How to host a shower when your sister is the "Broom"

I had the honor of hosting a bridal shower for my sweet little sister this weekend. She has taken on the title of "Broom" and allowed her beautiful wedding-dress-wearing future-spouse to have sole reign over the title of Bride.

summer theme

My sister is not the lingerie & cookbook type so I wanted to host something that reflected her personality. I settled on a theme of summertime recreation and guests brought gifts for camping trips, backyard cocktail parties and future hiking expeditions.

prizes!

We played a few games and gave away prizes in colorful metal sand pails. My favorite game asked each guest to complete an old saying (such as "Behind every great man is..." or "A woman's place is...") with a new ending and my sister assigned points for the best answer. Among the best were my grandmothers answer to "A woman's work...is a load of crap" and a friend's response to "Behind every great man is...a man's behind."

sushi platter and summer rolls

I filled a metal tub with cold bottles of beer, root beer and hard lemonade. My grandma filled a hollowed watermelon with fruit salad and my mom put out plates of brownies and lemon bars. I ordered a platter of sushi and built a menu around it. I rolled vegetables that I had harvested that morning in rice paper and served the rolls with a sweet chili dipping sauce (those are broccoli raab blossoms you see peeking out of each one). I also made a salad with sliced red onion, red cabbage and iceberg lettuce, tossed with cooked shrimp and a bottle of wasabi flavored ranch dressing.

Grandma's handiwork

The food was enjoyed by everyone, the weather was perfect. Most importantly, my sister said it was exactly the shower that she had wanted.