A Virtual Success

On April 18th, my niece, Rachel, will tie the knot! This is a pretty big deal since she is our first niece or nephew to say, "I do!"

My niece currently resides in Pennsylvania, and the rest of the relatives are scattered from here to there, and all points in between. It would have been a logistical nightmare to try to get Rachel's mom, grandma, cousins, and all of the aunties in one central location to shower the bride-to-be. On the day of the bridal shower, the party attendees were located in the following states: Arizona, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin.

What was the solution to get everyone together? My resourceful and clever sister came up with the idea of hosting a virtual shower -- we are certain that this is a first-ever kind of event. Thanks to Skype, we were able to have up to ten video connections; however, we only needed nine.

Weeks before the scheduled event, the guests were instructed to purchase gifts and have them shipped to the bride's residence. Rachel was on the honor system as to whether or not she peeked in the packages as UPS, USPS, and FedEx delivered the boxes to her doorstep. Word has it that she resisted temptation.

My party-plannin' sister, AJ, had asked if Rachel wanted a specific theme to her shower, and the reply was that the bride wanted a "thong" party. That response was a joke, but my sister was off and running. In the 1970s, flip-flops were called thongs. I am not sure that "thongs" as we know them today even existed back then! AJ was able to find adorable party glasses and napkins with a flip-flop design. The flip-flop theme was perfect since Rachel and Chris will be getting married on the beach in Aruba.

 Party favor bags were shipped out to each of the attendees, who also were not supposed to open the bag until shower time. The bag included one party cup, one See's truffle, a flip-flop key ring, and a thong! A theme's a theme. (No thong shots...)

 Key Lime & Lemon truffles -- YUM!

 Party bags were lovingly assembled & ready to be shipped to various states.

 The soon-to-be-Mrs. posed with her unopened gifts.

 Our girl is all ready to be showered by her relatives.



Here are a couple of screen shots of the party attendees. Isn't technology wonderful?

It's especially wonderful when it works! And it did; however, it's virtually impossible to get twelve people in nine different locations to all smile for the camera at the same time.

It looks as if somebody is going to be cooking up a storm.

There is an old saying about marriage that says, "Kissin' don't last, cookin' do." Here's hoping that both last a long, long time! We are soooo happy for you, Rachel and Chris!