A Parisian Café Inspired Backyard Bridal Shower

As a COVID bride, I wasn’t even sure I still wanted a bridal shower. We had our micro-wedding in 2020, were waiting to see if the summer 2021 celebration could go ahead, and rescheduling the shower three times had taken the fun out of it all. Was I still a bride even though technically I was married? We were having two weddings, did a shower even make sense?

In the end, I am so glad we went ahead with the shower. After all of the plans we worked so hard on were completely derailed and re-done so many times, after giving up a bachelorette and all of the pre-wedding events that make the entire experience so special — having this shower was just what I needed to get excited about being a bride and getting a special celebration just for me (even if it was in the midst of so much uncertainty).

Since we hosted our micro-wedding in our backyard, everything was ready for another event. With a more intimate guest list of around 20 it was the perfect set up. Without much time to plan, I decided to keep it feminine, romantic and true to a lot of my favourite design elements. I wanted a fun and light atmosphere with beautiful, meaningful details and with the help of my family and bridesmaids it was an unforgettable day.

The Planning

With only a few weeks to plan, I had to make quick decisions. I decided on a Parisian inspired ladies brunch in our backyard and got to work completing the team needed to make it all come to life. My original plans for a very different for me pink, acrylic & pampas type design were scrapped yet a few of the vendors stayed the same as we postponed from 2020. The short planning timeline meant any custom elements were difficult so I decided to use a lot of the custom patterns and designs I already had from the Pastiche Boutique (like the blue floral decal on the cocktail cart) and ran with this Café Pastiche concept.

When planning an outdoor event, thinking through the flow and access is crucial. It takes so much more work to bring the inside out and create a cohesive experience.

Another thing that drove me crazy was the weather. As someone who finds a lot of comfort in being able to control and anticipate anything, this is always something that’s hard for me. Our home wasn’t a suitable backup option so the plan was to move down a few streets to my mother-in-law’s house in case the weather required it. Last summer almost every weekend was filled with thunderstorms and massive downpours. The days leading to the shower were wet, dark and obviously not ideal for a sweet outdoor shower. At 7 am the morning of the shower it stopped raining yet the forecast still showed a big storm coming. My instinct was to move but my family encouraged to just forge ahead and I’m glad we did. Even though it was still pretty wet (and hot at almost 30 degrees all day), it did not rain.

The Design

When thinking of an event design, I start with how I want the guest experience to feel like. I wanted to ensure a light, fun & romantic atmosphere and give my guests something to enjoy amidst a lot of COVID heaviness. This would be the first time (as things were slowly re-opening) that most of us would be gathered with others in this intimate capacity. I wanted to space things out and seat people in a way that made them comfortable and still looked and felt cohesive and natural.

For the design, I wanted the focal elements to work naturally with the tables and make you feel the café feel without it being overly thematic. The sweet cart hosted the cake, coffee and sweets display, the swing (in the same spot where we said “I do” the year before), the cocktail cart and the guest tables carried a very light and airy blue, blush & white theme. The blue and white floral accents made this a very true-to-me design.

The Look

I found this short and flirty Monique Lhuillier dress at Saks and knew it would be perfect for the fun bridal vibe I was going for. I already had this gorgeous pearl hair bow from Untamed Petals so I knew a textured pony was the way to go (and ideal for the super hot and humid day). My favourite Nicola Bathie cameo earrings gave the look the perfect Parisian touch. I worked with Rachel from The Bridal Party to create this super smoky (and a lot more edgy than usual for me) makeup look. I knew I’d be going for something very natural for the wedding so I wanted to just have fun with it and go for something very bold for this shower. I had been saving these Bella Belle shoes since 2019 so even though the rain made the backyard way too messy for beautiful white satin heels, I’m so happy with how this look turned out. I felt like a bride and right on theme.

The Details

I wanted the shower to still feel elevated and put together even if we were in our backyard (where many would have visited previously under more casual circumstances). I wanted it to feel special and still include some “traditional” bridal shower elements which I always find fun as a guest or planner.

As guests entered, there was a basic welcome table with the custom guest book I got engraved on Etsy — “Dear Mrs. Moro…” which encouraged guests to snap a polaroid photo, attach in the book & leave a note or letter of advice.

Moving into the backyard, there was a small lounge, and a game table featuring some classics (guess how many Raffaelos in a jar, Guess the Bride’s Age), and my sister’s bike decked out with gorgeous florals.

The sweet cart in the corner displayed the cake, sweets & coffee. In the opposite corner we had the swing & cocktail cart next to it. This spacing allowed for guests to spread out and not congregate too much at one “station”. We also had to deal with various slopes in our backyard so the cart for example had to be positioned in the flattest possible area even if I would have preferred it more in the middle of the yard. Work with what you have!

The bistro chairs were a must as for me they’re the ultimate Parisian café look. Soft beige linens, alternating blue & beige/white striped napkins went perfectly with the quintisential café flatware. Blue & white plates and serving stands were accented with blush water glasses and coupes (which we kept at the cocktail station). Favours (blue & white bow earrings from the Boutique) also served as place cards.

For the centrepieces I wanted something very simple and not to feel overly “centrepiece” like. Ruth from Ruth Chin Events created these beautiful clusters of my favourites: peonies, roses and anemones to bring together the tablescape design in an intentional and clean way.

The cocktail cart served a custom French 75 inspired cocktail of all of my favourites (gin, peach liquor, lavender, lemon, simply syrup, topped with champagne and a sprig of lavender). Kirsten and the coordination team helped ensure the finger foods and sandwiches kept coming & the self serve sweets station meant no one had to wait to get whatever they were in the mood for.

A bonus table housed the bridal shower game prizes which my sister and I put together as themed boxes for the winners (movie night, spa night, cozy night in). My bridesmaids also led more games like guess the love songs, what’s in your purse, who has the groom (my bridesmaid Danielle taped different “Nicks” under everyone’s chair — I loved this so much), and he said/she said (which we played as a shoe game once Nick arrived — I love this game but knew we didn’t want to do it at the wedding so this was the perfect time).

Nick arrived with some flowers from Bellwood Blooms (I love this tradition) and our puppy Louie. We served the cake, took some photos & I went for a little bike ride.

It was a beautiful day that made me feel bridal and oh so very loved.

I hope this gives you some ideas and inspires you to still celebrate. You deserve to feel like a bride, no matter the circumstances and even with a simple backyard, it’s still possible to create something special and authentic to you.