photobooth | Ultimate Bridesmaid

There’s something beautiful about taking ordinary objects—like bedsheets and tablecloths—and turning them into the delicate backdrop for a sweet bridal shower. Bridesmaid and photographer Helen and her fellow maids did just that for bride Irene’s tea-party shower. Hosted at her fiance’s family home, the shower features linens and lace with plenty of texture to create photobooths, a charming dessert spread and even a scrapbooking station! The result feels like the sweetest little tag sale you’ve ever seen, or laundry day gone oh-so-right. linens and lace bridal shower Helen shares how she and the other bridesmaids came together to create this pretty scene:

We tried to adhere to Irene’s preferences for pastel colors and hearts as we planned her garden tea party–themed shower. Her fiancé’s backyard was a wonderland that boasted amazing levels for partitioned scrapbooking, food, photobooth, and lounging/games areas. We used vintage hankie bunting from our wedding to line the weathered fence, staircase, and deck; pastel and lace tablecloths to spruce up the furniture; vintage milk glass vases bursting with fresh flora to accentuate tables; delicate doilies and tissue paper hearts to embellish windowpanes; and an amalgamation of vintage tablecloths, lace, and fabric to construct a makeshift photobooth. The photobooth was my favorite feature, as sweet guests made use of time-honored props to immortalize fun memories with the bride-to-be.

Thanks to Helen for sharing these images from the day. You can see more of her beautiful photography on her blog, Ah, That’s Love.

Last weekend I traveled to Florida for Marisa’s wedding in St. Augustine. I cannot wait to see the professional photographs and share a few with you, but in the meantime here are a couple of my snaps from the day and some highlights from the bridesmaid front.

The happily married couple in our wedding trolley!

Marisa had a rainbow vision for her bridesmaids, a wash of jewel-toned dupioni. We didn’t see the dresses all together until the day of the wedding and we were all blown away with how pretty they looked together. She picked just the right shades! We each chose a style from a selection of three. You can find my ivy V-neck with cap sleeves here, Alyssa’s strapless number here, and Maria’s violet scoopneck here, all by Alfred Sung.

Instead of bouquets, Marisa made us these clutches with retro brooches chosen to match our dresses. They definitely came in handy since we could slip in tissues, lip gloss and even our cameras! I was able to take more pictures before and after the ceremony because of them, although all of my photos conspicuously stop when I reach the reception, probably because I was busy “partying my face off” as Marisa would say. Oh, and stressing about my speech.

Marisa and I before the ceremony! The bridesmaids seriously earned our keep with her gorgeous dress. It was ridiculously heavy and required at least two helping hands to get her in and out of the trolley (or one groomsman lifting her up like a doll. This was much more effective.). All the bridesmaids had something to manage to get her around—her train, her veil, her spectacular oversize bouquet, her towel for dabbing off in the summer heat. Like I always say, being a bridesmaid is hard work!

Probably our favorite activity at the reception was this amazing photobooth, stocked with props. I was really impressed with the photo quality and the imaginative facial expressions. The results can be seen below and the Florida-based company Marisa used is Phobooth.

My darling boyfriend and I. He’s gotten quite good at attending weddings with me. The arrow was supposed to point at him…in the heat of the moment I made a fatal error.