A Nightingale Bridal Shower
If you've been following along with me, you'll know that I've got two best friends getting married this summer and therefore, two of every celebration! WOOHOO! You'd think I'd be stressed but nope, I'm in my element, this is my strength AND my passion. I love party-planning!
The MOH and I got to work together to come up with a way to celebrate our best friend. The venue that was chosen was the ever so trendy AND beautiful, Nightingale in Vancouver. I've ALWAYS wanted to visit this place for its delicious menu spread and duh, it's photogenic environment. Our girl was surrounded by those most nearest and dearest to her and based on our brides never-ending smiles and laughter, it was a success! We love you, Em.
The Venue
Everything is just so pretty in this restaurant. The front door alone is perfect! We were seated near the kitchen, with a view overlooking the beautiful Fairmont hotel and the hustle and bustle of downtown Vancouver. A scene I will never, ever get tired of. The day was perfect, with just a hint of sunshine peeking through the clouds. Not too hot and not too cold, it was perfect.
We requested a private table and got just that, we were situated upstairs with lots of room to take photographs and socialize.
Nightingale is certainly a planners dream since they offer separate checks and are super accommodating. We had a number of requests such as allergy issues and late arrivals since the BMO marathon happened to be on the same day. It was amazing and the service was impeccable throughout the entire event.
The Food
As a busy Mama, I really only get to live vicariously through my other girlfriends and their foodie adventures. Right now, it's all about White Spot, Nandos and/or Boston Pizza for us since we've got two kiddos to please. I was so excited to try out the food at Nightingale and for this celebration, we got to choose a set menu which all 18 of us gals would share. Here are a few of my favourites, they exceeded my expectations in every way! Definitely coming back for more.
Kale salad, shaved fennel, ricotta salata, bread crumbs, 'green goddess' dressing
Apple salad, walnut, celery, avonlea clothbound cheddar, Szechuan peppercorn dressing
Grilled broccolini, sesame & cilantro dressing, za'atar spice
Roasted mistake mushroom, pecorino, brown butter, hazelnut
Baked salmon fillets, charred lemon, dukkah, orange zest
Oven roasted cauliflower, sunflower seed, sultana, cilantro, turmeric dressing
ng Roasted brussels sprouts, pickled grape, pine nut, sherry vinegar
Whole roasted heritage chicken, charmoula, red Harissa
The Giveaways
I live for giveaways, well maybe not receiving them but the process of brain-storming, creating, and then giving them away is what I love most about them.
My best friend and her fiancé own a company called Aviaura Naturals. Check them out here: Instagram. They create these wonderfully, handcrafted all-natural skin products such as this Lavender Goat Milk Bar. I've always kept these amazing soaps in the back of my mind for giveaway purposes and I thought that this would be the perfect event to use these! You can contact Jennifer directly via her Instagram to order these babies, they're great as gifts, decor and of course soap and they boy do they smell divine!
I found these amazing tags from an Etsy store called Riverstar Paperie. The tags were provided along with the use of a website called, Templett. This purchase allowed me to personalize and to create my own tags, which was certainly a WIN for me since I had two other events that I needed tags for (stay tuned for those!).
Colette is the owner of the shop and she was so great! Since it was my first time navigating through Templett, she was more than willing to answer any of my questions or concerns. Let's just say, I ended up deleting the entire tag and she was able to put it back, no problem! Thanks Colette, I'll be back for more.
TADA, Here's the final product! It was certainly the most simple yet, impactful giveaway I've done and I love the end product. I thought it would be best to keep the label in the back and to have the tag be the focal point. Can I just say, how amazing these smell! Totally obsessed.
