Here’s the deal….I’m not what you would consider a wild and
crazy gal with aspirations of a wild bachelorette party out on the town.
Shocker, I KNOW.
So, when my sister (who was my Maid of Honor) started asking
me what kind of “party” I wanted, I pretty much instantly said, “I want a nice
dinner out with my bridesmaids and a couple others and then maybe just desserts
and spend time at someone’s house after dinner. Nothing raunchy or
embarrassing.….oh, and I want everyone to wear black dresses….it can be a
little black dress (LBD) theme!” And just like that I came up with the theme
for my own girl’s night.
Somewhere along the line I had seen the idea on Pinterest,
but for the life of us at that time we could NOT find it, so she and my bestie
Emilee winged it and it was beyond perfect!! They combined my love for classic
Audrey Hepburn (their idea) with the LBD theme (my idea) and it was, like I
said, PERFECT!
Earlier in the day I had my wedding hair and makeup trial
runs, so I already felt glam before the party. (FYI…neither my hair nor makeup
looked this way on wedding day!) Slipped on some pearls and fancy, fun little
black dress and I was party ready for my girls!!
I swung by my sister’s house to pick her up and get a sneak
peek on the décor. My jaw dropped…she and Emilee had done such a great job!
(More on that in a bit.)
Everyone met for dinner at a local restaurant first. It was
so fun watching all my best friends show up in their pretty black dresses!! (I
love it when a plan comes together!!)
After dinner, we all went back to my sister’s house and
munched on cupcakes, fresh fruit, cheesecake bites, cookies and brownies…and
blue punch the essentials, haha. The black, white, Tiffany Blue and pearls
décor looked great with a couple of huge Audrey prints!!
At several points during the night, I remember catching
myself and thinking “WOW…I know every girl says this, but I have THE BEST
friends. My very best friends are all here under one roof…this will never
happen again…not all of these girls at the same time. Wow.” (Except for the wedding..but that's beside the point..this was just us girls under the same roof at one time.) Sister, cousins,
work friends, high school friends, youth group friends, college friends…I’ve
met them all at different phases of my life and have different relationships
with each one of them, and yet, I wouldn’t trade any of them for anything!
Some
of them had never met before this night, but you would’ve never known it.
Everyone got along like a bunch of old friends. I overheard many of them say to
each other, “I feel like I’ve known you forever from everything I’ve heard
Erica say about you for all these years.”
I’m not sure of Sarah’s feelings about the punch??
And thennnnn, it was time for gifts. The part I was dreading
the worst. I’m easily embarrassed by this stuff, but fortunately the girls kept
everything PG rated except for one friend, who shall remain nameless. Jokes
were made, laughs were shared, that’s all I’m going to say on here.
The best gift of the night, was a joint effort. My sister
had each of my bridesmaids write a letter to me, and then she put a book
together of the letters. I read the first one, started crying, and that’s as
far as I got reading during the party. Later that night after I went home to my
apartment, by myself, I sat in the floor and read all ten letters…with a box of
Kleenex in my lap. I absolutely love this gift. I have NEVER felt so valued and
important in my life. To this point, it was the most humbling moment I’ve ever
experienced reading what I meant to these girls who mean so much to me.
My friend Katey gifted me with this lovely nightgown. We
snapped this pic to send to Stephen because one of his ONLY requests during the
whole wedding planning process was, “NO nightgowns..they remind me of my
mother.” (Sorry, Teresa J) Obviously
it was a gag gift and her real gift was at the bottom of the bag…but I must
say, the nightgown is SUPER soft and comfy, but no, I don’t wear it.
Before everyone went their separate ways, we snapped pics
with each girl that was there. I am SOOO glad we did this!
And then there were the outtakes….Angela being Angela; she
lights up my life, HA! And me making fun of Ann Marie because at the time every
photo you would see of her on Facebook would include her throwing posing with
her sorority’s gang symbol. Now she’s all grown up and working for Senator
Corker…she’s my little Olivia Pope!
It may not have been a wild and crazy night, but it was a
fun night to get all dressed up, smile and laugh with my best friends. I could
never ask for more.
“Happy girls are the prettiest.” – Audrey Hepburn
Nursing Girls Shower – here
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