Bridal Shower Decor by MoYo (rhymes with Fro-yo)...

Remember my friend Morgan from such events as the A-Corn bridal shower and the Las Vegas bachelorette party?  She's also the person who presented my with the best hair accessory ever.  Well this weekend she was back in town displaying more of her wonderful and unique bridal shower planning.  Mo's sister is getting married in a couple months and this weekend was her bridal shower.

Mo showed up at my house once again with her giant suitcase in tow.  But this time it wasn't filled with clothes, it was filled with bridal shower decor for her sister.  The theme of her sister's bridal shower was "A Night Out or In" so people gave her gifts such as movie/restaurant gift cards, a picnic basket, etc.  The gifts were basically stuff for her and her future hubby to do together.  So Mo decided to make each table a different theme based on something that the bride and groom enjoy doing together.  I was amazed when she pulled these out of her suitcase.

She used photos, stickers and greeting cards to make these.  They were even cuter in person and really unique.  I heard they were a hit at the shower and her sister claims she's going to display them in her house. 

She also did tons of other planning, including games and prizes.  She always goes all out for events.  You know it's going to be awesome if Mo's involved.  Here are favors she put together.  They were little bags with fortune cookies (aka a night in with take-out) and little tea infusers (it was also a tea party).  These were also really cute.

I think she did a really good job.

What's the most unique thing you've seen at a bridal shower?
Do you want Mo to plan your next party?

Pre-Wedding Activities-Nails, Rehearsal, Brunch and the Tale of How Beezus5 and I Saved the Day.

When I found out that Mo Young was coming in to town on Thursday night for Mrs. Acorn's wedding and that Curly J was taking Friday off work to get her nails done and such, I knew that I too would have to take Friday off as I did not want to suffer from the dreaded disorder known as FOMS.  Fear of missing something (or stuff).  Beezus5 taught me that word.  It pretty much involves all of your friends hanging out together while you are somewhere else like work or at a family function.

So the Acorn Wedding Weekend of Fun began for me on Thursday evening when I picked up Mo from the airport.  As I had expected her suitcase was quite large and quite heavy.......

Remember how Mo's husband, J (aka Triangle Head) got us a bunch of free stuff in Vegas?  Sure you do.  Well I wanted to be a good host to him and Mo.  I don't really have access to free hotel rooms and comped dinners and mini bars and such so I decided to just make them a mini bar at my house.....

On Friday, Morgan and I had the most important task of the wedding.  Delivering the wedding dress from the bridal shop to the wedding venue.  Well they kept calling us and saying that it wasn't ready yet.  It was still being steamed so we went ahead and went to Chick-Fil-A to have the new Spicy Chicken Sandwich.  Mo misses Chick-Fil-A since Las Vegas is too sinful of a city for Chick-Fil-A to be associated with.  The spicy chicken sandwich was "quite a treat" just like the dude who rung up our order told us it would be.  We then headed out to meet Mrs. Acorn and Curly J to get our nails done.  Beezus5 had to suffer through FOMS as she was working......

We finally delivered the dress.  The bridal store made us wrap it in a sheet instead of the garment bag.  Not sure why.  It was super wrinkled still.  We were scared.  So we took it to the barn (an old renovated barn where the wedding and rehearsal were held) and hung it up and went back home to get ready for the Rehearsal and Rehearsal Dinner.  The rehearsal went well and the dinner was great.  It was BBQ from the bride and groom's favorite BBQ joint in Durham.  My favorite was the beef brisket.  The groom baked a cake for dessert.  How cute is that?

We also got our sweet bridesmaid gifts...Monogrammed Vases...

  

After the RD, Mrs. Acorn decided that her wedding dress was important and that it should not be wrinkled on her wedding day.  We all agreed with her and offered to take it to my alteration lady in the morning to have it professionally ironed.  During this time things were getting tense but I knew one day we'd all laugh about it so I took this photo...... 

