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My Southern-Style Bridal Shower

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When I was a little girl for some reason I had always imagined my Bridal Shower would be in my Mom’s hair salon. Which is odd if you think about a 5-10 year old girl 1) even thinking about a bridal shower and 2) why on earth would she want to have it there?! I imagined that we would all be wearing long dresses, hats, only sipping on iced tea, getting our hair done and opening presents. Sounds a little old school southern right? I promise I never watched Steel Magnolias until I was in high school. If you think about it though, all of those ideas make sense when having grown up in a Log Cabin, walked mostly barefoot on gravel, and played in creeks to pass the time.

Fast Forward to the Bridal Shower… what was I thinking?! All of that sounds terrible! Thankfully we’re all living in the modern world and my mom and her best friends knew better than to plan a scenario other than the above mentioned.

I grew up in a town 20 minutes north of Atlanta called Suwanee and for the majority of my life there wasn’t a lot there. I mean, the mayor lived in our neighborhood and occasionally he would come over for haircuts if there was something big happening; like the Suwanee Day Parade. Now you go and visit Suwanee and it’s a bustling suburb of Atlanta. There is a ton of shopping, a downtown full of restaurants, and all of the older homes have been restored into this rustic, chic paradise which could make the pages of Southern Living Magazine.

Thus the Bridal location was chosen. My Kindergarten teacher Caron, and my mom’s best friend Laura offered to throw me a bridal shower… and I was just over the moon. I have known both of these women most of my life from my mom’s salon and I just knew this was going to be the best time.

When I walked in, the home was just beyond gorgeous. Mrs. Caron lives in an older home that’s been completely redone and speaks to that southern charm that when invited over makes you want to linger a little longer. The table was gorgeous and was filled with southern crudité that is known to me as soul food. The idea of Southern Living was front and center and just the experience was everything of how I dreamed my life would be like when I was younger… Only it was for one day only, and it was a bridal shower, and when I was five I didn’t realize you would one day have to get a job and pay bills . None the less… it was spectacular!

During the shower a lot of my mom’s friends who I had grown up with attended as well as some of my old friends that I had known from elementary and middle school. The worst and best part of the shower was when Mrs. Caron sat everyone down and invited them to tell their favorite “Courtney Story.” Anyone would be nervous for obvious reasons but let me put it to you this way… Still to this very day My mother always says to me “Courtney, you are the reason you are an only child” with a huge grin on her face. I’ll let you mull that one over

The first story came from Mrs. Caron my kindergarten teacher. When I was in her classroom she put on the play Jack and the Beanstalk. Now it’s not the version you and I know because she had to add dialogue and characters to make sure that everyone in the class had a part. I was Jack’s mother who was in charge of throwing a party once Jack climbed the bean stock. I must have really taken a liking to the role because I told Mrs. Caron that it was going to be a BIG, Glamorous Party, and that I would be wearing my mother’s Mink Coat. Righttttt…

I’ll have you know that the day of the play, I showed up in my beautiful dress, pearls, and of course the mink coat. I was going for movie-star status and that day for the only time in my life, it was achieved. Here is a picture Mrs. Caron had made for me that was taken from an actual picture in the mink coat.

My second favorite story that was told by Sunday School Teacher, Mrs. Toni who is probably just one of my favorite people ever. Mrs. Toni and her husband Mr. Reggie not only taught Sunday School together but were also school teachers at neighboring schools. Keep that in mind as I begin a new story. When I was four my mother would drop me off at a day camp that would take me to pre-school and then pick me back up for afterschool activities. There was a bus that would come and pick us up along with other kids and the first stop would be an elementary school and the second being my preschool.

One day I decided I didn’t want to go to preschool anymore. It was time to move on and by golly I was going to big kids school.

Enter in Mr. Reggie… he just so happened to have bus duty the very day I decided I was going to big kids school. He happened to see me get off the bus, but couldn’t make it in time through the sea of children to see if it was actually me. Pan to five minutes later, Mr. Reggie followed up and went to the main office. There I was… sitting with the secretary. I had told the secretary that I was a new student, gave her my full name and address with my parents names and numbers, and told her I was ready to start 3^rd grade. In walked Mr. Reggie who asked me what I was doing there to which the secretary responded for me “She’s a new student.” She had believed everything I had told her. Mr. Reggie quickly explained that was not the case, picked me up and personally took me back to preschool. I was so close…

After the stories unfolded it was time to open presents and I just couldn’t believe the kind words and thoughtfulness that poured out from the room. I will never forget that day and the amount of love that Aaron and I received. Each person that was at our shower holds a special place in my heart and I just tear up thinking about it.

Here are some photos from the shower and thank you for even reading this far! Did you have a shower? What was your favorite part?