The unexpected post bachlorette party

Life’s been chaotic lately and we’ve had a lot going on pretty much every weekend so when my oldest friend Chrystina called up asking if we can get together I had to push her off for a bit. Little did I know it was because she wanted to share some exciting news with me. She was getting married! Since we never did get a chance to hook up right away it wasn’t until after she eloped that I heard the big news. I’ve known Chrystina since kindergarten. We grew up only a few blocks away from one another, attended the same elementary school, went our separate ways for high school but we still have managed to always stay in touch. We don’t get to see each other as often as we used to as life has got in the way but she has always been a big part of mine and my sister’s lives. She was there when we both got married, when we had our bridal showers and for our bachelorette parties so we always just assumed that when her day came we would be there for her. Since she eloped that wasn’t the case. She didn’t get to have the showers and the bachelorette parties that we had and we weren’t able to be there for her big day. I didn’t want it to go by and have no one acknowledge it so I called up my sister and some of our mutual friends and had a get together at my place last Friday night. I told Chrystina we were going to go out for drinks to celebrate. The hard part was getting her to come upstairs for the party. I just said I left my credit card in my other jeans and to run up and see what I’d done with the place. Totally worked. We surprised her. Right after I got the news I had Chrystina send me all the pictures she had on her phone from the wedding. I strong them on a floral garland and hung them on my china cabinet. I framed one picture of Chrystina with her husband and child and used it as décor. I then sent her home with the frame as part of her present from me.

I kept the menu simple since I had worked the whole day and didn’t have too much prep time. I went to BJ’s wholesale club and got a lot of their frozen hors d'oeuvres and put together my famous tomato & mozzarella cups with a cheese board. Easy and delicious. I put everything on my hammered silver trays that I had purchased for the bridal shower I hosted for my sister last summer. (Hard to believe it's been a year already since my sis got married and that we are having Jae's baby shower in less than two weeks.) The trays have turned out to be a great purchase and an easy addition to any tablescape. I also think they photograph beautifully :)

I asked all the girls who attended to bring a token gift for the new bride. (Some sort of lingerie.) We all sat around the table and talked about life. We talked about the things going on now in our lives and the times in our past. Along with all the hors d'oeuvres, I served champagne with frozen raspberries and we had cupcakes for dessert.

  

Everyone seemed to have a good time and when it was over I knew that at least we gave her a special day to look back on and remember as part of her wedding.