Throwing a Fabulous Breakfast at Tiffany’s Bridal Shower

This past weekend I had the privilege of hosting a bridal shower for my “baby” sister who is getting married in a few short months. When Abbie was born, I was 9 years old and very excited to finally be getting a little sister. It was sort of like having my very own “live” baby doll to play with, change diapers, carry around on my hip and take with me places.

I had to move away for college when she herself was just 9 years old, so it seems strange to think of her now, all grown up and starting a new life as a married woman. It’s sort of bittersweet really, because I am sad that the “old days” are behind us from our youth, but so very excited for the new years & memories that lie ahead for sure! Enough blabbing on about my sentimental mush, now onto the shower details!

My sister and I both have a love for old movies & musicals – Doris Day, Judy Garland, Audrey Hepburn – if they were in it, we’ve seen it…and we can probably sing you most of the songs from each flick word for word! Abbie’s favorite was always Audrey Hepburn, and especially the 1961 romantic comedy classic film Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The main character, Holly Golightly, plays a naïve, eccentric cafe society girl looking for love in all the wrong places. She eventually figures out who her true love really is at the end of the movie, and decides to throw her fanciful ideas of love out the window in exchange for the real thing. This was my inspiration for throwing this vintage-Tiffany’s inspired bridal shower. And it was simply fabulous darling!

I found a great printable party package on Etsy here. It was inexpensive and I was able to print all the copies I needed myself on my home printer. Often with throwing parties, I will also do the designs for invites and signs myself, but in this case, I really liked the ones I found online and it saved me a lot of time just purchasing the already designed digital files. 

Usually, when planning out decor for a party, I like to pull from items I already have around my house that I know I can work with. Things that might add a unique element to the theme, without costing an arm and a leg. For this event, everything started getting my creative wheels turning with this awesome crystal chandelier that my friend Candice had given me. She knows I love anything vintage and this was right up my alley. It was going to make a perfect centerpiece for our food table! I printed some black and white photos of the happy couple onto card stock and clipped them to the chandelier with these cute Bride & Groom clothespins from the Target Dollar Spot.

Luckily, we were able to track down a few actual legit Tiffany’s signature blue boxes and gift bags from family and friends who have kept them over the years. I looked at purchasing just a couple of these on Ebay and they were so expensive! I was happy that ours were loaned for free. And they added such a nice touch!

My talented sister-in-law, Lis, helped hand draw this awesome “ABBIE & CO.” banner sign to hang across the mantle…talk about flawless penmanship!

We served up these delicious cupcakes in Abbie’s favorites: spice cake with caramel frosting and red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. The little black dress toppers were made by my very talented aunt and her daughter, and they turned out so fabulous! They added such a special touch of bling!

The rest of the food was in true Breakfast at Tiffany’s fashion: mini pancake stacks on a stick with lemon curd and fresh berries, cinnamon french breakfast puffs, egg bake, yogurt parfaits, cucumber sandwiches, fruit and cheese/sausage platter with crackers. We served iced tea and water for beverages, along with champagne mimosas in adorable glasses. The black and white paper straws were also from Target and in a bunch of varied designs to keep it interesting.

We found little blue favor boxes at a party store that were easy to assemble, along with white faux pearl bracelets that went into each box and tied with a white bow on the top. A simple, yet elegant thank you gift for our guests.

And probably my favorite element of the shower was this fun photo booth corner that we constructed. We wrapped some large pieces of cardboard in pink craft paper as the backdrop, then found a lot of props that we could use for some memorable snapshots! My mom had lots of the costume jewelry lying around – pearl necklaces, bracelets, and clip on earrings. My sister’s old tiaras from her years on high school prom court, a couple of sets of fancy gloves, some big chunky sunglasses from the Dollar Store and a “fake” smoker stick wand, all helped add to the glamorous fun! We found a $4 frame from Goodwill, painted it white and punched out the middle for that perfect photo opp! Add a selfie stick and you’re in heaven, darling!

My aunt who lives out in Seattle, WA and was not able to make the shower, wrote a beautiful tribute to Abbie and did a special FaceTime appearance at the shower, reading it out loud to the future bride. It was a touching moment. Our family is quite close, despite the miles that sometimes separate us.

We played quite a few simple games like scratch off win cards, bridal bingo and a bride/groom trivia game, where each winner got to pick out a DVD of their favorite Audrey flick – Roman Holiday, Breakfast at Tiffany’s or Sabrina.

We also played a game that is a family tradition at bridal showers – Dress the Bride. Not very many people are familiar with this game, but it is a family favorite and loads of fun! We split up into 4 teams: Team 1 – Veil, Team 2 – Skirt, Team 3 – Bodice, and Team 4 – Bouquet. Then each team starts creating their best designer version of the section of the bridal gown they have been assigned, using only items like tissue paper, table cloths, ribbon, bows, lace and tape! It’s sort of like Project Runway meets Say Yes to the Dress, deluxe crafting edition! Each team was given about 15 minutes to take their measurements, put on their creative thinking caps and get to work! I must say, they did a fabulous job making this bride look amazing!

Too bad she couldn’t just wear plastic, lace and tissue paper down the aisle, am I right?!

This was such a fun bridal shower to plan for, and the fact that it was for my sister was the icing on the cupcake! I certainly could not have pulled it off if it weren’t for my incredible aunts, cousin, sister-in-law, mom and grandmother who helped me out immensely! Thank you to all you amazing and talented ladies! I love how our creative minds came together to make this such a special day for the bride.

And to Abbie and Jonny, I wish you both all the best in your upcoming marriage! Cheers to a couple that have found love in all the right places!!