A Tasty Chocolate Inspired Bridal Shower

My sister's bridal shower was this past Saturday. All the planning and prepping and stressing paid off beautifully. Megan had a great time at her shower, as did all the other guests. We received many compliments on how classy everything was, how delicious the food was, and how much fun the guests had.

The bridal shower was inspired by the movie, "Chocolat", a favorite of the bride-to-be.  We went all out.  Chocolate-infused menu, chocolate candy buffet, chocolate games and prizes, and chocolate favors.  The colors of the shower were red/burgundy, turquoise, and gold.  We held the shower at a local winery that described it's building as a "French Country Chateau."  It really set the stage for a shower inspired by a movie that is set in a "quiet little village in the French countryside."

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the invitation right now. I'll have to get that because I'm super proud of the invites! I do, however, have a photo of the Change The Dates we sent out. (We had to change the date after the invites went out.)

This is the back of the change the date.  When you flip it over all the important stuff is on the front.The invites were set up pretty much the same way except it consisted of three layers rather than just one.

Megan, our bride-to-be and guest-of-honor!

The room all set up

Favor boxes and menu cards.

Our favors included Egyptian perfume bottles (which Megan collects), the movie "Chocolat", Bride and Groom Chocolate Miniatures, Poppin' Time Brittle Bark, and white chocolate covered fudge Oreo cookies with a picture of Meg and Dru on them.

The centerpieces.

(The fuzzy red flowers are called "Kangaroo paws".)

The Chocolate Candy Buffet! A huge hit!

(See how all the pieces of chocolate are individually wrapped?  Yeah, we spent all day Friday doing that ourselves.)

The cake!  Every layer was different: the bottom layer was chocolate cake with dalmation mousse filling (vanilla mousse with chocolate chips), the middle layer was french vanilla cake with chocolate mousse and the top layer was chocolate cake with Bailey's Irish Cream mousse.  The cake was from House of Clarendon.  If you're ever in the area and want to sample deliciously good cake or enjoy high tea, I suggest you check them out. (They're also making Meg's wedding cake.)

Our game prizes!  The prizes included a fondue pot, a chocolate making kit, a chocolate spa set, a throw blanket, a tea pot with a variety of tea bags, and a pink tool set.

We played four games: "How Well Do You Know the Bride and Groom?" quiz, "Guess the Candy Bar" taste test, "How Many Kisses Are In the Jar?" guessing game, and our version of "Don't Forget the Lyrics".

Waiting in line for food.

Our menu consisted of:

Vegetable Display with Chocolate Yogurt Dip

Tiki Shrimp with a Ginger Dipping Sauce

White Chocolate Ambrosia Salad

Chocolate Soup with Mascarpone Brioche Sandwiches made with honey and cream cheese

Panini with Chocolate and Brie

Hot open-faced Ham, Swiss, and Granny Apple Sandwiches on Baguette with Dijon Mustard

Chocolate Fondue with Strawberries, Pineapples, Bananas, Pretzels, and Marshmallows

Raspberry Iced Tea

Gift Table

All the guests were asked to bring their favorite chocolates to share with Megan.