Wordless Wedding Weekend

Krystle's Bachelorette

Krystle's bachelorette was last Saturday and it was seriously so much fun!! She gave us a clear idea of what she wanted: Hotel, Shower, Dinner, Shout House. So all we had to do was pick some places.

We started the day at Graves 601. This is the first 5-star hotel in Minneapolis and it is GORGEOUS!! Heidi (Krystle's friend from high school [and now my friend] and fellow bridesmaid) went early, checked into the hotel and decorated the room. Heidi had picked up some streamers and balloons in Krystle's wedding colors (black, white and fuchsia). We strung them up around the room and then opened a bottle of champagne to start celebrating! :)

{decorated}

{Heidi & me}

Shortly after we finished decorating, Krystle and Kristina (Krystle's Sister and MOH) arrived. We poured another glass of champagne and finished setting up the food table. We also took a few pictures with Krystle and her attendants, since we didn't do that at her family shower.

{attendants}

{champagne chilling}

...and then the party started!! Guests arrived, we filled glasses ate some snacks and then filled glasses again. Krystle opened her gifts, we filled more glasses, broke the piñata, loaded our purses with goodies and then headed to dinner.

{elevator ride leaving the hotel}

We went to FireLake and had a private room for her party. It was great because Krystle was able to keep all of her "Bride-at-a-Bachelorette-Party" paraphernalia on and not feel out of place. Also, we made a custom menu for her celebration. Krystle is HUGE on the details (in a SUPER good way), so I knew if we did a menu in her wedding colors she would think it was so cool!! They had a menu at each place setting and it was *A*W*E*S*O*M*E!! The food & drink? Equally wonderful!! We dined on appetizers, salad, entrees, wine and cocktails and then didn't have room for dessert. It was a bummer too, because I had totally wanted to try the Peach Rhubarb Brown Betty (w/ buttermilk gelato).

{Krystle, FireLake & her menu}

{Krystle's Last Single Supper}

{money maker}

Then we were on to the next place: The Shout House!! We had VIP reservations and were seated front and center to the stage!! Our tables were decorated and soon after we arrived our waiter brought out champagne and started pouring.

{...to the bride!}

We spent the rest our night here -- we danced and sang, Krystle went on stage a number of times, we laughed, drank and had a great time!! We were the very last people to leave the bar and we headed back to the hotel where we opened another bottle of champagne, ate a few more snacks, chatted, laughed some more and then crawled into bed.

{on stage}

{cheers!}

{love, laughter and a happy ever after!}

{uhh...}

{we closed it down!}

We woke up Sunday morning and lazed around for a few hours before heading to breakfast. After a quick refueling we parted ways to celebrate Father's Day with our families.

SUCH a fun night!!

{me & Krystle}

Craft # 6 - Pull Piñata

Saturday was Krystle's Bachelorette party and it was *SUCH* a fun time!!

I had a wedding cake piñata I wanted to integrate into the festivities. I knew exactly what I wanted to use to fill it with, I just needed to figure out the execution.

Our plan was to break the piñata during her Shower, which was held in a hotel room. Since we are not aggressive movie/music stars, I couldn't really envision us breaking the piñata, blind-folded with a bat inside the hotel room so I needed to make the piñata indoor friendly.

That's when I found instructions to make a "Pull Piñata." The website is really detailed, so head there if you want a thorough explanation. Below is my brief instructions and then some pictures.

I cut a hole in the bottom of the piñata and then securely attached a ribbon to the trap door. I affixed the ribbon to a small piece of cardboard and thread it through, knotting it. I then stapled that extra cardboard piece to the trap door.
Next I combined the fun treats and prizes before putting them in the pinata. The goodies consisted of Ring Pops, candy watches, Hot Tamales, Barbie chocolate coins, Pop Rocks, little plastic toys (similar to what Perkins used to give out for free when I was a kid) and mini liquor bottles.

Once the piñata was filled, I taped a bunch of other ribbon pieces (to disguise the one leading to the trap door). I had left the ribbons SUPER long, so I could tie some additional prizes to them. I glued white tissue paper squares to the bottom of the cake (again, to hide the trap door).Before we headed out to dinner, I held the piñata up and had the ladies start pulling the ribbons off the piñata. The glued tissue paper came off in one big sheet almost right away, which was kind of distracting and lead people to think the piñata had opened up. But eventually someone got the trap door open. I ended up needing to help the treats fall out on to the floor; I should have cut a larger trap door.

All in all, I thought the piñata was a success!! The girls seemed to like the treats and booze and the ones with children at home graciously scooped up most of the plastic toys. I was pretty excited.

*Plus, I felt really awesome for having an alternative plan to "break" the piñata!! {The presence of a piñata raised a few of questions as the ladies entered the room...}

Only a bride, soon to be a bridesmaid :)

My friend Krystle is getting married in July! Yea!!

Krystle's very Brief Bio: I have known Krystle for 9 years (wow that's a long time!!) We met sophomore year in Bio 1102 night lab. I wanted to transfer to a different time slot (my Chemistry professor held all exams at night, which conflicted with our lab class) but Krystle insisted I stay in lab with her, since she had the same conflict but wasn't able to transfer lab times. I stayed and we have been friends ever since. We also lived together during the summer of 2002. (Krystle is in the manicure/pedicure photos).

Krystle and Pierce got engaged in November 2007. I tried really hard to be patient and wait for details about their wedding (patience is something I should really work on!) but was so excited for them that by March 2008 I practically begged Krystle and Pierce to let me be a bridesmaid. They said yes (hopefully they hadn't felt peer pressured, though I applied a LOT of pressure) and I am super pumped!

I am having a blast watching them plan their big day. They certainly have some really great ideas that will be just adorable!! Anyhow, I started this whole thing, because I picked up my bridesmaid dress on Friday and it looks great!

Here's a pic: (Yup! I'm still sporting You don't know Jacques on my toes from the V-Day mani/pedi session)