Showered with Love: Trunks perfect for socially distanced fete
The old expression goes “Necessity is the mother of invention.” And when the pandemic has scotched all your plans to throw your daughter a bridal shower, then you have to get creative.
For Butler Township resident Janine Kennedy, trying to get a bridal shower for her daughter, Taylor, off the ground was continually thwarted by circumstances beyond anyone's control.
“The first one was set for March 21 which was literally the week the government said, 'Sorry' and shut everything down,” she said.“Then we were going to have it in April, but that didn't work out,” she said.She was uncertain what form, if any, the bridal shower would take.“I wanted her to have the experience of a bridal shower. She's my only daughter,” Kennedy said. But time was running out on pulling the event off.She said she had seen bridal showers held on Facebook live or in a drive-by format and found them rather boring and with no interaction between the bride-to-be and her guests.But Taylor had an idea. She had seen on social media some women getting together to have a socially distant wine tasting party.Her mother said the bride-to-be came up with the idea of a tailgating bridal shower.
So on May 16 in a field near Mount Chestnut cars gathered in a U-shape for a socially distant bridal shower.“The guests pulled in and we gave them a bagged lunch containing the things you usually serve at a bridal shower in to-go containers,” Kennedy said.The guests were greeted with a car trunk with a picture of Taylor and her fiancé, Tyler Foster, a banner reading “Love is Sweet” and a second sign welcoming them to Taylor's bridal shower.“Everybody decorated their own trunks,” she said. Gifts were taken one by one to a gift table to be opened by the guest of honor.“We wanted everyone to be comfortable. We gave gifts away randomly,” she said.
The shower didn't feature any games because Kennedy feared it would be too time-consuming. However whenever the music switched to the song “Celebrate.” Whoever's gift Taylor was opening at the time received a gift.“They loved it,” she said.The outdoor theme continued through on Taylor and Tyler's marriage July 3 at Pinehill at Eisler Farms wedding venue at 517 Dick Road. The couple is making their home near Mayport Naval Base in Jacksonville, Fla.“The guests were not restricted because it was outside,” said Kennedy. The couple was married outside on a hill and the reception was in a barn.The only drawback?“It was so hot, it was blistering hot,” the mother of the bride said.