Afternoon at the Casino (aka My Sister's Bridal Shower)

As I already mentioned, Caleb and I spent the weekend in PA so that I could throw a bridal shower for my sister, Danielle. I came up with a "Lucky Lady"/"Queen for the Day" theme because, well, she likes gambling. Ever since we were little kids she would beg our grandmother (our Memaw, now used as my mom's grandmotherly namesake) to buy her a lottery ticket every time we stopped at a gas station. When Danielle turned 21, she wanted to go to Atlantic City, not because of the alcohol, but because she was officially of gambling age. I hope that no one is getting the impression that she's addicted, far from it! Just something that she enjoys for entertainment the way some other people may enjoy going to the movies. Anyway, back to the details. After I chose a theme, the search for invitations began. Of course I went to my old standby Etsy for inspiration, and found these. Of course, I figured I could make them myself for cheaper, so I Google Image searched to find the card logos? (A of Spades, King of Hearts, Queen of Hearts), and I wrote a poem from scratch describing the shower details to our invitees:

The Cards have been Dealt.
We’re ready to Play.
Our bride-to-be, Danielle,
Is the Queen for the day.

Soon she will marry,
The King of her Heart.
And we will ensure,
They are prepared from the start.

We’re throwing a shower,
On August the 1st.
To give these Two of a Kind,
A Full House that might burst.

At 1:00pm,
All Bets must be placed.
As she walks through the door,
She’s sure to be Flush faced.

So come on Ante Up.
Don’t Sit This Hand Out.
You won’t want to miss this,
So please give us a shout.


Here's the final result:


I also wrote another poem based on this one to describe to D, the gift that the bridesmaids had gotten (1 night hotel stay in DC and money toward purchasing tickets to a Christmas show at Ford's Theatre. She and her fiance had planned to do this anyway, we just decided to foot some of the bill). Unfortunately, I don't have this poem saved on my computer. Next I went to Party City to purchase some decorations (giant cards, casino signs, a mini roulette table, etc). We had lottery tickets and chocolate coins wrapped in foil to look like casino coins. Unfortunately, I don't have a ton of pictures of the party decorations (in fact, most consist of D opening presents). However, you get the idea.

Roulette centerpiece (notice the green felt table cloth similar to a blackjack or poker table)


Casino sign, the surprised bride-to-be (check out those braids) and the beautiful cake by About Weddings.


The bridesmaids and the bride with the giant playing cards in the background.


Being goofy with one of the cake topper gumpaste cards.


All in all, the shower was really wonderful. The best part, my sister and her fiance walked away with a ton of great gifts!