Come with me as I take you on a tour of my latest party creation – the Enchanted Garden Bridal Shower. With my daughter Savanna, we crafted a moody blend of magical, fairy, secret garden, and vintage tea party vibes to celebrate my engaged daughter, Hannah. Join me for an exclusive tour of this magical event!
When Savanna and I started putting our heads together to plan this enchanted garden bridal shower, we honestly didn't have a name for it. We had never seen bridal shower themes quite like this. We simply knew we wanted to incorporate ethereal elements and vintage and thrifted items because Hannah loved all those things, and her wedding design is similar.
Enchanted Garden Bridal Shower
Like most party planning, we searched Pinterest and other sites for inspiration for event details. It wasn't long before we came across moss centerpieces, the perfect table foundations. From there, we began pulling all our china and thrifted the rest, the menu, and the porch decor. The special day slowly started to come together.
So, for this post, let's begin this tour on the porch because you want to decorate your porch with a hint of what is to come inside.
Enchanted Garden Porch Decor
Believe it or not, the design for our porch began after the party tables were finished. Sometimes, you must figure out the main design before moving forward.
For our porch, it was rather simple. We created a sign using Hannah's classy green floral bridal shower invitation design and framed it in an old thrifted frame and hung it on the door.
To hang the frame on our door, I simply stapled a ribbon to the back and hung it using my “how to hang a wreath with ribbon” technique. The only thing I did differently was add double-sided foam tape in a few spots so the frame didn't bang on the door when people entered.
Next, I placed plants on my homemade bench using a white flower color scheme. Petunias, Gladiolas, and strawberry plants were easy choices for a secret garden theme.
Over on the wall in my iron planter more white floral plants and pastel yellow florals.
Hannah loves plants, and with her wedding colors being white and green, this was easy to create. Plus, nature being an element of design, we were going in the right direction with our theme.
Last was the rug. With vintage being another element of design, we grabbed an old oriental rug from the attack and added this whimsical folk art rabbit doormat I found at Walmart.
Altogether, it makes an unforgettable first impression. See how this porch is pulling you inside into the heart of the enchanted garden bridal shower?
Ethereal Moss Centerpieces
There is an important reason why we decided to have the party start at 4 pm because we wanted to create ambiance. Candles and fairy lights would play a role in capturing the mood of the centerpieces, so we needed the sun to go down.
Because of the time of day, we would need to serve dinner. We will get into the menu later, but for now, let's look at the organic moss centerpieces.
Each table had its own moss centerpiece landscape. To create this look, we began with a sheet of artificial grass and placed old items like brass candlestick holders, tarnished silver pitchers, small trays, cups, and glass jars.
Next, we added fairy lights around the trinkets and placed real moss on top of the fairy lights and around the items. The idea was that the moss had grown up around them, as if these items had been left behind by fairies, and nature had started taking them over.
Once all the pieces were surrounded with moss, we added charming fairy-like items like real butterflies, feathers, leaves, and handmade clay mushrooms.
Enchanted Garden Floral Touches
Now, all the centerpieces are in place, and it is time to set the place settings, but here are photos of the other tables. As you can see, we got creative with the other table and used a cake stand to elevate a tray.
Special note – Look above the garden centerpiece on this table. Do you see some greenery hanging down? We added a floral chandelier arrangement over the table to bring your eye up, too.
Created with greenery and a few white flowers, the stems are basically laid from one arm of the chandelier to another. Here is a blog post on how to make a similar chandelier flower arrangement. It's small, important details that really bring the theme to life.
Last on the small table is a tiny moss centerpiece with all the same elements. The size didn't lose any of its charm.
I will share more photos at the end, but for now, let's look at the place settings.
Mix Match Place Settings
Another word that came to mind when we were trying to decide on the bridal shower style was Alice in Wonderland. Think about the tea party and all its crazy mix-matched china and wild and willy decor. Well, we went for mix-match place settings.
