June 20 Wedding Shower

Saturday:  For weeks now we've been anticipating the wedding shower for Chris and Ella. It's been a very long time since I have been to a wedding shower ... maybe 30 years! 

The shower for Chris and Ella's upcoming wedding took place at Ed Dunneback & Girls Farm. Having never been at this location, I looked it up on MapQuest, only to be MISled by the directions given there and as a result was almost late for the occasion. It began at 11:00 in the morning with yummy food served in a little white barn, decorated for the occasion.

When I arrived, Chris's other grandma (Judy) was already there and had saved places at a table for those of us on our side of the family (a total of FIVE of us). I estimated that there were 40+ of Ella's side of the family, plus some personal friends, which quite filled up the little barn we were in. I sat across the table from Diana and Judy, right next to Kaity. 

There was no "dress code" for this event and people wore whatever they chose. I think Ella and her bridesmaids dressed up fancy for the occasion, but most everyone else was casual. The food was very delicious--pancakes, sausage, bacon, cinnamon rolls, quiche ... I don't think I have eaten a pancake in 20 years or more. I had forgotten how yummy they can be!

The temperature was in the low-to-mid 60's, and I was dressed in layers (the summer kind), but I found myself chilly throughout the entire shower. It was actually colder INSIDE than out--mainly because the sun would come out every now and then and warm the outside up.

Since this venue is a farm, there were lots of pretty flowers available ...

Aren't they pretty?

The very last "event" of the shower was that everyone was invited to make their own take-home bouquet of these flowers. I hesitated doing that because Ted supplies me with flowers almost every week--but as I watched girls making pretty bouquets, I finally couldn't resist. I don't have a picture of my bouquet, so you will have to trust me when I say it is exquisite.

Ella has two sisters (one older and one younger), both of whom are her bridesmaids. I believe the lady in the pink floral dress is Ella's older sister ... something has totally cracked Ella up as they were talking.

Ella's younger sister is in the picture below. All three girls look amazingly alike--facially at least. Their eyes! Their smiles! Their expressions! They also have a younger brother.

Aren't Ella's shoes pretty? I think I might order a similar style to wear for the wedding.

Since the shower was very casual, as far as activity, and the eating went on for quite awhile, I walked outside where it was warmer and took a few pictures. I really want to come back here and explore sometime. What a nice place this is!

The shower was inside "The Corn Crib Barn". I can't believe how many women they squeezed into that little barn!

Kaity and Emma took a few walks as well. They completely missed the game all of us played. The picture below is of Diana and her mom writing down their "guesses" as to what kitchen utensil was in each bag that was passed around. 12 bags. 12 separate kitchen utensils. No peeking in the bag!

Once we had all written down our guesses, Ella opened each bag and showed us the item and announced it's proper name.

Here is my "Guess" sheet. I only guessed four of them correctly. Sheesh. #1 was actually an apple cutter. Duh. I should have known that one. #2 was actually a COOKIE scooper, but I think it could have been used for melons anyway. I have no idea what #3 ended up being. And #4 was called a "soup spoon"--yikes--it was HUGE. I felt sure it was a gravy ladle, but I was wrong once again. #5 alluded me completely, as did #7. Anyway, you get the drift--my score was pretty much an F.

After the game was finished (there were actually TWO women who guessed all 12 items correctly!), the gift opening began. Since there were so many gifts, this took quite awhile. I retrieved most of the ribbons and bows and fastened them to a paper plate so that Ella could throw it to her bridesmaids during the rehearsal (the night prior to the wedding) for a practice run of her REAL bouquet toss the next day. That's the traditional thing to do with ribbons and bows from showers. When it is a BABY shower, however, when you open the present, you have to be careful not to BREAK the bow into pieces because that is supposed to indicate how many children you will eventually bear.

After all of the gifts were opened, the ladies began assembling their free gift bouquets and Ella posed at the flower backdrop for pictures. I don't know who this little girl is, but aren't her boots cute?

This is a very pretty picture of Ella -- She is holding the bouquet I made out of the ribbons and bows.

I think the shower was officially finished by about 1:30. I snapped a few pictures of the farm ...

I definitely want to return and drink in the beauty of this place.

Congratulations on your wedding shower, Chris and Ella!