Now, that the wedding is officially over, I have been having legitimate planning withdrawals. I told myself that after the wedding, I would dedicate all my energy into this blog! It’s been a slow process getting back into it, but NO MORE EXCUSES! Anyways, read on to learn more about the steps I took in planning my tropical themed bridal shower.
First off, I want to call out that I had an amazing bridal party. If I had asked, they would have poured their heart and soul into planning the best bridal shower for me. However, I was beginning to discover this creative side I never knew I had in me, and I REALLY REALLY wanted to explore it. I believed my bridal shower was the perfect opportunity to see if event styling/ design was something more than just an interest. Not going to lie, planning a bridal shower and wedding simultaneously is not easy, but I genuinely enjoyed every second of it!
Below are 6 sections I spent the most time thinking about.
- Bridal Shower Theme
- Guestlist/ Invitations
- Menu Decisions
- Photo Booth Decor
- Table Setting Decor
- Dessert Table Decor
Bridal Shower Theme: In my opinion, this is the most exciting part of planning because ultimately, the theme is the shell of the party! This is what will help when making decisions related to invitations, menus, drinks, and decor. I met with my good friend, Elisa, and we spent hours looking at Pinterest for some inspiration. We ultimately decided on a tropical themed bridal shower with a rustic chic vibe. (Akshay’s note: she uses ‘rustic’ to describe everything, so that means almost nothing to us normal people.)
Guestlist/Invitations: While deciding on a theme, I was simulatenously figuring out how many friends and family to invite to my party. Word of advice: send invitations as early as possible. The sooner RSVP’s are received, the sooner catering, desserts, and decor related decisions can be finalized. I suggest putting an RSVP date at least 3-4 weeks before your bridal shower date. After deciding on the theme, Elisa found this really cute tropical style invitation on Etsy. I also purchased a matching welcome sign and bridal shower game template:
Menu Decisions: We ended up choosing to cater dinner for convenience and timing reasons. However, if you’re a foodie, I suggest Pinterest as a resource in finding some really cute, cost friendly ideas to match with the tropical theme! I have to say my parents were so cute with this part of the planning! They went to two different Hawaiian restaurants, so they could taste test different options. We ended up choosing Island Style Cafe in San Diego. The menu we chose:
Appetizers – Kalua pork wontons and deep fried spam musubi
We also purchased 18 bottles of champagne and had about 10 left over at the end of the night! I guess I was assuming each guest would drink 3/4 a bottle. (Akshay’s note: not every person downs alcohol like you do, Tika)
Photo Booth Decor: This part was probably the hardest/longest to plan and set-up. I had this very specific vision that included bright pink balloons and green palm leaves.
Photo Booth Wall backdrop: We purchased hot pink giant letter balloons (ALOHA) from Etsy and fake palm leaves from Amazon. Using a very strong red double sided tape, we pasted both these items onto the stucco wall in our courtyard.
Bar Cart Decor: I lugged my super heavy and not-very-easy-to-push bar cart from my apartment in Orange County to my parent’s home in San Diego. I purchased Photo Booth prop style #1 and #2 from Etsy. We also ordered confetti balloons from Etsy to tie onto the bar cart. For the bottom of the cart, we decorated it with Amazon’s paper mesh decor. These can be a pain to assemble since the instructions are based on illustrations only.
Bridal chair: I went to Michaels and purchased some fake greenery, orchid flowers, and floral wire. It took about an hour to layer and attach everything to the wicker chair. I figured it would enhance the Photo Booth, but also be really cool to sit on while opening gifts later on. Ended up being worth it!
Additional decor items: A gold poof from Homegoods, a gorgeous Xinh and Co basket (couldn’t find the hot pink one I purchased, but linked their website), and tropical themed pillows from Amazon.
I could not have made this Photo Booth wall happen without the help of my really good friend, Pankhudy. It was so much fun drinking margaritas, pasting leaves/ balloons till 1AM, and praying they wouldn’t fall off!
Table Setting Decor: This was my second favorite part of the planning. It was SO MUCH fun taking Pinterest inspiration combined with my own ideas, and making them come to life! I borrowed gold chargers (plates) from Elisa, purchased tropical palm tree plates from Etsy, and raffia fans from Oriental Trading. I also hot glue gunned hibiscus flowers onto the raffia fans. To add a pop of tropical to the dining tables, we added pineapples and wooden square vases filled with colorful flowers.
Dessert Table Decor: The key to an awesome dessert table is dimension and height, pretty accessories, and most importantly, yummy desserts! To add the dimension and height, I went to Michaels and purchased a couple of wooden crates. I spray painted one of the crates a light pink. I also purchased a couple of 6 foot long paper garlands from Oriental Trading, taped them together, and draped it around the front of the dessert table. Additionally, I added some real and fake pineapples as well as a tall gold vase. For the actual dessert, we decided on pineapple/ flamingo shaped cookies, a pineapple upside down cake, and sugar donuts with some cute paper pineapple leaf tops inserted in them. All of these yummy goodies were purchased from a local bakery, Bake Sale Patti, in San Diego. Lastly, we added some fruit platters. What’s a tropical party without fruit?
In the end, it all came out just the way I had envisioned, especially with the help of my mom, Elisa, and Pankhudy! I’m glad my party’s start time was at 4pm because it took almost all day to put everything together. However, even with all my involvement, I made sure to act like a bride as well! I got a blow-out at Dry Bar, added white henna tattoos to my arms, and decked myself out in a tropical Show me your Mumus dress. And during the party, I definitely enjoyed sipping at least 2 bottles worth of mimosas, getting a nice solid buzz, and catching up with all my friends and family I hadn’t seen in awhile.
As I mentioned above, I have discovered this passion for design and styling. I’m still figuring out what exactly I would like to style, whether it’s event or home related. But for now, I’m going to keep figuring out ways to keep my creativity alive!
