So first thing is first - I lurve three day weekends! I'm so glad I was able to take Friday off and spend some time with my Grandma who came in from New Jersey. We went to the mall and just hung out and it was just so relaxing. Definitely what I needed before the weekend I was about to have... So Saturday afternoon, my Grandfather (well, his wife - Patty - did all the work but he took credit) threw a party at his house for my family and Brett's family and for our Bridal Party. It was a nice, calming way to get the families to mingle. My parents have met his parents and his grandparents, but this was the first time they really met my grandparents. We were there for a few hours and ate SO much food it was ridiculous. My Grandfather got a new boat on Friday so we were able to take it out on the river. It's a really nice pontoon boat that fits about 12-15 people AND it has a porta potty. Seriously, what kind of boat has a toilet?! lolAfterwards, most of the bridal party (short of 2 groomsmen) went to Dave and Busters for our Jack & Jill type event. We had SUCH a blast just hanging out, having a few drinks and relaxing. It was kinda crazy to try and get everyone to play the same games at once, like the racing ones but it was a blast! And everyone gave me and Brett their tickets so I was able to come home with a polar bear which is a HUGE win for me! I adore polar bears! :)The shower was Sunday at 1 so it was a brunch. We had it at River Forest Country Club and it was amazing! I can't believe we had so many people there!! My bridesmaid counted about 55 people so I was shocked to see them all. My maid of honor started things off with introducing my family and Brett's family and then told everyone the story of how he proposed, which apparently a lot of people didn't know because there were a lot of 'ahhhhs' and 'oohhhhs'... haha. Then time for the food! We had a great brunch menu - mostly breakfast foods so I loved that a lot. After almost everyone was done eating, we started with the gifts. Can I just tell you the gift table was unreal?! I had NO idea how many gifts we were going to get and I just can't believe people's generosity. Some of the gift highlights would have to be:1. Kitchen Aid Mixer <32. Oil painting of Brett and I (on FB)3. Chocolate pearl and chocolate diamond earrings for the wedding (on FB)4. Custom tiara my mom got from Clarissa's (on FB)But honestly, our entire office at home is filled with gifts. You can barely walk into the room. So after all the gift opening (which was awkward as hell - I HATE being the center of attention!), we did a chinese auction to give away 5 gift baskets. And while I was opening gifts, we set a timer to give away the centerpieces. That was as far as I wanted to go with games! It was a long, nervous day for me yesterday but it was a lot of fun, too! If we're friends on FB, there's a few pictures from Dave and Busters and there's a few pictures of the shower. All around, it was a GREAT wedding related weekend and now I'm just ready to get the show on the road!
33 days and counting....