I then had Beezus5, Mo, and Curly J put my hair up in the bumpit.  I mean Mo Young did spend what I assume is tons of money to buy it for me.  I also assumed it would provide some laughs at the Rehearsal Dinner after-party.  I stayed strong and had only 1 drink.  The boys did not so much.  My favorite part was when they (pretty much B and Mr. J Young) plotted a very specific plan on how to steal the bride's (giant) dog from her mom's house, dress him in a tux and bring him to the wedding because that "would be her dream come true." 

The next morning we had a Bridesmaid Brunch hosted by the Aunts of the bride.  Beezus5 and I decided to take the dress in so Maid Of Honor Mo Young could be with the Bride at the Brunch.  Beezus5 and I got to the alteration place and sat on the curb and waited for it to open.  We pretty much jumped on the lady and told her we had an extreme emergency and asked if she can help us.  She said yes...maybe!  This is the nicest alteration lady I have ever met.  She sort of kicked other people out (in a nice way and without them really knowing they were being kicked out) so she could work on our dress.  Forty-five minutes later we arrived at the brunch with the dress to a heroes welcome.  Mrs. Acorn thought it looked great.  We saved the day.  Plus they waited for us to get there to eat.  The food was awesome and featured cheese grits, shrimp, danishes, quiche, breakfast casserole, fruit.....pretty much every breakfast food you can imagine.  Plus we each got a mini parfait and some mimosas.  A lovely time was had by all....

So we dropped off the dress one last time and Beezus5, Wunka and I headed back to my house to get ready.  I took a power nap and then worked on my hair.  It did not go as well as I hoped but B got us all coffee so that was a bonus....

Then it was off to the wedding.......

Have you ever heard of FOMS?
So is Mo's bag big or do I just pack light?
Do you want to come stay at my house so you can get your own personally tailored mini fridge bucket?
Do you think B5 and I saved the day?
Did you have/witness any wedding dress mishaps?

Mo Young's Guide to Planning "Special" Bridal Shower Games.....

Um, why are MoYoung and I holding up a giant face photo of our friend's fiance?  Well I'm going to go ahead and let MoYoung tell you about that.  Take it away Mo.......

With the help of JMJE I think A-Corn’s shower had the most original if not the best games ever! Here’s what we did …

The first, and technically last, game we played at the A-Corn shower was called “Don’t Cross Your Legs.” Here is how you play: Each guest takes and wears FOUR necklaces. Then, the guests are told to NOT cross their legs throughout the shower. If they are caught crossing their legs, then they lose their necklace to the person who caught them. At the end of the shower the person who has the most necklaces is the winner. There was a tie for winning this game – $hanzie and cousin of the bride to be. I had predicted that Beezus5 would win the game, but she actually forfeited early on. Oh Beezus5. I chose this game because it was played at Dorothy’s bridal shower on the Golden Girls. Due to Mrs. Acorn’s appreciation of the Golden Girls, I thought it was only fitting that we play this game. And in case you missed this episode, Blanche won the game by a landslide. (ps-from JMJE, do not google Golden Girl Shower Games, you will get inappropriate results, trust me)

We also played a game entitled “How Well Does Future Mrs. Acorn Know Mr. Acorn.” I chose this game because it’s always interesting to see how in tune couples are – plus it ranked well on all the bridal shower websites. Mrs. Acorn later told me that her Grandma really enjoyed the game too. I had previously e-mailed Mr. Acorn some questions, which he was good enough to answer. Then, I typed up the questions and answers on slips of paper and handed out the questions to the guests to read to Mrs. Acorn. Mrs. Acorn was read each question and then she had to answer what she thought Mr. Acorn said. She did pretty well – probably getting 75% of the questions right.  (PS from JMJE-apparently there was some ambiguity about what actually constituted their first date) I was impressed, and I agree that XXLarge night shirts aren’t the sexiest PJ’s around. A key thing to remember with this game is recognizing your audience and filtering out any embarrassing answers. One of the best, and definitely the longest, questions was inspired by the show 90210 – NOT that new cast but the original, with Dylan. JMJE did a stellar job reciting Donna and David’s wedding vows, and I was impressed that Mrs. Acorn recognized the vows! She gets an A++ for 90210 wedding trivia.

