shower sneak peek.

This past weekend, I had my second bridal shower. I don't have any pictures back yet from the photographer (yes, there was a photographer) so I don't want to give a full rundown of the event until I get them back. But I do want to share a sneak peek with you of the beautiful tablescapes that were created for the shower! They were so pretty!

The centerpieces consisted of rosemary topiaries and some type of perennial flower (sorry I have no idea what kind!).There was an oleander tree as a centerpiece on the food table.

Beautiful, no? The hostesses did a wonderful job, and I was in awe. I promise to post a full recap of the shower as soon as I get the pictures!

shower number two.

I recently received an exciting piece of mail! No, it wasn't another bachelor party postcard (although I'll be sure to report on those as I get them). The mail I received was the invitation to my second (and final) bridal shower! This one's hosted by a family friend with help from my mother, and will consist of mostly guests from my side of the family, along with some friends and bridesmaids that couldn't make it to the first one.

Like the last one, much of it is a surprise to me. I know it will be held at the host's lake house on the 4th of July weekend, and that's about it. I can't wait to see what they've been planning!

a tea party.

When my sister Dani and I were little, we used to spend hours playing tea party with my aunt. She would break out her best English accent and make up ridiculous names for us like "Mrs. Snodgrass" and "Miss Tiddlywink". I'm pretty sure we were close to having water poisoning...we seriously drank SO much water out of our little pink plastic teacups! Sometimes I miss being a kid.

When I saw this Alice in Wonderland themed bridal shower on Project Wedding, I immediately thought of our days playing tea party. Seriously, how fun would it be to be a guest at this party? Everything is so whimisical and bright!

(source)

I'm definitely filing this one away in the inspiration folder, just in case I have to host a shower or girly party sometime soon!

a small town shower part one.

This past weekend was a busy one for the Mascaras, or maybe just the female half.  Of course since it was a holiday weekend we were planning on making the trek back up to the UP, but the main reason we went back was so I could attend my first bridal shower!  Mr. Mascara's lovely sisters Angela and Megan hosted the event, which was held at his parent's house on the lake.  

FMIL Connie, FSIL Megan, FSIL Angela, and I

My FMIL had taken all of the furniture out of their living room to fit all the tables and chairs, and I must say it looked absolutely beautiful!  Each table was decorated in our wedding colors which I thought was very thoughtful and cute!  To add to the cuteness, every place setting had a little vase filled with pretty flowers in it to take home.  The hostesses added a little extra something to my place setting... my very own bridal likeness in wooden form from the talented Etsy seller Goose Grease!  

While chatting with guests we were served some delicious peach bellinis, I couldn't get enough of them, they were SO good!  

My sister and BM Gaby, my mom, my sister and MOH Dani, and I

After we all sat down, the food was brought in!  They had made all Italian salads and desserts in honor of our Italian honeymoon.  I was amazed by how thoughtful it was, and let me tell you the food was DELICIOUS.  It looked good too!  

The desserts were to die for.  Italian creme cake and Italian wedding cookies, homemade by both of our mothers. Yum!

Clearly I enjoyed the desserts!

After we finished stuffing every last tortellini in our mouths, it was time to open gifts.  But not before our niece (and flowergirl) Ali could steal me and drag me outside to show me the clams she had caught that morning!  Yuck!  

After making sure her hands were clean, we admired all of the beautifully wrapped gifts and my little helper handed them to me one at a time to open.  

All the beautifully wrapped gifts!

Of course Ali helped with the process of opening as well, and I was grateful to have some of the attention diverted away from me while we opened the gifts.

Stretching before opening I guess?

This present had a monster in it.  A green one at that!

All finished!

While we opened, Angela made sure to collect all the ribbons for the traditional rehearsal dinner bouquet.

Here's my horrible attempt at modeling with the bouquet!

I was amazed and humbled by the generosity of our guests, we received so many nice things! Now we just need to find a place to put them in our not-so-spacious apartment!

The event was attended by mainly my fiance's side of the family, along with some friends and my mom and sisters.  I thought it was so sweet of everyone to make time for the shower even though it was a holiday weekend.  

