It's a Mad Mad Bridal Shower

My sister, Sally is getting married this summer.  I have been bestowed the title of maid of honor.  Amid the hubbub of Mother's Day we also held Sally's bridal shower.  Having now attended multiple showers in my time, I wanted to make this shower special.  We wanted sophistication and fun, and decided that best way to make it happen was to have a Mad Men brunch.  Really it was probably more of an excuse to have a reason to buy a cute new dress.  Thank you Modcloth.com!

Finally I had a reason to wear my pearls.  My sister, Beth, said I looked ready to host a republican luncheon.

I am grateful that two of Sally's other bridesmaids handled food and decorations.  One of them lives in a building with a multi-purpose room we got to use for free.  One less stress and thing to coordinate. My sister, Beth, handled the music and did a great job.  She made a mixed CD of music from the show. I really wanted to make the shower special and unique.  I made gift bags for every guest filled with vintage candies from the 1960s--squirrel nut zippers, neco wafers, 100 grands, etc.  Anyone who watches the show knows there is a lot of smoking and drinking. This made candy cigarettes a necessity.  

Besides being in the gift bags, boxes were left around the room for easy access and "smoking."

We started things off with a fashion show so everyone could show off their Mad Men outfits.  I love how everyone really tried to go with the theme.  There were quite a few beehives being sported. The outfits were a hoot.

I had a lot of fun finding prizes for the games.  I tried to keep everything in theme, so I got things like a martini shaker,  drink making gadgets, how to be a good wife book from the 1960s, glamour dish washing gloves, etc.  I got almost everything at Costplus World Market.

I spent a lot of time researching games.  First up was "Mark Your Man," a take on pin the tail on the donkey using the Mad Men Belle Jolie campaign.  

The ladies had to pin a lipstick kiss on Don Draper.  To my discomfort, my mother won. 

Please note the candy cigarette hanging from my blindfolded sister.

We also played a game call Pass the Present.  It was fun and easy.  My favorite game by far was an ad making game.  I found old bridal ads from the 1950s and 60s.  Guests had to come up with a new tagline for the ad, then we all voted on the best one for each ad.  I am blessed to be born into a family of intelligent and witty women.  I was laughing so hard I cried.

My final contribution was cupcakes.  I have never baked cupcakes from scratch before so I decided to get my Martha Stewart on.  I made strawberry cupcakes with lemon cream cheese frosting.  I watched multiple youtube videos on how to frost a cupcake.  They turned out great but the process of frosting them almost sent me over the edge. I will definitely use the recipe again.

Planning a bridal shower is a lot of work. Wow.  The shower was a ton of fun, making it all worth it. I loved getting to see all my aunts and cousins.  Here's a few shots.

My mother

Sally, the bride to be :)

My mom with her sisters

Me, my sisters, and cousin, Emily.  Emily won the fashion show.

Sally and Mom

Theme parties are fun.  I may need to find another excuse to throw a Mad Men party, especially so I can get more uses out of the dress.  Zooey Deschanel might be able to pull it off as an everyday look, but I don't think I'm there yet.