Gathers my china, my mother's, my husband's mother's, and grandmother's, and thrifted items. We pulled together seventeen place settings where not one matched.
Believe it or not, placing more simple pieces with busy pieces seemed to give the look we wanted without it being too busy. I thought that pro tip might help if you do mix-matched China place settings.
We included a dinner plate, salad plate, and dessert plate for our table, but in some place settings, they got a tea party plate. It was all wild and willy, just like Alice in Wonderland.
Once dinner was finished, we encouraged everyone to keep their smaller plate; sometimes, it was a bread plate instead of a dessert plate, but who cares? There was nothing traditional at this bridal shower.
Bridal Shower Games
Because the main focus was on the tables, we didn't spend a great deal of time on decor elsewhere except to add greenery to the entryway table, where we placed the party games for guests to pick up on their way in.
Spill the Tea Game
For Hannah's bridal shower, we played two games. The first one was called “Spill the Tea.” It was a list of questions each guest had to answer about Tim and Hannah. Hannah shared the answers after everyone was finished, and the winner got a prize: a candle.
Clothespin Game
The second game started as soon as all the guests arrived. Each guest got a clothespin pin, and whenever someone slipped up and said Tim's name anywhere, who overheard it could steal their clothespin?
This game lasted throughout the party, and boy, everyone got creative with what to call Tim. He was called Jim with a T, Mr. T, Mitt, and What's his Name.
At the end of the party, the person with the most clothespins won a prize. It was also a candle.
Enchanted Garden Party Menu
We tried to keep dinner easy and inexpensive, so we went with a large pot of chicken and rice. For seventeen people, we cooked two whole chickens, but we could have gotten away with only one chicken. Two days later, I am still eating chicken and rice. LOL!
Next, we served salad and rolls. Because I am gluten and dairy-free, I wanted a party where just about everything is edible for those with gluten or dairy allergies, and we had two other guests in the same boat.
On the side was a bowl of shredded cheese for the salad and two baskets of rolls – one gf/df and the other regular.
Once dinner was finished, Hannah opened presents to give our food time to settle, and then we cut the cake.
Desserts for All
For Hannah's cake, we got Tasty Pastry in Tallahassee to make a heart-shaped cake. Going for a vintage look, they did sweet cream frosting and lots of decorative piping. In the center of the cake is one of Hannah's lockets, a detail she uses throughout the wedding.
I made a cake for the gluten and dairy-free guests and decorated it with fruit and flowers. It was so fun to get to eat cake with everyone else.
On the other end of the buffet was a sorbet punch bowl. Again, it was gluten and dairy-free. We made the punch by using pineapple juice, ginger ale, and scoops of strawberry and lime sorbet.
The punch bowl, goblets, serving dishes, and all were thrifted or vintage pieces that family members let us borrow. The punch looks so pretty in the goblets!
Like the centerpiece, we kept all the silver tarnished to tie it together and added white berry plants and greenery here and there.
To finish the dessert table, we added more gluten and dairy-free goodies of meringue kisses, wedding cookies, fruit, and candied pecans.
Enchanted Garden Art
Last, notice the art over the buffet. Hannah created this piece of art so we could incorporate a design that would go with the event's vibe. After printing it at Walgreens and decoupaging it for a realistic art look, we added it to another thrift store vintage frame.
This vintage piece of art is available in our Etsy shop as a printable. Tap vintage deer landscape to see more images and learn more.
Final Thoughts
Every detail was carefully thought through, and just before the event, all the battery-powered candles were lit, including the ones left behind from my Valentine's decor on the mantel.
Here are a few more photos from the party.
All of the hard work was worth it to have the perfect shower. I hope you have enjoyed this enchanted garden bridal shower tour. You can use this theme to hold similar enchanted events, a seasonal event, or even an outdoor bridal shower.
For more bridal shower ideas, check these posts:
Are you planning a bridal shower or a whimsical party? If so, please share in the comments, or if you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Happy Decorating!
