Nicole's Bridal Shower

So Nicole's bridal shower (take 2 of course) ended up being pretty cool. Well, I thought it was at least. We had it at James Squires, which is a nice open pub (or bar) in Salamanca Square next to Barcelona. Speaking of Barcelona, the last time I was there, it was not enjoyable at all! Not just the company I was with, but it was to too crowded and hot and seriously, the food was only average at best.

James Squires on the other hand - I loved the layout of the place. Claudia, Jillian and I were there for the 2010 grand final, where it ended as a draw between St Kilda and Collingwood. I had a really good time and was so excited that it was Claudia's first grand final (first AFL even) experience!!Might even make it a grand final tradition.

Anyway, moving forward...

James Squires was very accomodating, absolutely fabulous. I would definitely recommend them as a perfect venue for a dinner party and drinks. Although I should say that none of us thought that the food was all that great. I ordered from the pub menu (and was promptly told off by Miss Mitsakis - but I didn't care, I wanted wings...) I ordered the chicken wings and beer battered chips. Chips were meh - I think the chips at the Devil's Kitchen are better. The chicken wings were way way overcooked and very disappointing. The serve was pretty huge and I was impressed when it first got to my table (for once, I don't think I remembered to take any photos). The wings definitely tasted like they were boiled or something before hand before lightly grilling them. So needless to say, they were completely overcooked, and it was a rare occasion where I did not finish my food.

Some of the girls ordered the gnocchi and the saganaki, which were both very salty. On the other side of the table, Nicole's family ordered some beef cheeks, which were on the opposite end of the spectrum. They were under-seasoned. So overall, the food was very disappointing.

But, the atmosphere was fabulous and it was the perfect venue for a bridal shower. All in all, I was very happy with the choice of venue AND for once, I would say that thanks to the staff and the venue itself, I would recommend it for a night out. And I RARELY do that if the food isn't great!

Nicole's cake was the chocolate dump it cake (recipe in an earlier post). I sliced the cake in half and spread some raspberrry jam (a handy little hint from Miss Honor Keele) and also a chocolate frosting infused with Bailey's. All I wanted was for the cake to look pretty - and I hope I managed to do so!

Yes, they are sad frogs!!!

For Nicole's present, I didn't feel comfortable asking people to spend more money buying more presents as a majority of them had already travelled to Sydney for the hens/bridal shower Take 1. So I asked them all to bring a photo of themselves and Nicole, and a cocktail recipe. I bought some pretty paper, brought some pens and sticky tape, and got the people to decorate their page. The decorated pages with the cocktails recipes will then be bound to make a cocktail recipe book!

All in all, quite a sucessful low-key, surprise bridal shower. With all the stuff I had going on for the week, I was pretty proud that I managed to pull it off!

Bridal shower planning

Yes, even though we have already had Nicole's hen's night and bridal shower in Sydney - it's been almost a year since she was meant to walk down the aisle, so I thought that it would be nice to have another one just prior to her wedding next weekend.

So the plan is that we are going to have a bridal shower, it's going to be small, intimate, low key and more importantly, it's going to be a surprise. I invited Nicole to dinner on Thursday night, telling her that it was going to be a "girls' dinner" and true to Nicole fashion, she is trying to make it a bridal shower. She requested that I invite this person, and another person, oh, and do you mind inviting this other person?

She is so expecting a bridal shower.

To throw her off the scent, I told everyone to tell her that they are not available. I believe that my actual words were "give her the most pathetic, petty excuse as to why you are unable to attend. She needs to feel unloved". And that is not to be mean, of course. It's just that I recognise that only with extreme lows, can you experience extreme highs. And I want Nicole to have the best night.

I want tears. :)

I intend to make pink cake, with a quilting pattern on it, with pearls and a tiara.

And I would write more, but I've got one eye on the TV, and Shane Crawford just kicked Sam Newman in the groin. The Footy Show is back! Toodles!!