Wine Tasting Bridal Shower

Those that know me know I love to entertain and be the "hostess with the mostess."  Well, this past weekend I had a great time hosting a bridal shower for my sister-in-law and several of her friends!

When I first started planning the shower I decided I was going to have the shower in/near Des Moines (about 100 miles away from home for me) because that is where my sister-in-law and the majority of her friends live.  Second, I decided I wanted to do something fun and different.  My first initial thought was to have it at a winery, but the wineries in the area I checked either were already booked, or didn't do Saturday afternoon events.  So I found a great substitute, WineStyles in Johnston.  WineStyles is a wine boutique and retailer that also has an area for private parties and wine tastings.  It was a very fun and casual atmosphere to have the bridal shower.

So once I got the the who, when and where taken care of the fun part of "what" was left to do.  The first "what" to take care of was what activities or games would we be doing.  Of course one of the activities would be wine tasting.  WineStyles offered a wine tasting to the group of six wines, three red and three white.  To go along with the wine tasting and "Raise Your Glass" theme, I also had all the girls write words of advice, sayings, quotes, etc. on old wine corks, that were then put in a candle arrangement for the bride to then take home.  It was fun, simple, and it was a great way of everyone introducing themselves to the rest of the group at the beginning of the party.

The girls during the wine tasting
If you look closely on the table, you can see the candle/cork centerpiece

The next "what" to take care of was food (which just might have been my favorite part to take care of...)  I was traveling almost two hours to the shower so all of the food I brought had to be "cold."  So I decided to have a cheese tray from WineStyles (I feel like a cheese tray is mandatory, right?) and I made a cheese ball, BLT rolls, lemon cake balls and oreo balls to go with.  This was the perfect amout of savory and sweet to go along with the wine.

The final "what" to take care of was a gift for the bride.  I figured I'd go with the theme so I got a reusable four-bottle wine bag to put all the gifts in (you can get these at Wal-Mart for $1!).  Since there were four slots, I figured I'd better fill eat of those spots.  So I got her a wine slushy mix, LOVE wine charms, a certificate for her favorite bottle of wine from the tasting, and I made a set of chalkboard wine glasses.  The first couple of items I was able to get at a couple local shops in Hampton.  And as for the chalkboard wine glasses, I recommend doing them a week in advance to make sure they are fully set and I personally did three coats on each glass before I was satisfied.

I had a great time hosting the shower and now I'm gearing up for the bachelorette party!  I already have most of the details done and this week I hope to get the official invites out for it.  I'm having way too much fun being the matron of honor I think!

The group after the wine tasting!
(I didn't have to worry about decorations because
there were fun "backgrounds" everywhere you turned.)