My Paint & Sip Bridal Shower!

Wow, it's been a while. Now my wedding is over, but I figured we could still talk about some of the more artsy related things regarding my wedding and one big one was my bridal shower back in August! I kind of took control of my own bridal shower, but whether you’re planning for yourself, a bestie, or family member here’s what I DIYd, what worked super well, and what I'd do differently!

Choosing A Location

I wanted something that was more of an activity rather than everyone just awkwardly sitting around eating and chatting with people they've just met. I dreaded the idea of sitting in front of everyone, playing stupid wedding themed games, and having to open presents in front of people. I considered not having a shower at all because the classic bridal shower was so unappealing to me. I'm not someone who likes basic and boring and I really don't like opening gifts in front of people. However, I love anything artsy. So when I found a place that could do paint and sip bridal shower parties, I was super excited! And as a bonus, this space offered a hybrid or virtual option as well! This made it so I could invite my friends from across the country and they could still participate by having the supplies mailed to them and tuning in to a zoom meeting for the live directions. I was so happy because this felt like the perfect solution to my bridal shower dilemma.

Canvas N Cup made it super easy to book a time and date! It was perfect for me because it was in the middle of my family and my husband's family location wise. They also had a large selection of paintings to choose from, but I ultimately went with the bridge with water lilies that is based on a Monet painting.

So once I booked a date and had everything squared away that way, I immediately starting looking into invites, decorations, and food/drink ideas! I wanted a mix of champagne gold sparkle and bright paint colors! A little classy, with a lot of fun paint/art themed things.

Invitations

I got my invitations through Zazzle. I used this template and edited it to have all the information I needed. I know it's watercolor and we did Acrylic painting, but I still loved the overall vibe. I wanted my invites to look somewhat sophisticated. I opted to download the image and print them at home. I have a printer that does really nice quality prints, but if you'd rather not have to print and cut things, you can order the invites though Zazzle and also get envelopes to go with them. I printed and cut out all of mine and bought these envelopes on Amazon. I love that they were slightly pearlescent and they came with stickers to seal them that looked reminiscent of wax seals. It was perfect for what I wanted! You could also design a whole invite yourself by painting and scanning onto the computer or you could utilize something like Canva that allows you to start with a template and edit it. Depends on how artsy you want to get with it!

Games

I didn't want a bunch of "silly" wedding themed games. I wanted to keep it simple. So we kept it to scratch off cards, guess how many kisses for the future Mrs., and just a raffle with everyone's name at the end of the session. I didn't want anything that would interrupt the painting process, so I chose more passive style games. You could also choose something more creative like a guess the dress drawing or the classic toilet paper dress game if you have more time than we did!

Prizes

I did want to go a little over the top for a few bigger prizes for the game winners. I might have gone a little overboard, but everyone seemed to enjoy them! I wanted to stay on theme so made 5 different gift baskets:

Rosé all Day Basket

• Sugarfina Sparkling Rosé bears

• Rosé

• Rose quartz jewelry

• Candle

• Body butter

• Nail polish

• Stop & Smell the Rose Pura Vida Bracelet

Pearls & Prosecco Basket

• Pearl Jewelry

• Bath & Body Works Always & Forever

• Prosecco or non-alcoholic option 

• Hair clip

• Prosecco sugarfina candy

• Sparkle PV Bracelet Silver 

Wined & Dined Basket

• Cooking wine

• Pens

• Meal Planning Notepad

• Pasta

• Vodka sauce

• Olive oil

• An Oil and Vinegar jar

• Grapevine Pura Vida Bracelet

Sip, Sparkle, & Spa Basket

• Sugarfina sugar lips

• Coloring Book & Pencils

• Prosecco/Sparkling cider 

• Sparkle Pura Vida Bracelet Gold

• Face mask

• Margarita shower gel

• Green tea

• Candle

• Nail polish

Pop The Bubbly Paint Basket

• Champagne & non-alcoholic option

• Paint by number set

• Champagne soap 

• Champagne Bubbles from Sugarfina

• Happy Hour Pura Vida Bracelet

I had about a million ideas for gifts (I think part of my love language is gift giving) and had to really limit myself to only 5! But, here's some other ideas for baskets I had in case the ones above aren't your thing:

• That "Me Espresso" Basket - could be filled with espresso martini themed things like candles, bags, coffee beans, mugs, something Sabrina Carpenter related if that's your vibe

• Creative Escape Basket - Could be more art focused with a full paint set, brushes, palette, sketchbook, and maybe a wine and wine glass

• Limoncello & Light Basket - All lemon themed. Lemon dish towel, limoncello, lemon lip balm, lemonade mix, lemon drop candy

• Tropic Like It’s Hot Basket - Think beachy, sunscreen, beach umbrellas for drinks, a mocktail/cocktail mix, a beachy book, sunglasses, tumbler

Favors

I really, really wanted soap as a favor (even though the painting was a favor in and of itself). I was set on "from Rebecca's shower to yours!" being the tagline there. I saved so many things on Pinterest and in the end I went for these wedding dress soaps from Etsy. This seller made it super easy. All I had to do was select the scent, message, and the amount I needed and then it would be ready in a few weeks! I love supporting small creators.

