How to Host a Bang Up Bridal Brunch

INSIDE: HOW TO HOST A BANG UP BRIDAL BRUNCH THE DAY BEFORE THE WEDDING

What’s not to love about brunch? You don’t have to get up early (like breakfast), you can eat many different kinds of foods, and there’s alcohol….before NOON……..YES please!!

Today, on the lifestyles of the always busy, we are going to share this amazing idea. Have a bridal shower the day before the wedding…..the bride wanted what the bride wanted, and so she got it.

My bestie lives in Baltimore, her family in NY, his family in Michigan……..they met in Myrtle Beach, SC. So it would make sense that the wedding is in MB right? I thought so – that way everyone can vacation and celebrate at the same time.

Using my event planning guide, we started the plan about 6 weeks before the wedding.

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1 – Theme

Know your bride. Pink and gold? Greenery? Diamonds? Glitter? Flowers?

Check out Pinterest for some ideas.

2 – Location

The majority of the wedding guests were travelers and staying at a hotel arranged by the bride and groom. Trying to keep it simple for everyone, we decided to book a small conference room at the hotel so the shower guests did not have far to travel either.

However, this plan works for outdoor spaces, living rooms, and giant event centers all the same!

3 – Date

Since almost everyone was traveling to the wedding, we decided the best way to get everyone in one place was to have the shower the day before the wedding.

***We learned this trick many years ago, when you live in a place that people like to vacation, it is a safe bet that they will come a few days early and stay a few days after the wedding. It is a win-win in these situations.

However, if you are not brave like us, a bridal shower can be held anywhere from 3 months to 3 weeks before the wedding. Although, I will tell you, having it the week of the wedding so people don’t have to travel twice is a bonus to getting more people to participate.

4 – Invitation

I found this absolutely beautiful, fully customizable invitation on Etsy here. I asked the bride to come up with a list, with addresses, of people she wanted to invite.

Once she sent me the list, I added the names and addresses to an Avery template and printed out address labels using these. Truth be told, I always have these on hand – they are handy for all sorts of mailings.

5 – Decorations

Oh to Amazon we go….why? Because they have everything you need and you don’t have to leave your house!

The walls and mimosa table were covered in the these tassels and tissue flowers – I don’t have a picture of this set up, but it was very easy to use these.

We decorated the tables with these runners, placed a circle of garland in the middle of the table, and added the glass vases in the middle of those. Once we filled the vases with water, we added the gold vines and floating candles.

FYI – the bride actually used the runners on cocktail tables at the reception too – perfect for all sorts of things.

6 – Food

The convenience of having the event at a hotel conference room –

They CATERED the whole thing.

Thankfully, I was able to meet with them before (cause I live here ) and decide on a simple brunch menu. We had quiche, biscuits and gravy, fried chicken with mini waffles, fruit, vegetables, and even some small cheesecake desserts.

***Regrettably, I have no pictures of this – probably because I was a little busy but it was amazing, and I am SOOO thankful we did not have to cook in addition to set up etc.

If you don’t have the option of catering, here are some menu ideas from Delish.com.

The other MAJOR part of our shindig was the MIMOSA bar!!! AND let’s be clear – every brunch should have mimosas….if you aren’t participating in that part, you are missing out!

I bought this gold frame and used the greenery side of the Bubbly Bar sign. Because the hotel catered, they also had to supply the alcohol. So they pre-made the mimosas but brought out some cranberry and apple juice – I assume it was for the non-drinkers but we also added some to the mimosas.

7 – Games and bags (no goody bags only winners bags)

We did not want to spend the whole party playing silly games, so we picked 2 games.

Wedding traditions and Love songs

The winners got a bag full of bride and groom themed favorites (bourbon and bacardi with mixers, as well as travel necessities – downy spray, spray deodorant, hand held fan, and water bottles). We had more than one winner for each, so we made sure to have plenty of winners bags.

Let me know about your bridal shower brunch ideas!

Happy partying,