showers and bachelorettes to go to. Last weekend my friends John and Jess opened up their new Kenwood home for a a co-ed shower celebrating our pals Tracy and Carl's (shown here - aren't they cute?) upcoming nuptuals. It was great. Our hosts hired chef Gerard of Paella y Tapas (shown below) who's paella-making is pretty well-known in wine country (and beyond).It was delightful. He cooked the entire thing in front of us on an authentic paella pan and filled it with all sorts of delightful goodies: chicken, peppers, prawns, octupus, garlic, mussles, clams, rice and lots of saffron. Mmmmmm! Apparently he's has one coming up at winery featuring a 9 foot paella pan that will feed 1000 people. Now that would be fun to watch!
I suspect guys aren't too thrilled about this new trend in pre-wedding
festivities, but I certainly prefer having them around. Now they're finding out how much cash we girls typically shell out when our friends get married - not only do we have 3 gifts (shower gift, bachelorette party lingerie, and the wedding gift), plus at least one new dress and the cost of the bachelorette party, as opposed to their one gift and bachelor party. I'm sure the guys probably spend much more than we do on booze, gambling and stripers on their Vegas trips, but that's their choice whether they want to spend hundreds of dollars on lap dances, not part of wedding etiquette.
I think with the addition of men the not only does the food get stepped up a level, but now the wine seems to be flowing much more liberally. Not that I don't love my girl time, but for some reason, I've found showers tend to be rather both in terms of food and conversation. I can't count the number of light bruches featuring salads and quiche or sandwiches with the crusts cut off, and possibly a glass of champagne or cheap Chardonnay. Now that the men are invited, I'm seeing killer paella parties with great food and lots of wine (typically the good stuff). Moreover, these coed showers are no longer focused on watching the bride open gifts for an hour while the guests are required to ooh and ahh over how great each present is (zzzz!!!).
Gentlemen, you are most welcome.
