For that soon-to-be bride!

It seems like everyone's getting married these days! Bachelorette/lingerie parties can be hysterical - depending on how "risque" the gift givers get and how red the blushing bride can get. There IS a happy medium and a way to stand out with solid gifts that are usable and fun!


My best friend just got married this past weekend (yay!). We threw her a bridal shower in July that was pretty much do as you please. On the invitations I put her sizes and where they were registered so guests could choose which avenue they wanted to go down. 


Obviously I was going to go rather scandalous for my innocent bride to be :)


The trick is to make a gift practical and fun at the same time. Underwear is great...but...after my now-hubby saw how many pairs of panties and bras I got from my shower...I am now banned from purchasing undergarments for the next 2 years (and you don't want to deprive that recipient of Victoria's Secret semi-annual sales, do you?). And ladies, how often do you *really* wear those complicated lingerie pieces that have a hundred straps and clips? If you're like me, you have plenty of those stuffed in the back of your drawer because a) nobody looks like the model b) who has time to actually go put it ON when the time is right and b) it takes the guy WAY too long to get it undone!! 


On to the gifts. One of the best gifts I received was a sheer robe - just that perfect hint of sexiness yet usefulness. I tucked that little gem away and got the future Mrs. B a deep magenta satin robe. I went ahead and also got a robe for my future sis-in-law's bachelorette coming up next month:

Available at Macy's on sale for $17.48

Sexy but in a tame way, right? (I also couldn't bear to give my future sis-in-law something *too* sexy because, c'mon, it's my brother here. Ew.)


Back to Mrs. B. She and the now Mr. B love cooking and entertaining. I thought, "hmm...how can I mix food and sexiness?" Not by whipped cream or chocolate syrup...

Both available on Amazon for $13.45 and $11.53, respectively

Sexy cookbooks. These were quite the hit at the shower.  Lovin' in the Oven is especially fun to pass around. They're all actual recipes, just a spicier way to cook. Instead of telling you to, for example, put the chicken in the oven for an hour - it might tell you to go do the hanky panky for an hour!

One last idea before I wind this up - I was given a waffle maker inside one of those keepsake boxes for one of my showers. I wound up putting all the cards we got for the wedding inside that keepsake box. If you're not great at wrapping gifts, that's a fantastic alternative!