A Rare Summer Shower in Georgia

It didn't rain this weekend in south Georgia but there was another kind of shower: my first bridal shower! Despite the 100+ degree heat, a handful of women braved the elements and made the trek over to my FMIL's friend's house. Isn't it beautiful?

The first thing I noticed when I walked in was the fabulous spread laid out on the dining room table. There was quiche, pin wheels, petit fours, fruit, candied pecans, and more! Nom nom. And of course we drank sweet tea like the true southern belles we are! ;) We also took a moment to marvel over the centerpiece that even included real apples!

Two of my flower girls tagged along with my mom to the shower. Here is Morgan (honorary flower girl because of her age) and Haleigh, my older sister's daughters. Their older sister Autumn (one of my Jr. BMs) was spending the night with a friend. I was impressed with how well-behaved they were the entire time. They even helped me unwrap gifts! Can you believe they are just 2 of my 5 nieces?!?

Soon it was gift time! Here's a quick run down of the afternoon:

Click to enlarge!

I absolutely loved my shower hostesses! Mr. Lab grew up with all of their children and his mother is great friends with them. They take turns throwing showers and parties for each other's children so the mothers can relax along with the guest of honor. How thoughtful is that?

(l-r) Ms. Jo Ann, Ms. Sharon, me, & Ms. Vickie.

When we got back to FMIL's house, we decided to take a photo in the same spot we did 2 years ago after my FSIL's bridal shower (thrown by the same ladies). I'm going to print off this photo to put in a frame next to the earlier one for my FMIL.

FMIL, me, & FSIL

Leslie's 2007 bridal shower (brace-face alert!)

As we were leaving the shower, I snapped a photo of the balloons and bow tied to the mailbox in my honor. I didn't realize until later that there were only 2 out of 4 balloons in the picture. The temperature had risen so quickly in the two hours of the shower that the helium expanded and popped the other 2!

I loved all the gifts I received, but I must admit that I'm especially anxious to try out this puppy. Margaritas anyone? :D

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My MOH just told me today that the invites for our north Georgia (co-ed) wedding shower came in! I'm excited that Mr. Lab will be attendance at that one: it's a home & garden shower! Hopefully he'll rack up on some much needed power tools and lawn supplies while I continue collecting housewares. We need to update our registries now that one shower is out of the way so we can avoid duplicates (we registered for the same items at different locations so everyone had a chance to get to a local store). Hey, this registry thing isn't as bad as I thought after all! ;)

"I thought these things were supposed to be fun?!?"

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Contrary to popular belief, wedding registries are not that much fun to put together. In fact, it's a lot of work and it loses its novelty very quickly. I believe people get this confused with the actual bridal showers where you RECEIVE the gifts, not REGISTER for them. That was your PSA for the day. You're welcome. ;)

Okay okay! I know not all of you feel the same way I do.

In fact, I was really looking forward to the registry fun when I first got engaged. So much so that I started on them about 3 weeks after we became "official". This was done in part because I was afraid that when the time would come around to do this (according to a suggested wedding time line) I'd be too busy with finals or an internship. Boy was I right! Our first shower is a little over 2 weeks away and I still haven't done much more than that first day of registering. My FMIL had already gotten a couple calls about where we were registered BEFORE the shower invites even went out. Yikes!

The truth is, registries sort of intimidate me because I don't really know what I'll need or will really use. It feels so "adult" to upgrade from our cheap silverware (and sometimes plastic-ware) to formal flatware or from busted pots to amazing professional cookware. Then there's the fact that Mr. Lab and I have been living together for almost 2 years, so we already have a lot of things that are typical on registry lists. And the fact that our little rented house probably can't hold all the items we'll be receiving. But I know we'll need all these amazing things once we move into our "real" home someday soon.

So here I am rushing to fill out our registries and making sure we will really use whatever is on them. Mr. Lab and I wanted to keep them as functional as possible for us; i.e. no china, etc.. The hardest part now has been making sure people who live in the smaller towns will have easy access to our choices. We both prefer online shopping but are keeping in mind our older guests who may not want to fuss with a computer.

Our final choices ended up being Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, Dillard's, and Amazon.com. Amazon can really pull through for those "odds and ends" items and regularly offer free shipping and no taxes which is a big incentive for our guests to buy from them! Mr. Lab especially likes Amazon for all the tools he's registered for that he couldn't find in our other stores.

Did anyone else get a late start on their registry? Did it cause any trouble for your shower guests?

I Heart Snail Mail.

Look what the mailman brought me today!

Mr. Lab's wedding ring!!!

AND



My first bridal shower invite!!!

Mr. Lab's ring is absolutely SEXY. I cannot wait for him to be wearing it everyday. I won't get to see it on him for another 2 weeks when I'll be on a break between internships. I'm sure I'll cheat and make him wear it around the house. :D I couldn't resist having a quick photo shoot with his ring and mine today. Too bad my wedding band is back at home with him right now and couldn't join in on the fun. :(

As for the bridal shower invite, I LOVE it! It reminds me of this Kate Spade "Gwinnett Lane Cream" dinnerware I was *this close* to registering for:

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But I have a feeling Mr. Lab in all his manly glory would not have approved of such a girly pattern.* haha

Speaking of registering, I have to finish up! I got an early start but then put off finishing for too long and now I'm scrambling to complete my list before people start trying to buy! I didn't realize that my FMIL would be planning a shower so soon. More on that fiasco later...

*Okay, so I registered for them anyways! But I mixed in some of the brown set so he doesn't have to eat off the "girly" plates. Sneaky me!