My Bridal Shower - by Kelsey Boyanzhu

This past weekend was my BRIDAL SHOWER and it was amazing. Seriously couldn't have imagined a more perfect scenario. I obviously love having my blog to dish on product reviews and inspiration, but I also love taking my blog back to its roots as an online journal of my life's biggest moments. And my bridal shower definitely qualifies.

My beautiful fairy of a Maid of Honor planned the whole damn party, but I wanted to break down the details of the venue, food, decor, as well as my outfit for you guys in this post today!

Venue

My MOH picked the location and hit it out of the park - she chose this stunning little tea room in the Sunset district of San Francisco. I LOVE a good tea party. Like, LOVE. I couldn't have picked a more perfect venue if I had picked it myself!

I'll be super honest - this place is incredibly strict. We had our party grow in size and they're pretty firm on not squeezing in one extra chair into a table. We ended up just booking the private room (the cottage) which actually worked out great because it meant we had our own space to mix and mingle. Again, Sip is pretty strict with guest count. For example, if you have an "unexpected guest" (which we were likely to have given my grandma was feeling sick and was TBD on attendance), they have astronomical fees. We ended up just RSVPing "yes" for her because it was cheaper to RSVP yes and have her not show vs have her show up at the last minute. Sip also has a fee for running late (even by a few minutes), and does not let you enter early to set up.

You know me, I like to give ya'll the facts (especially since my MOH and I didn't find out much by Googling or on Yelp). All that being said - this venue was BOMB DOT COM. The cottage was adorable and the perfect amount of space. The host was onsite with us the entire time refilling the water jug, replacing bottles of champagne, adding and clearing food, etc.

...and about the food...

Food & drink

The food served at the Sip Tea Room cottage was I believe the same menu they serve in their main dining area - and it rocked.

We had an assortment of tea sandwiches (the salmon spread was my FAVE), a mixed greens salad, assorted fruit, and fresh out of the oven scones. I'm telling you the scones smelled like heaven. Everyone was salivating.

Sip has an expansive tea menu, but we went the classic route and opted for English tea as well as chamomile. Everything was loose leaf and incredibly tasty. You have all the fixings on the table you could possibly need (milk, sugar, etc).

Sip Tea Room also had an assortment of bottles of bubbly to choose from. We chose a yummy cava and had them put five bottles in the fridge just in case.

Sip Tea Room operates like a well oiled machine. As the party wound down, our leftover sandwiches and scones (there were LOTS left over!) were packed up for us to take home.

Decor

Renting out the Sip Tea Room cottage also meant we could spruce up the space a bit! I actually had a customized banner left over from our engagement party (you can find a similar one here) that we hung on the fireplace mantle. I also had our out of this world wedding florist, Ida Blooms, design some small florals for the tables! The tables were pretty small and I didn't want anything to get in the way of the food and tea, so Annie of Ida Blooms designed coordinated bud vases in a moody tone (traditional bridal pastel hues aren't really my vibe).

Truth be told I have no idea if my MOH asked for the black linens or if they came standard, but they TOTALLY fit my aesthetic. Like hi hello edgy moody bridal shower. Black and white are our wedding colors, so this was perfect.

My bridal shower outfit

I had been eyeing this dress from the Gal Meets Glam collection for, I kid you not, five months. The original price tag was almost $300 which I just could not justify, but lucky for me it went on sale mere weeks before my shower! I got this baby for a cool $100.

Unfortunately this style sold out incredibly quickly in the sale, but I've included some near dupes down below for you as well as some of my other Gal Meets Glam bridal shower picks. For size reference I typically wear a 6 or an 8 in GMG dresses (this is an 8 and is a little big on me honestly) and am 4'11" and 132 pounds.

My dry cleaner actually LOST my sash for the dress, so my mom loaned me this black one the morning of my shower. Last minute save the day move by mama bear!

For my shoes I went with a nude pair of kitten heeled Valentino Rockstuds. I actually have these in two colors (this nude pair that I bought second hand for super cheap) as well as a gold pair I purchased for my wedding day. I've included some links to my exact shoe down below - but also found CRAZY GOOD DUPES for ya'll! We're talking like, under $100 dupes!

Similar dresses

Other GMG bridal shower dress options

Valentino Rockstuds + dupes

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