Some of the guests!

My MOH and sister Dani came, even though it was her birthday (thanks love!).

I am so grateful to have such wonderful friends and family to share in occasions such as this one! 

 My mom, sisters, and I

My college friend Melissa, me, BM Kiera, and high school friends Jaime and Kate

I had a fantastic time... thanks again Angela, Megan, and Mom (and Ali too of course)!

hectic holiday weekend.

My week has been hectic, to say the least.  I've been scrambling to put a bunch of things together before I go to the UP this weekend.  The craziness does not stop at the Michigan border though, we've got a ton of things planned for the holiday weekend!

The thing I'm most excited about is my bridal shower!  This is our first official wedding event, and it's making everything feel a little more real!  I'm not sure what my future sister-in-laws have up their sleeves, but it should be fun!  All I know is that its going to be held at Mr. M's parents house on the lake!  It's supposed to be about 70 degrees on Saturday, so I'm betting the event will be held outside so we can enjoy the nice weather.  I'll let you know how it goes next week!

Unfortunately, it's not all fun and games.  I also have several meetings planned with vendors while I'm home.  I'll be meeting with the florist to put some ideas together and with the caterer to finalize the menu before the shower on Saturday.  I'm hoping to get a bunch of details wrapped up so I can stop worrying about flowers and food.

I also have my first dress fitting scheduled so hopefully that goes well!  It's going to be pretty laid back because she's a friend of Mr. M's family (she also made the groomsmans' ties, which I should get back this weekend as well).  I've never met her before, but she altered both of his sisters' dresses when they got married, so I know she will be great!

One of the most important weekend tasks is to finalize our invitation design with both of our families so we can submit them to the printer.  I've got a bit more work to do but I am determined to finish by Monday!

Lastly, we'll be sitting down with my mom to test out some cake flavors (yum!).  I'm also bringing home our clay flowers so she can see if they'll work for the cakes.

Oh yeah, and I'd like to be able to hang out with friends and family at some point during the weekend too. Crossing my fingers on that one!

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday weekend!  Is anyone else taking advantage of the long weekend to get wedding stuff done?  

the mail came today.

And amidst the bills, Macy's coupons, and junk mail came, there was this envelope.

Inside of the envelope was a pretty little invitation... to my very own bridal shower!

The fact that we are getting married feels a little more real everyday!

Is anyone else really excited for upcoming events leading up to the big day?

bridal events galore.

Planning of the bachelorette party, as well as two showers is in full swing! As discussed previously, my future sisters-in-law will be throwing us a bridal shower in the next few months. My mother and a family friend are throwing another shower as well! Since the guest list will be rather large, our moms thought it would be best to break it into two separate events. Works for me! My task for the next week will be to come up with guest lists for both showers. I've also been instructed by our family friend to pick out a signature drink for the shower her and my mom are putting together. Again, since I like to do things out of order, I think I've decided on which girly drink I'd like served.

Berry spritzers with your choice of champagne or wine anyone?

(source)

I'm drooling at the thought of them!

My bridesmaids are also hard at work planning my bachelorette party. All I know so far is the date and the location! We'll be spending our night on the town in Milwaukee! I can't wait to spend some quality time with all of my favorite girls!

sister shower and some socks.

My future sister-in-laws informed me this week that they'd like to throw a shower for us. We figured out a date that would work best and now it's official. They've asked me to put a list together of girls I want to invite, so that's on my to-do list in the next few days. Is it bad that I don't have a guest list yet but I do have a dress to wear? I picked this up at Banana Republic, it was on sale! It was originally $150, on sale for $69.99. Add 10% off for using my BR card plus another 15% off with my "pick your own sale" card, and I paid under $50 for it. Not too bad! I wish I would've been able to get there last week when they had their friends and family sale, but that just didn't happen. Now I just have to find a cute pair of shoes and some jewelry to match and I'll be all set!

The boy also picked up some socks for himself and his groomsmen in a super sweet shade of green.

The socks will be part of the gifts for the groomsmen. We've been searching for socks to match our color scheme for a few months now, so I'm glad we finally found some that will work!