Hello! Happy Monday! I hope you had an enjoyable long (for some) weekend 🙂 

On Saturday I threw a bridal shower for one of my best friends! It was brunch bar themed with splashes of gold! Sometimes bridal showers can be a little awkward because people from all walks of the bride’s life are coming together to celebrate her, but don’t necessarily know each other. Good food + interactive activities are the keys to making sure everyone has a great time! 

Parfait Bar: 

The parfait bar has 2 roles, some see it as a little appetizer or side dish while others who may be more health conscious view it as a perfect dessert option. It is a great way to mix fruit into your brunch without having a typical fruit salad. To add in a fun factor give your guests the option to build their parfait in a waffle bowl! 

Mashed Potato Bar: 

This may not seem like your typical brunch food, but it was a huge hit! It is important to incorporate some of the bride’s favorite things into the shower and mashed potatoes happens to be one of this bride’s favorite foods! I used this slow cooker mashed potato recipe by Ali at Gimme Some Oven blog which made this bar so simple! I turned the potatoes on early Saturday morning and then didn’t have to think about them again until right before guests arrived! Since some people like their mashed potatoes loaded while others would rather have them plain the bar gives everyone that freedom. For toppings I had chopped red onions, green onions, salsa, sour cream and cheddar cheese. 

To tie in the potatoes and give the meal some more substance I made 2 Bisquick Egg Bakes from a recipe I shared on the blog earlier this year. One had sausage, onion, peppers and bacon and the other had spinach, mushroom, onion and tomato. 

Donut Bar: 

For the fun stuff, a donut bar is so simple and a huge crowd pleaser – who doesn’t like donuts!? You can bake some of your own or pick up an assortment and display them with a cute sign like “all you need is love and a donut”. I baked the full sized donuts and got the munchkins from Dunkin. Putting the munchkins on sticks is a fun and easy twist to add to your display! 

Mimosa Bar: 

To make a great mimosa bar all you really need is champagne, a few juice choices. I chose orange, grapefruit and pineapple – pineapple was surprisingly the crowd favorite! If you want to dress it up a little you can include a sign like “pop, fizz, clink” and fresh berries for extra fun! 

Games & Traditions: 

There are so many bridal shower games these days. Pictured above is a guessing game where you guess how many hershey kisses are in the jar. The person that guesses closest wins the jar! It is fun to incorporate something as simple as this because it gets people up and chatting. In case you are wondering there were 104 kisses in the jar! 

The second game I choose was “How well do you know the future Mr. & Mrs.”. You guess whether it was the bride-to-be or the groom-to-be that did certain things from “who said I love you first” to “who is the better dancer”. All the guests fill in their guesses and then you ask the bride for her answers, the guest that gets the most correct answers wins a prize. This game is great because it appeals to everyone at the shower. There are lots of games about how well you know the bride, but not everyone at the shower is there strictly for the bride. Often the groom’s family and friends are also there so it is nice to include him in the conversation and takes some pressure off of the bride. 

Bridal shower traditions are special and can very family to family. In my family we make a bouquet out of the bows from all of the gifts for the bride to use at the rehearsal. This bride’s family makes a hat out of the bows and a bouquet out of the tissue paper! It’s always fun to see and participate in different traditions. It’s also fun when the bride doesn’t find out about the bow baby rule until she has already broken her first bow 🙂 (bow baby rule: the number of bows you break = the number of children you are going to have). 

Cake: 

No bridal shower would be complete without a cake! Cake for brunch is totally appropriate. 

Favors: 

I sent guests home with a heart shaped rice crispy treat on a stick! They are a cheap and easy DIY project that are perfect for the occasion!