Wedding Shower Hosting

Last week was a bit crazy for me and posting was sporadic at best.  My husband and I hosted a co-ed wedding shower last night for our friends that are getting married this summer.  I love hosting events at home because it forces me to clear out the house, but honestly, I usually have help.  Back when I had a full-time job, I would pay for our cleaning lady that used to come in every other week.  When I left my job, it was obvious that I was expected to keep up the house and I would only call her in before holidays or big parties when we were expecting lots of people and the house needed a thorough cleaning.  I called her last week to come help and she was unavailable until next week!  That coupled with Open House for the kids, left me with just..me!

Luckily, I hired an amazing caterer.  It was great to only worry about cleaning and not have to worry about stopping to put food in the oven and trying to time the food.  I called her and came up with the menu and she did all the rest.  I received so many compliments on the food, it was ridiculous and awesome!  She made an almond-ginger punch and we selected a salad of field greens, canteloupe, strawberries, walnuts and cheese topped with a strawberry-balsamic dressing.  For the main course, we served almond-crusted chicken, tiny twice baked potatoes, asparagus and wild mushroom toasts.  All the food was a hit!

In addition, we had a couple of fruit and cheese trays as well as mixed treats for dessert.  For  decorations, I went crazy with the diamond theme (they're getting MARRIED!) and replaced a number of photos around our house with photos of the future bride and groom.  In the lead photo, the large photo on the wall is usually one of our family and all the frames that are not rhinestone are usually photos of us.  I bought two large frames for photos of them and several smaller, rhinestone ones in assorted sizes that I filled with photos of them as a wedding present.  They just bought a new house and I know it took us a while to get frames and fill those so we thought we would give them a head start.

It was fun to set up and even funner to not have to worry about dishes or anything after the party was over.  The future bride and groom stayed for a while after everyone was gone and it was great to spend time with them and get to talk to them before the wedding crazies hit them!

What do you think of the decorations? Too much?