Some other ideas I thought were cute, but ultimately didn't go with:

• Mini paint buckets filled with candy

• A paint palette cookie (Ended up having these as food at the party rather than a gift to go)

• Champagne scented bath bombs (most of my guests aren't bath people, but would be so cute if your guests are!)

• Hand sanitizer or Full size soap with a wedding veil attached

• Let love grow - succulent plants or pots to paint with seeds (didn't fit my theme, but I think they're cute)

Gifts for the Bridesmaids & Moms

I wanted to get a little something extra to distinguish the moms and bridesmaids from the rest of the guests. I decided to get them custom aprons that I'm hoping they'll be able to use for future art projects or in the kitchen. These ones from Etsy were so cute and fit the theme perfectly! I got myself one that said bride in white and everyone else got black.

Food/Drink

I DIY'd 2 signs, one that said "Creative Juices" and one that said "Fuel Your Creativity." These went at the food/drink tables. All my bridesmaids contributed. We had sangria, mocktails, colored ice, chacuterie cups, cupcakes, chips, veggies, dip, cookies, sandwiches & parfaits.

I got small bottles of Rosé that people could take with them as well for those who were driving longer distances to get there. I found a lot of these ideas on pinterest.

Decorations

My event took place at the art studio, so I didn't want to go too crazy with decorations! I love balloons, so I did a small bunch of balloons that were art and champagne themed to go outside to help people find the building.

I asked my mom and Aunt to make some paint bucket flower pots for me to have as a few centerpieces for the event. These turned out so cute! And I made the signs for the shower itself and table for food.

Guest Book

I wanted something on theme and ended up having everyone sign a paint pallet! I had Posca paint pens and used my Cricut to put a quote and the date on it.

Other ideas I had that I didn't use:

• Everyone sign a picture frame

• Polaroid photos (we did this at the wedding instead)

• Everyone contribute one paint stroke to a large canvas to make a big painting

• Fingerprints to add to a tree that everyone signs

• Cards with wishes for the future Mrs.

Things I Recommend Everyone Does!

Having to-go boxes for people to take food home

I have gone to several showers this past year or so and everyone asks you to take food, but never has a spot for you to put it. So they load everything up on a paper plate with either no cover, or another paper plate on top. I knew I needed to have boxes for people to take home and I think this worked really well!

Open gifts at home instead of in front of everyone

Maybe this depends on the person, but I felt way less awkward not having to react to every single gift in front of like 20 people. Plus this meant it was easier to transport gift bags and stuff without it being opened already. This way it's also easier to keep track of who got you what and be able to send thank you notes out accordingly!

Things I'd Do Differently

Give a short amount of time to allow RSVPs

I gave people a month and only heard back from less than half of the people I had invited. This was super annoying because I needed to know how many people were going so that I could pay for the art supplies for everyone. I was SO stressed out and had to send out a reminder card and ultimately track people down. It left me feeling really frustrated and wishing I hadn't even planned a party at all. So my suggestion to you is to give a short amount of time and make it clear that if you do NOT RSVP then there will not be supplies provided to participate.

Order desserts instead of making yourself

You will already have SO much going on. I wish I had just made it easier for myself and bought from a local bakery instead of making cookies and attempting to make cake on my own. Even though friends and family did help, I had a few specific things I wanted and ended up just stressing myself out way more than necessary.

Plan for more time than you think you'll need

Things always take longer than you anticipate. We had a time limit at the venue and we ran over the time a bit (luckily she was lovely about it, but still that's on me for not planning better). So book accordingly!

Hire a photographer (or assign a bridesmaid to take photos for you)

This was something I considered and didn't end up doing, and regret. Pretty much the pictures you see here are all I really have from the shower and I would have loved to have pictures of the tables, the studio set up, the food, all that effort put in.

So that was a little overview of my bridal shower! Everyone seemed to have a great time and really seemed to enjoy having an activity to do. Our teacher was wonderful and overall it turned out pretty perfectly despite the stress of getting everything ready. Let me know if you'd do a paint n sip party, if you have done one for your bridal shower, or what you did for your shower instead. I'd love to hear everyone's stories!