Howdy, y’all! My last spring break as a Notre Dame student is off to a wonderful start! Saturday afternoon was my beautiful Houston bridal shower hosted by my sweet aunts, and I have plenty more wedding tasks to attend to while I’m home this week. I can’t believe the next time I’m here we’ll be a month out from the wedding! Time is flying by so quickly!
Deciding on a June wedding ended up being perfect timing with my academic schedule, as we were able to hold the bridal shower on March 5th – just over three months out from my wedding day! It was so much better than I could have ever imagined, and it was so nice to have it hosted at my parents’ house. I have a tendency to run a bit late to events (a really bad habit, I know!), so being able to just walk downstairs helped ease my stress so much – especially with all of the other wedding-related things on my to-do list!
As the bride, I got to have a bit of a say in the design, so I asked for a light blue, white, and silver theme to match our wedding colors, and y’all…it was simply stunning! From the decor to the food to the music (this Martha Stewart Living ‘Summer’ playlist has been on repeat during my engagement season), it was the most perfect afternoon. I loved getting to see so many of my neighbors and my mom’s friends from Church, all of whom have watched me grow up since I was two years old!
I can’t wait to share all of the details!
I know guest books are a little old school at this point, but I still really wanted one for our wedding! To make sure it would actually get used, we decided to make it a guest book for all of our wedding events: two bridal showers (one in Houston and one in Pittsburgh) and our actual wedding day. We gave different prompts for each event, and given that most guest books are left pretty blank, I was very happy with how much use ours got!
My mom ordered a ton of prints from our engagement photo shoot and had them on display throughout the house. It was such a sweet touch! She also put together a number of fresh blue and white hydrangea arrangements and it complimented both my style and the overall theme so well!
The balloon arch!! So fun and festive! This was a special request, as I used the same balloon arch kit for a party I threw my bridesmaids after they said yes to being in our wedding party, and it turned out so well!
The food was absolutely delicious! We had three different types of finger sandwiches, Caprese skewers with balsamic glaze, yogurt parfaits, and fresh veggies – just right for an early-afternoon shower!
In proper brunch fashion, we had a mimosa bar with three different types of juices and one of my favorite brands of Prosecco, La Vostra!
For a second drink option, we had John Dalys! If you’re unfamiliar, a John Daly is an Arnold Palmer (iced tea and lemonade) spiked with vodka and garnished with mint. It was definitely a favorite among our guests! To add a personalized touch, the drink station also had stir sticks with our wedding monogram from Shuler Studio – I still haven’t gotten over how cute they were!
My mom had a fresh lei from Honolulu flown in for this special occasion, and it was such a lovely surprise! My parents used to live in Hawai’i and loved the island and culture so much that they gave me a Hawaiian name (Malia Keikilani – Mary, Heavenly Child), so this meant so much to me!
I was so blown away by the generosity of our family and friends – I couldn’t have asked for a better day! It was such a wonderful taste of how fun our wedding day will be! I can’t wait to have all of our favorite people under one roof, and I’m so excited for Jacob to meet everyone. Although I must say, one other thing I realized after the shower is how hard it is to find time to eat when you’re visiting with so many people – I’ll have to keep that in mind when it comes to our wedding day!
There are lots of other exciting things happening this week – a dress fitting, a wine tasting, a catering tasting, and some large decor orders – so I’ll be kept pretty busy for the rest of spring break. I also have lots of things to get done with school, so I apologize if I’m not super present these next couple of months, but I promise I’ll be back after graduation!
Hopefully this was a fun little recap to read – I’ve been loving these Wedding Wednesday posts, and I’m so looking forward to sharing how everything comes together in June!
fondly,
Malia
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