Here Come the Brides!

This weekend, my friend Maggie and I co-hosted a bridal shower for our friend and MCH-colleague Shannon and her fiance, Emily. Shannon and Emily are two of my very best friends in the Bay Area and I wanted this shower to really be something special for them! Most of Shannon's friends here are in our program, so we invited the whole lot of them plus Annie and Lauren, two other friends from school, and celebrated with a Cupcakes and Cocktails-themed fete.

My fabulous friend and neighbor Alyse came over in the afternoon to help me set up. We had a little station where guests could drop off gifts and write date ideas and family recipes for the brides. Then down below, we set up flowers, snacks, and the fire pit. The cupcakes and drink station were both inside the studio to keep away from the bugs! We set out champagne, red and white wine, and a make your own mojito station which I think was a big hit!

Annie made the most gourmet cupcakes -- lemon blackberry with a lemon curd filling and a white chocolate ganache (amazing, right??). Maggie whipped up some delish red velvet cupcakes with legit cream cheese frosting. Shannon, Emily, and I are all doing a nutrition challenge as part of our gym which "forbids" sugar, gluten, dairy, alcohol...all the good stuff. The cupcakes at the front are the ones I made and were challenge friendly: almond-orange base with coconut milk strawberry "frosting" (more like glaze). They were fine, but definitely didn't hold a candle to the other cupcakes! That's right, I obviously tasted everything.

We played some fun bridal shower games and talked until midnight. I never expected to make such wonderful friends in graduate school and am SO lucky to call these girls my pals. Tuck had a great time, too!! 

Congrats, Shannon and Emily! We love you!