packets were made with a pastel colored brad in the corner... but a ribbon works well too.

One of the games was about "what's in your purse/bag"?  A fun one for sure... the most points wins!

And my all time FAVORITE shower game is BINGO!  You play it during the gift opening.  I find that people pay more attention during the gift opening with this little idea.... it works great for baby showers too.  The cards take a bit of time to make up so that they are all different but it's not too bad with a computer and printer... if the bride and groom are registered it gives you lots of ideas to put on the cards.  I like to add some very generic and some very specific items....

Once the games were over it was time to eat!  And you can now see that yes, we do occasionally have blue skies here!  The food was mostly planned as small, bite sized items... easy to dish up so that everyone can move through the buffet quickly.

I couldn't resist adding my vintage strawberry jars... I once heard that jam came in these little pots although I'm not sure about that.... (and please ignore their dust... I should have wiped them off first!)

Other decorations included my rotating "thing" meant to hold pictures... with bits and pieces to reflect the shower colors and theme as well as the bride and groom...

I couldn't resist "Johnson's Bingo".... the groom's last name (and soon to be the bride's) plus BINGO!  Enough said....

The wedding date...

The buffet table was actually made up of two old doors and two saw horses.... my standby for picnics and parties.  Throw a tablecloth or two on it and voila... serving space!

I've amassed quite a collection of serving trays and plates... so I went to my stash and pulled out everything pink, aqua, red, white and pastel-y.... plus I found these fabulous paper doilies at Michael's and the pink rose tray at IKEA in just the perfect colors!

And I can't pass up the paper plates and napkins... most were Cath Kidston but were all pink, red, aquas, pastels and florals again....

My grandma's vintage forks and a piece of Cath Kidston fabric put in an appearance...

And after the meal?  Well sweets of course... loaded with strawberries and raspberries.  Sugar cookies, chocolate thumbprints... both Martha Stewart recipes...

Fabulous raspberry white chocolate cupcakes and to take home, little cups filled with truffles from and made by a local candy store.

The cupcakes were even baked in cute little floral paper wrappers!

By the end the lemonade was gone and the peonies a bit droopy...

So to finish up the party, I had rusty old wheel barrow full of flowers that I had grown from seed for guests to take home....

And fortunately, for my sanity,  the weather held through out the shower and it turned out lovely...

Even though I forgot so many little things I wanted to do... but that always seems to be the way I operate!

Today's wedding post is quite appropriate since the soon to be married couple is celebrating a 3 year anniversary today as well!

Looking forward to some quiet weekends and home... but at 7 plus weeks until the big day they won't be quite for long!