All You “Knead” is Love! A Kitchen Shower for the Bride-to-Be

I have another nephew getting married this year to a wonderful girl! My sisters, my sister-in-law, and I all pitched in to throw her a bridal shower with a kitchen theme. Our bride enjoys cooking and trying different foods and is quite capable in the kitchen, so this type of shower was well-suited for her. We were thankful for this occasion which allowed us to honor the bride and meet more of her family and friends. Y’all, this girl has some really sweet bridesmaids!

I like to look on Etsy for invitations that I can download, customize, and print. They have so many great designs for all occasions! I found the cutest template for a kitchen shower invitation from Pumpkin Pi Design which also offered a matching recipe card. Perfect! On the invitation I asked guests to bring a kitchen gift and a recipe for the bride with the enclosed recipe card. The welcome sign was from another shop on Etsy but more on that in just a minute.

Knowing the bride favors the color blue, I started my decor ideas with that color in mind (easy for me since blue is one of my favorite colors too!) and added elements of natural wood, golden brass, and a mixture of blue and white flowers.

I searched for kitchen shower inspiration on Pinterest and saw this fun idea of arranging flowers in a mixer which amused the bride and our guests! I’ll definitely do this again. Soft blue candles in brass candlesticks added a little elegance to all the rustic wood pieces–a trendy combination. And you’ll see my wooden hearts from White Cottage Company tucked around the tablescape.

After putting together so many charcuterie spreads for our weddings and other parties this year, my sisters and I decided it was time to go back to traditional southern shower menu! So, we came up with a menu and divided the list, each of us responsible for a few items. My sisters are so easy to work with!

Kitchen Shower Menu

Three-cheese pimiento cheese (This recipe is a must try!)

Chicken Salad Croissants

Spinach Dip and Crackers

Southern Cheese Straws (recipe to come)

Fruit and Nuts

Salted Caramel Chocolates

Italian Cream Cupcakes

Charleston Wedding Punch

Fruited Iced Water

Here’s one last photo of the table.

And another sign! The welcome sign and the sign below were made with the same template from Hank and Petunia on Etsy. I purchased the download and was able to arrange the wording to make a few different signs with some cute plays on kitchen words. Since I couldn’t exactly print an 18×26″ sign with my little home printer, I emailed the files to a local sign printer who did same-day printing for a reasonable price. Such a fun extra party detail and the bride kept saying, “I love the signs!”

The “Perfect Mix” sign, however, I was able to print at home on 8×10 paper and added it to an old frame. It sat next to a recipe box (monogrammed with the couple’s last name by Forever Wedding Crafts) for collecting the guests recipe cards. Our bride was especially excited about the recipes! And so were her guests! I think we women feel like we’re giving something special and personal when we share a favorite family recipe with a young bride.

On my kitchen table was another flower arrangement….in a colander, naturally!

This was another idea from Pinterest that I cannot take credit for, but everyone thought was so cute. I sat a smaller bowl down in the colander with water-soaked oasis to hold the arranged flowers.

The weekend of the shower a couple of our friends’ kids were staying with us while our friends took their oldest daughter on a college tour. Our sweet teen girls asked what they could do to help, and I eagerly assigned them the task of making a balloon arch. I was so thankful they took that off my to-do list, partly because I wasn’t sure I’d have enough time and partly because I wasn’t sure I have enough air in my lungs! They worked on it while watching Jane Eyre and did a superb job! I purchased the kit with everything included at Hobby Lobby for just $10! I thought that was a bargain considering it would have cost more if I’d bought everything separately.

It definitely added a little festive touch to the den where everyone gathered to watch the bride open her gifts.

I don’t usually do party favors for showers, but I saw this idea (again, on Pinterest) and had to do it! I found some super-discounted bamboo spoons and attached our cute little tags with some bakers twine I had on hand.

We had a great time showering the bride. She is a very thoughtful person and with great taste. She gifted each of us hosting aunts a cookbook, wooden spatula, and mini charcuterie board (below). I will definitely be posting some “Cook by the Book” recipes from this new cookbook!

We are so happy of our nephew and his fiancé. They really are the PERFECT MIX!