Showers of Happiness

Mr. Newport and I recently went to our first wedding shower, hosted by FMIL Newport on the Jersey Shore. When we first arrived, my first thoughts were, "why haven't we been here before"? The place was gorgeous. The shower was hosted at a restaurant called Antoinetta's, which is right on the water. When we arrived a few guests were already there. It was fun catching up, since it has been a year since we last saw everyone.

Sister Newport, Me, Mr. Newport, and FMIL Newport

Us with Newport Cousin

Us with Mr. Newport's friends

After catching up with everyone, the food came out. FMIL Newport chose a menu including a few of our favorites. To start there was calamari (Mr. Newport's favorite) and a delicious salad served family style. Then for an entree there was a choice between crab cakes, an organic chicken wrap, cavatelli, or scallops over mushroom risotto (I love Scallops and they were amazing). And since Mr. Newport was the only guy at the shower, which isn't typical near them, FMIL Newport made it special for him by including his favorite beer.After eating lunch, it was time to open presents. I have been worrying about our showers for the last few weeks. The idea of sitting in the center of a room, opening gifts with all eyes on me was really stressing me out and I was a little more stressed about our Jersey shower, because I had only met a couple of the guests a few times. But, Mr. Newport sat by my side as we started opening gifts. We were sitting pretty close to the tables. About two minutes in, I was having a blast opening gifts. Everyone was talking with us and laughing, it was so much fun. We were overwhelmed at the generosity. We got so many of our favorite registry items and some really fun items not on the registry, including a TV!

We've been eating off paper plates for a couple months. After this shower, we almost have our complete set of place settings! The place settings were the most popular gift of the day, which made me really happy. I can't wait to have friends and family over for dinner on real plates. We also got tons of fun baking supplies. Including a hand mixer, our Kitchen Aid mixer, cook books, and lots of misc. baking supplies. Then there were some really fun off-registry items, I'll have to share in another post!

After opening gifts it was time to cut the cake. Sister Newport was our photographer and wouldn't let us miss any photo ops. She told us it was practice and we need to do the first cut. She was joking, but didn't realize we actually need pratcice. We had no idea what to do. After a few tries, we got it right and cut the cake.
The cake was amazing! FMIL Newport asked to have starfish on the cake to go with our wedding theme. She picked a cake that was half chocolate and half vanilla. I couldn't decide which I liked more. When we left New Jersey she packed it up for us to bring home, which was really nice, but not good for the wedding diet. I indulged in another slice on our trip home, it was too good to resist.

After the cake was finished, we got to spend a little more time with friends and family before it was time to end. It was the perfect shower. Great location, great food and great people.
FMIL Newport picked a beautiful location and had really special touches. My MA bridal shower is hosted by Newport Mom and the Newport Bridesmaids, so it was really sweet of FMIL Newport to plan the New Jersey Shower on her own. I don't know why I was so stressed about the shower in the first place!

Did you have moer than one shower? Were you nervous about them?