Kelly's Lemon Themed Bridal Shower

This past year has been an absolute whirlwind, and I can't even believe that my sister is getting married next month! My younger sister and I are both Maids of Honor to Kelly, and last month, along with all of her other bridesmaids, we threw a lemon-themed bridal shower for her. We chose lemons because the shower was held on the second day of summer, so we wanted to do something summery. Also, Kelly's wedding colors are navy and gray with hints of yellow, and since the yellow will be secondary in the wedding, we wanted to make it primary at the shower. So, summery + yellow = lemons!

The shower was held at the Daniel Webster Estate in Marshfield. It was a gorgeous venue accompanied by equally gorgeous weather. With all the strange weather we've been having, we felt very lucky to have had such a beautiful day!

The weeks and months leading up to the shower were filled with tons of designing, crafting, and DIYing, and of course I couldn't have been happier about that! To get the ball rolling we sent out invitations that I designed that hinted at our theme, so that guests would know that they were in for a summery treat.  

One of the first things we crafted was a pretty big project. Kelly and her fiance Joe had mentioned a while back that they wanted to have some lawn games at their wedding reception since the location would be perfect for that. After some thought, I decided that a custom cornhole set would be a great gift to present at the bridal shower so that they could use it at their wedding. A few years ago, my uncle had built his own cornhole boards, and when I got in touch with him about building boards for Kelly & Joe, he was more than happy to help! The boards came out awesome and even had built in cup holders. From there, my sister Carolyn and I took over to give them a custom paint job that matched the wedding theme, using giant "K" and "J" stencils that we had created. The completed boards and bean bags (which we bought off Etsy) really livened up the entryway to the bridal shower!

Since the shower was held on such a beautiful day, we were able to make use of the pretty wraparound porch at the estate. We set up the kids table there so that the little girls had the freedom to run around and play outside. Each girls table setting was equipped with a personalized "Kelly & Joe" wedding activity book, crayons, and a lemon lollipop. Combined with the giant side lawn, there were plenty of ways to keep the girls entertained while their mothers enjoyed the shower. 

Inside, the Queen-Anne style estate added some elegance to our lemon theme. Bloody mary's (the brides favorite), mimosas, personalized water bottles, and of course, lemonade, were served at the bar throughout the shower. I designed the water bottle labels and "Kelly & Joe" straws to match our theme, and then got together with all of the bridesmaids for a craft night to cut, tape, glue, and tie everything. There was a lot of crafting going on and it was so much fun to see everything come together!

We kept the centerpieces simple because the estate was so pretty as it was that we didn't want the tables to be overwhelming. We simply stacked lemons in cylinder vases and finished the look by wrapping twine around the top of each vase. The centerpieces were given away as prizes for the guests who got the most answers correct in our "How Well Do You Know the Bride and Groom" game. One of my favorite parts about the shower was that instead of having favors for each guest, we opted to make a donation in their name to The One Fund to support the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. 

While Joe was in on the secret of the bridal shower, Kelly was completely surprised by the venue (success!). Joe had introduced my siblings and me to the estate about a year ago, when we got together to play a game of capture the flag on the front lawn there. He had actually gone to summer camp there as a kid! We were only able to see the outside of the mansion that day, but had talked about wishing we could see what the inside was like. Later, when mulling over venue options for Kelly's shower, I remembered the DW and knew we had to have it there.

Before arriving at the front entrance of the estate, there is a long tree-lined driveway that reminded us of the driveway leading to the bridal shower in the movie Bridesmaids. So, we totally took advantage and got the shower off to a silly start by recreating the scene and having one of my brothers meet Kelly and Joe halfway down the driveway with 2 mason jars full of lemonade. I mean, with the driveway and our lemon theme, we really couldn't help ourselves. Kelly was laughing and crying happy tears before she even got to the front door!

Kelly was the perfect bride-to-be at her shower, and was extremely happy, thoughtful, and thankful opening each gift she received. Not to mention the fact that she looked amazing! Her hair was perfect all day, and the dress that she bought just for the occasion looked great on her (she got it at White House Black Market)! Everyone had a great time at the shower, and we were so happy to give Kelly the perfect day that she deserved.

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