A Bridal Shower Tradition....Altered!

In my last post, I mentioned an impending tutorial. Well...TA-DAH!

So, you all know the tradition of creating a ribbon bouquet for the bride at her bridal shower to use at her rehearsal dinner as a stand in bouquet. Each ribbon or bow that was that extra detail on the gifts at the bridal shower is saved for this ribbon bouquet as the bride opens her gifts.

Yeah---Kind of like this...

Well, as my friends and I planned for our friend (and one of my bridesmaids) Erica's shower, we realized that she was not doing a rehearsal for her wedding. So, since I had volunteered to make the ribbon bouquet, I decided to create instead, a ribbon fascinator. (Was I inspired by the royal wedding? Yes. Can Erica wear anything and still look beautiful? Of course.) Here's my tutorial. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures as I worked, but its a simple project...

Me, a little too excited over the creation of the Ribbon Fascinator

Needs: 1 paper plate, Ribbons from gifts from the shower collected as the bride opens them (or to be safe, bring some of your own), scissors.

Before the party:
1. First, find the center of the paper plate and cut a small, circular hole. This is for the ribbons to be tied through and may have to be adjusted as you add more!

2. (You can skip this step if you don't have the time). Decorate the underside of the paper plate! I chose to go simple: used a black calligraphy pen to inscribe the couple's names and wedding date.

At the party:
3. Layer on the ribbons! (Hopefully, the gifts brought to the shower will have tons of varieties of bows and ribbons and strings, we were lucky and got a load of different kinds. Also, the ladies tended to buy purple bows, which matched our theme. Perhaps this is because of the Bed, Bath, and Beyond wrapping!) If you are adding a stick-on ribbon bow, make sure to leave room for the larger ribbons. Loop the longer ribbons through the hole. Knot them at the bottom, close to the surface of the underside of the plate.

4. Be creative! You can leave some spilling over the sides of the plate, you can braid some of the ribbons for texture, but be sure that at least two long ribbon strings are knotted and still dangling to tie under her chin for the fascinator.

5. Tie it around her head crowning her the most sophisticated of the Bridal Shower brides!

She's so regal!

Gorgeous!

There you have it! A fun twist on the Ribbon bouquet! 

Enjoy!

Micah