Celebrating the Bride-To-Be

By Liza Tanner


This is the Year of Weddings for me. Beyond our many beautiful Pineapple weddings, by year-end I will have been to ten weddings for family and friends! While of course I enjoy the actual wedding ceremony and reception, I really love the more intimate parties that precede the big celebration – the bridal showers and the bachelorette weekends. Usually during those parties the bride isn’t anxious or running around to spend a moment with each of her many guests – she’s just enjoying spending time with close friends gushing about her to-die-for dress and her handsome husband-to-be.


One of my favorite bridal showers was a kitchen and bar cocktail party for my friend Leslie at CulinAerie, a cooking school in downtown DC. Guests enjoyed delectable passed hors d’oeuvres and glasses of wine, while mingling and admiring the happy couple’s beautiful engagement photo. The CulinAerie staff then invited all of the guests into the demonstration room, where we learned how to cook the parmesan crisps and other appetizers we had just enjoyed. The evening ended with a sweet treat beyond compare: the mother of the groom had created these bourbon cupcakes decorated with a fondant topper featuring the couple’s initials. A truly delicious evening.

A popular theme I have seen this year is the “Around The Clock” luncheon. This is a great way to ensure that the bride-to-be receives a diverse selection of gifts for her new home, and it’s a good option for a cross-generational guest list. The “Around The Clock” theme is also fun because it encourages guests to be creative with the time that they’re assigned – 5pm means many different things to different people – whether it’s cocktail hour, workout time, the early bird special, or something else! I love this invitation from www.creationsbyleslie.com.

I recently returned from my friend Jessica’s bachelorette weekend at The Shore Club in Miami – it was a fun-filled weekend of celebrating the bride-to-be and pure girliness. During the days we lounged by the pool, working on our tans, flipping through gossip rags and enjoying the fantastic people watching. Then at night we took the bachelorette dancing at some of the many South Beach hot spots. Taverna Opa was the perfect spot for our bachelorette dinner, because between courses of delicious Greek cuisine the lively servers and belly dancers made us dance on the tables! But my personal favorite was the lounge at the Delano Hotel, where the exquisite décor is inspired by Alice in Wonderland, with large tilted mirrors, billowing drapes, an oversized armchair, and chess on the perfectly-manicured lawn. In keeping with Miami’s saucy culture, we showered Jessica with lingerie that will surely keep the newlyweds blissful!

As I’ve showered many of my girlfriends with best wishes this year, I’ve cherished the opportunities their upcoming weddings have presented to spend time with each of them and share in their happiness.