This past week has been fun and busy while we finalized details, hosted family and cooked up a storm for my sister and "almost brother"'s wedding shower.  Because it was a couples shower we (the bridesmaids) decided to throw an evening cocktail shower at my home and highlight the couple as a "Perfect Pair".  We used a play on words using "pair" and "pears" by pairing wine and beer with the food and using accents of pears to decorate the house.  

Food and Drink Pairings


We served heavy appetizers that were split into 4 stations.  Each station was paired with a different wine and beer.  We used chalkboards to label the foods and describe each pairing.  The stations were in different areas on the first floor of the house to encourage movement and mingling among the guests.



Station #1:


This station was set up in the family room.  It included 3 appetizer platters and a pairing of white wine.  The chalkboard stated:

"Lauren and Matt are a Perfect Pair

These appetizers:
- Charcuterie and Cheeses
- Crab and Avocado Toasts
- Potato and Leek Focaccia 

Perfectly Pair With:
Fruilano
(A medium bodied, zesty and minerally white wine)"

The Invitation

We worked with an Etsy business, RockPaperDove, to complete the invitations.  The owner of the business worked with us to personalize the invite so that we could add a jingle.  The photo below is a sample of what you can buy from her Etsy store.  We customized the invite below (at no extra cost) and had the owner add this jingle:

"A Sprinkle of Confetti And A Couple of Kisses
Soon Our Perfect Pair Will Be Mr. and Mrs.
A Couples Shower Is What We'll Do
Let's Toast To The Couple!  We'd Love To Celebrate With You!"



When looking for an invite we wanted an invite that 1. was heavy duty card stock and 2. looked like a couples shower cocktail invite.  So many shower invites are only for the bride.  In addition, most bridal showers take place during the day.  We wanted an invitation that would reflect the atmosphere of a couples shower cocktail party at night.  The quality of the card stock was wonderful and the processing/shipping time was very fast!

Decor

We tied the jingle from the invitation about the confetti and kisses throughout the decor and the favors.  On buffets throughout the house we sprinkled punched out circles and hearts from glitter card stock and displayed hershey kisses:

A sprinkle of confetti and a couple of kisses...

... soon our "Perfect Pair" will be Mr. and Mrs.

We found the below "the perfect pear" napkins on Etsy.  The store owner prints them onto colored napkins of your choice and uses different font colors that you can choose from as well.


The front door was decorated with a chalkboard sign and pear. Our perfect couple are in the photo below excited to get the shower started!  If you look closely the bride wore an outfit that coordinated with the invitation she received!

The chalkboard stated:
"Come and Celebrate with our Perfect Pair"


We asked both the bride and groom's parents for photos of the two from their childhood.  They gladly shared the photos and we displayed them throughout the house.  We also displayed photos of the couple together: 


Favors

For favors we filled brown and white polka dot boxes with pear scented and shaped soaps, a little confetti and two hershey kisses.  We tried to tie in the themes of a "perfect pair" along with the "sprinkle of confetti and a couple of kisses" jingle.  We printed a saying onto small circular stickers and placed them on the front of the favor boxes:

"A Sprinkle Of Confetti
And A Couple Kisses...
L+M"

And then we lined them up on the church pew in the entryway and reminded people to take one as they left later that evening:

Activities

We had several quiet activities that were available to the guests throughout the evening.  For details on these activities during the shower visit this post: Activities For A Couples Shower.


Also, for details on the Menu check out this post: