4th of July Picnic turned Wedding Shower! ... SURPRISE!

My aunt and uncle are famous for their picnics. They always have these massive picnics where they invite their friends and our family and we all eat, and hang out, and just have fun. I was told that they were having a picnic on July 5th, in celebration of the July 4th holiday. I made some tasty meatballs in the crockpot and was ready to go have a picnic with my family. Well, we got to the picnic... and I noticed that a lot of the guys were sitting outside and only a few of the women were outside. My aunt told me she was having computer problems and asked me to come inside to look at her computer... and when I opened the door... SURPRISE!


I was SO surprised. A lot of my extended family from Virginia was present, as well as a few of my bridesmaids. My great-grandparents even made the trip to be at my shower. Well, actually, it was technically both Jason and my shower. They called it a "wedding shower," and he was in on the surprise.



First, I was told to sit in the corner on a chair appropriately adorned with bright pink balloons. A "Bride-To-Be" sash was placed on my shoulders, and the gifts were shoved into my lap. I opened tons of gifts, many of which I happily recognized from my Bed, Bath, and Beyond registry. I received lots of practical, useful gifts, such as a griddle from my grammy:



And some other gifts... that caused me to blush quite a bit:




After the gifts, the ladies joined the men outside for a picnic (I was the only guest who actually brought food, lol). We had burgers & dogs, mac & cheese, my oh-so-tasty meatballs, chips & dips, and of course---CAKE! My aunt made the cake for Jason and I, which made it even more special.



After we all finished eating, the ladies headed back inside and played games. The first game required several rolls of toilet paper and some ingenuity and creativity. Everyone was broken into teams of 3, and given 3 rolls of toilet paper. Each team had to construct a wedding gown of toilet paper in 10 minutes. I got to be the judge! It was so much fun, and lots of laughs were shared... as you can only imagine! The gown on my cousin Whitney, in the middle, was my favorite, and was deemed the winner.



After all of the gifts were given and the games were played, the guests slowly began to leave. But before most of everyone left, I managed to round the ladies up for a group shot. These people mean so much to me!



My next bridal shower, to be held by my bridesmaids, is scheduled for August 9th. All of my friends will be invited to that shower. This shower, given by my aunt Missy, was primarily for family and close family friends. I would've never guessed this shower was being planned, and I was so pleasantly surprised by everything! I'm so lucky to have such awesome family and friends!!!

Here's a few more random pics from the wedding shower: