After Birthdays, Bar Mitzvahs, and Graduations, come the Weddings and, of course, the Wedding Shower.. This Wedding Shower was for my wonderful niece, my sister-in-law’s daughter. First, I need to give you some background about me and parties. My father was one of the first Wedding planners in the world, I am guessing. he and his brother started the company Weddings, Inc., in Chicago, in 1948. Needless to say, I have seen a lot of parties, and I guess I inherited the love of throwing a party.

In Los Angeles, there is a wonderful store, Moskatel’s in the downtown area.  Around it is also the wholesale flower market . Even when the market closes, there are vendors with little stores who will make arrangements for a fraction of the cost of a regular flower shop. Making a centerpiece just the way you want it does not have to cost an arm and a leg; the markup on flowers is crazy..

The vases you see above were purchased at Moskatel’s for $10.00 a piece.(You can’t tell, but they have rhinestones running along the base.  I  took the vases to one of the little shops, and these lovely floral arrangements were only  $15.00 each. Hence, for $25.00 a piece, and counting 6, I had gorgeous pieces that totaled only $150.00,  My niece told me that her colors for the wedding were rose gold. I wasn’t too sure what that meant, but I did have the florist spray gold paint on the flowers for a special touch!!

It seems that Paris is a common theme for weddings these days.  The invitation to this wedding is entitled “Le Marriage”. My nieces father is from Paris, so I think that had something to do with it. However, when I went to  Moskatel’s there were so many Parisian decorations. I guess it is a trend.

The Eiffel Towers you see below were $13.00 a piece. Those were placed  between the centerpieces. Do you see little champaign bottles in boxes?  These party favors were candles and fit the theme so perfectly!! I was so excited when I found them and they were just  $2.00 a piece.  4×6 photos of the couple were copied for a total of $4.06 (for ALL of them), and given to each guest to write their best wishes.  Summing it all up, the decor and special effects took some effort, however, it did not break the bank!! Being a party planners daughter, I loved every minute of it, especially because it was for someone so special as my niece.

The cake you see below was my one splurge.  This bakery, Sweet Lady Jane, makes the most wonderful lemon/berry cake that is one of the best things I have ever tasted.  However, next time, I would order a smaller one because hardly anyone eats cake anymore..  What’s up with that???  I love that cake!! I could have eaten the entire thing myself. Oh well, I know better for my other niece who is now engaged to be married!!

Below you also see a set of three glass vases, with fake orchids, golden beads inside, and candles floating on top, This entire set was only $30.00, hard to believe.  As an added touch, a photo of the happy couple was enlarged at Kinko’s and mounted for $40.00.  Doesn’t the picture next to the cake look lovely? In case you didn’t notice, the same flowers from the centerpieces are also on the cake!! So pretty!!

Sometimes, I can get one or two things too many.  I thought that getting the bride and groom was one of those things.  However, the baker forgot to put the little plaque on the cake saying “Congratulations”,so the little bride and groom came in handy after all.

Here is my beautiful niece who I think  had a wonderful time.  It gave me such great pleasure to see her so happy!!

A toast to the Bride and Groom from all of the guests from the little Tea House in Pasadena, Ca.

Even grandma had fun!!!

Wishing the Bride and Groom much happiness, years of love and laughter and all the best.

Wendy Xox