The grand finale of games was “Feed Mr. Acorn.” JMJE and I had long since decided that we would like to have a giant picture of Mr. Acorn at the shower. We thought it would be funny – and a great gift for the A-Corn's. I expect the picture to be mounted above their mantle! So, in order to incorporate our love for Poster Mr. Acorn, I decided that we would play a game called “Feed Mr. Acorn.” Since the theme of the shower was “kitchen stuff,” this game completely fit! It’s like pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, only you try to stick a spoon in Mr. Acorn’s mouth. First we printed off a 30x20 picture of Mr. Acorn – with a hint of Mrs. Acorn in a low cut blue dress on the side. Then we mounted the picture on hard poster board. It was a beautiful sight. Everyone was a good sport and donned the eye mask, spun around, and then tried to stick a plastic spoon in Mr. Acorn’s mouth. The winner was Mama Robin! I recommend this game for any shower, as life size photos of people are not only fun conversation pieces but super classy!

Thanks Mo and if you are interested in finding out more information about Mo you can read her answers below to my very important guest blog survey.

Why do you think JMJE refers to you as MoYoung in her blog?

MoYoung = Morgan Young. Since I comment on MSIF via “Anonymous,” I decided to shorten my name to MoYoung in signing my comments. So exciting! (JMJE says, I like to spell it MoJung sometimes)

What is something you like about JMJE?

Her craftiness – MSIF is quite entertaining! Plus, she can drink with me into the late hours of the night. This is not always a good thing the next day, but it definitely makes for some good times.  (JMJE says, at this point it has become baking into the late hours of the night while slowly nursing one glass of wine.  Mr. and Mrs. MoYoung were, however, the last people up with us at our wedding after party.)  Plus, I admire her patience and loyalty, as she let my now husband live with us for six months while we were roommates at NCState.  (JMJE says, I never did the dishes, it evened out somehow, well maybe) We all love JMJE!

Name a character you relate to and why from one of the following tv shows? The Office, Lost, Saved by the Bell, How I Met Your Mother, or Friends?

Since I am not as much of a TV aficionado as JMJE is, I’m just going to defer to my favorite show from above, Lost. Overall I identify with the central themes – escapism, redemption, survival, and love! But, I remember years ago I was talking with JMJE and she asked me which character was my favorite. I said, “Sun.” I suppose I can relate to Sun as she is very guarded with her personal matters and more capable than many initially believe possible. However, I can be quite indecisive – so I do not like this question JMJE! – as I relate to many of the characters. This may be why I adore the show. (JMJE says, looks-wise she reminds me of a lighter haired Kate)

What is your favorite color?

Blue. So I am excited about prancing about in cornflower blue on 6/19/2010.

If you could have any job in the world what would it be?

If I could answer this question then I probably would have had a focus in college! Perhaps a writer for a travel magazine … or a professional volunteer. Yet I’ve always been scared of making something I truly adore a job as I would hate to one day wake up and view a passion as “eh, just work.”

So what do you think of our Bridal Shower games?
Is feeding the groom a little too weird or totally worth it just to have a life size photo to give your friend?
Mrs. Acorn was a pretty good sport as I'm pretty sure I banned shower games from my bridal shower.

PS-THE OFFICE IS NEW TONIGHT!  Office Thursday got cancelled for MoYoung Thursday but you should still watch The Office tonight.

Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes with a Hint of Bridal Shower

One time I lived with this girl.  We will call her Mrs. A-Corn.  She really enjoyed eating Entenmann's Raspberry Danish Twists.  She loved them sooo much that she knew the date and time the truck would deliver the fresh ones to the Harris Teeter across the street from our house.  Gradually with the help of 2 other friends I weaned her off this addiction.  So when we started planning her bridal shower, I thought maybe we should buy these Raspberry Danish Twists and cut them up in to bite sized pieces and serve them at her shower.  But then I remembered how far she's come since her addiction and decided to go another route.

I remembered that she likes red velvet cupcakes.  So I confirmed with her fiance and began looking for recipes.  Everyone said for me to just use a box but I decided to go all out.  Go big or go home.  I found this recipe (you have to scroll down a little) and thought it seemed manageable.  MoYoung and I decided that mini cupcakes would be better for a shower.  That way the ladies could eat 5 or 10 without feeling bad because eating 5 mini desserts is always way healthier than eating one regular sized dessert.  I followed the recipe pretty much but used a mini muffin tin and cooked them for about 10-12 minutes each or when the tooth pick came out clean.  Also the frosting made about 3 times as much as I actually needed for the mini cupcakes.

So what was my biggest mistake?  Well I purchased ONE mini muffin tin, which makes 12 mini cupcakes at a time.  We ended up with about 70 mini cupcakes which was a lot of batches.  So MoYoung and I were up til 1 AM baking these puppies.  With a special appearance by Beezus5, B and some wine, it didn't really seem like it took that long.

The next day we focused on icing.  I taught Mo to use my special icing tool and she managed to really excel at it.  We added some blue and yellow sprinkles (the wedding colors) and we were done.  I think they turned out pretty awesome.  We only ended up taking about half of them to the shower but by last night most of them were gone from my kitchen.  Also I may or may not be mildly allergic to red food coloring.  I sprouted a couple hives during the cooking and tasting process but that's not really that strange (for me).  And there was a full bottle of food coloring in this.  Oh well.  They are called red velvet for a reason.

PS-I had weird dreams about cupcakes last night.
PPS-And I know my face does not look super attractive in the photo above but I  needed a good action photo.

How to Make A Personalized Bridal Shower Gift....

1-Buy a plain apron at a craft store (I've seen them in Michaels and Wal-Mart)

2-Figure out the size of your friend.  If your friend is a full head shorter than most of your other friends, then you may not want to go with the one-size fits all apron but maybe instead a junior or kids sized one.  Use your own discretion.  Aprons are for making you look super cute, so you don't want one that is falling off because it's too big.
3-Make up a design/picture that represents your friend and or her celebrity couple name (i.e.: Bennifer, Jam, etc).  Or if your friend's fiance has a name that has to do with a vegetable or fruit then you may want to use that vegetable or fruit in the design.
4-Design a picture that represents your friend on Paint on your computer if you have Windows or if you are cool (I am but not at graphic design) and know about graphic design, use some other sort of high tech program.  You can also add a witty phrase or title.
5-Buy Ink Jet Transfer Paper at a craft store.
6-Follow instructions for the Ink Jet Transfer paper and use your Ink Jet Printer to print out the Image. 
7-Iron it on to the apron, following the instruction on the transfer paper box.

Now for Specifics... I made this apron for my friend, Future Mrs. Acorn, who is getting married in June.  About a year ago on a beach trip we gave Future Mrs. Acorn and her Fiance the couple name, Team A-Corn.  (and side note, it is in NO way related to this)  It totally makes sense if you knew their real names.  Trust me.  So for her apron I designed an a-corn logo using some free clip art I found on the internet and my amazing Paint skills.  I added in a title with her future last name and then printed that on the transfer sheet.  And there you have it, a lovely personalized apron for my friend's bridal shower gift.  I also got her a cookie sheet off her registry.  I don't actually think I've ever seen her bake anything though (and we lived together for over 2 years) so we will see how this goes.

***PS-And on a side note related to aprons.....There is a great apron giveaway over at Building A Kingston Castle if you are also a fan of aprons (like I am).