Breakfast at Tiffany's Bridal Shower

This weekend I was treated to a "surprise" bridal shower, thrown by my amazing bridesmaid Ashleigh, with help from my mom. I say "surprise" because I kept learning little tidbits about it from people who forgot to be tight-lipped, and I also mentioned some ideas for what I would like in my dream fantasy bridal shower.

Ashleigh, being the amazing person she is, surpassed my dream fantasy! She threw a "Breakfast at Tiffany's"-themed shower, complete with the soundtrack playing in the background, colored balloons and plastic pearl necklaces on the table. Everyone wore black and pearls and sunglasses; my dad said he almost fell over from the chicness when he swung by.

Here are some of the guests. We had the party at a restaurant at my alma mater, Christopher Newport University. The menu was brunch with mimosas! It was fabulous.

And a shot of the pretty balloons!

My mom ordered Tiffany blue gift boxes and a co-worker of hers offered to engrave them "Tiffany & Co" for free! I have to be sure to send a thank-you note to that kind lady!

Inside, my mom put M&M's in our wedding colors with the date of the bridal shower on them.

I got many amazing presents and I can't wait to use all of them. My sweet grandmother can't really travel, but she crocheted me doilies that I plan to use at the gift table and guest book table at the wedding. She can't follow patterns, so everything she makes is unique.

This is my shock-and-awe reaction to my gift from my future mother-in-law: a Le Creuset round oven. SO EXCITED.

And, per bridal shower tradition, this will be my practice bouquet for the rehearsal.

Our amazing wine expert Erica also makes cakes and surprised me with miniature Tiffany ring box-themed cakes with homemade marshmallow fondant. Seriously, it blew me away.

It was such a fun shower and I'm so grateful to everyone who came. One of my wine club girls, Jennifer, pulled out one of the funniest surprises of all. She wrote down my reactions to my gifts and then read them aloud, saying these were the things I'd say on my wedding night. We guffawed with laughter; it was like one giant "That's What She Said" joke. Here's a sampling:

• "That is the cutest."
• "No offense."
• "We're gonna get there."
• "It's nice and neat and even."
• "I got one that's huge and gorgeous."
• "I didn't even notice how hard you were working."
• "The whole world has changed."