Wedding Preparations: Showers

Ben wasn't so sure how things were going to go with wedding showers.

"I've only been to one shower," he said.  "I think they're probably a girl thing."

After our first shower (can you believe we're having TWO?  Kinda funny for two people who said, "No, we don't need a shower - we think we're good"), we both discovered something.  It's a whole different experience having people give you a shower versus attending one.  It's pretty amazing when everyone shows up with a pile of packages and says, "Here, you're going to need these things."

Ben's comment afterward was "Who knew can openers could be so much fun?"

He's really thrilled with that can opener.  Personally, I'm thrilled with the whole beautiful collection of things.  Because we're going to have a house.  We're going to be married.  We're going to need new dish towels.  Seriously.

And that's why it turns out it's a lot more fun to be having a shower than going to one.  Because the whole thing is part of celebrating a new life beginning.  Anything that goes into that celebration becomes very special.  We've seen that before with other weddings, when weeding the yard became part of that celebration too; but it's a whole new realization when it's your own wedding you're celebrating.

Just a tip for anyone in the future: it turns out one of the best gifts to get someone having a big event like a wedding or baby shower is a thank-you note kit.  Mom Turner gave us a box of handmade cards, a book of stamps, and a sheet of address labels containing the address of everyone who'd been invited to the shower.  I put the list Elizabeth made of the gifts and who'd given them into the box with the notes and it took me no time at all to get them all sent.  Now I think I'm going to assemble something similar for our next shower and wedding, because boy...it felt so good to get that taken care of right away!