Bachelorette Brouhaha

Week of July 12 through 18

My best friend is getting married in September. Naturally, I want to help make her wedding memories as special as she helped make mine. That means lots of crafting on my part, and lots of partying on hers. I think we effectively accomplished both goals at her bachelorette bash this weekend.

When Melissa got engaged in February, my first project was to outfit her in her very own "Mrs." hoodie. I debated for a long time about whether or not to include the words "soon-to-be" above the bride's new name. A debate I held out-loud, in my craft room, at nearly midnight, until such time that The Husband weighed in, effectively quieting my tirade. (Which I think may have been his goal all along, since he was trying to sleep, and probably didn't really care about the hoodie in question). Ultimately, it was decided that omitting that time-specific phrase made the hoodie more versatile. Of course, without the "soon-to-be", she might not wear it until she is actually married. But, she'll be married longer than she'll be engaged. But, this was an engagement present. The debate wages on.


I've delineated my obsession with these hoodies before. No further discussion is necessary. Unless you were going to say, "Oh MY GOSH, that hoodie is SO CUTE!" In which case - discuss away.

In related cuteness - I made a veil and sash for the bride-to-be to wear at her Bachelorette party/lingerie shower. The colors for the party were black, hot pink and lime green. I tried to use those colors without being too garish and decided that chartreuse is not an easy color to incorporate in a girly-girl veil. (Insert clever Kermit the Frog "it's not easy being green" pun here). My philosophy on life: Everything is better with sparkles. I used as many twinkling gems as I possibly could on Melissa's veil and sash. Any more bling and she would have resembled a character from the Twilight series. (I'm saddened that I just made that reference, but since I learned about vampire glitter by osmosis and not from actually reading the books, I forgive myself).


One of the other bridesmaids had the super-clever idea to give Melissa a cute pin for each new drink she got during her night of debauchery. I designed six mini-buttons to match the party invitations, and another mega-button to encourage fellow revelers to buy the bride some booze. The bride was thirsty, and the mega button did its job well. The mini-buttons didn't even get us through the first bar of the night.


I got a little carried away with the fun buttons, and also designed pins for each of the bridesmaids. The (married) girls balked at being branded for the night, claiming the button put a damper on their free-drink-flirting. I didn't hear any complaining from the single! set.


For party favors, I found a wedding-cake-shaped cookie cutter and frosting-texture set. I was determined to make fun cookies to package and take to starving-to-be-thin-for-the-wedding bridesmaids, but I ultimately ran out of time. My fabulous mother jumped in and spent her day off making monogrammed wedding cake cookies for the party so that my plan to fatten up the skinny girls wasn't foiled. She saved the day and contributed to the bridesmaid calorie count in one fell swoop. Us girls with hips hafta stick together. Plus, the cookies were darn cute!


Melissa's bachelorette party was also her lingerie shower, so in addition to all the fun pink and black bachelorette gear, I had a great opportunity to make some personalized gifts in her wedding colors (brown and aqua), too. I've been itching to try heat-set crystals for a while now, and I decided that panties were the perfect project. Diamonds are so bridal. I used white cotton/spandex boy shorts and a camisole to make a glam pantie set with Melissa's new "Mrs." name emblazoned across her heine. Sexy sparkly fun, but comfy too. Of course I bejeweled her full name, but you, internet, are not privy to that sensitive information. I'm already showing you her underwear, what more do you want?!


I also monogrammed a brown cotton/spandex set with her new initials in aqua. I added a tiny brown and aqua polka dot bow to up the girly quotient. Everyone knows that monogrammed panties prove that you're a classy lady.


My favorite project was making matching his and hers pajamas for the soon-to-be newlyweds. I left it to the other girls to fill Melissa's trousseau with lacy delicates. (And did they ever! Melissa was the recipient of a pair of crotchless granny panties! Hilarious and unnerving at the same time.) I made aqua seersucker striped pants with a mod print hem and a brown polka dot ruffle and drawstring. Then I embroidered "I ♥ Roy" in the bottom corner of a matching racer back tank. For the groom, I embroidered "I ♥ Melissa" at the hem of a pair of brown boxer shorts. The matching hearts were appliques of the same mod print as the hem of the pajama pants. No flannel button-up nightmares here, just kitchy-cute, comfy jammies. I love how they turned out.


I rolled up all of her gifts and tied them with ribbon scraps. Then I stuck everything in a little basket with a Philosophy Bridal Party set (bubbly, wedding cake and bridal bouquet scented bath gels) and a DVD compilation of all of the "FRIENDS" wedding episodes. Nothing helps me relax more than a bubble bath and a sitcom, and no one needs more help relaxing than a bride to be.


Melissa's party was uber-fun and I think she really enjoyed her last night out as a "single" girl. I posted a slideshow of some of the more tame pictures below. Photographs by me, decorations are not. Enjoy.

Around Our House Next Week: Birthday