CELEBRATION Heirloom bridal showers finally come of age

Something old, something new make a bridal shower something to remember.
By STACY DOWNS
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
A bridal shower can be almost as memorable as your wedding day -- if there's a twist.
My aunts proved that six years ago when they hosted an "heirloom shower" in honor of my upcoming nuptials. It was such a blast. Both sides of my family shared stories, recipes and gifts that I think about all the time. Here's what they did:
UInvitations. I knew the shower was going to be special as soon as I received the handmade invitation. My Aunt Jill found an illustrated postcard of a bride and groom and had the vintage motif -- no copyright problem -- printed on stickers that she put on the front of the natural linen cards.
She tied the invitation shut with a sage silk ribbon. I felt like I was unwrapping a gift. Inside, she wrote, "Please bring something old or something new for the bride to cherish."
Of course, ready-made invitations would save loads of time. I asked Abby Tatman, a recent bride and owner of RSVP party store in Prairie Village, Kan., for ideas on what would fit the theme of an heirloom shower.
"You want it to look a little old-fashioned but also fresh and interesting for a modern bride," she said. You can use your computer and printer at home to easily personalize store-bought invitations.
UMood and food. Every decorative detail at my shower had meaning. Two large ivory ceramic vases were filled with a variety of off-white flowers. Turns out the vases were from my grandmother's wedding.
To push the heirloom concept, a shower could be decorated with glass vases filled with heirloom fruits, vegetables or flowers.
The menu at my shower included family favorites such as beef-tenderloin salad, spiced shrimp and champagne cocktails. Dessert was blissfully different from the typical sheet cake and mints. One of my aunts made a cousin's recipe for cream cheese pie.
Another idea for an heirloom shower dessert is using a family-favorite cake recipe to make cupcakes. Stack them on tiered plates to give them a wedding cake look.
UHeirlooms. This part of the shower was especially touching. My family gave me framed photographs of my parents', grandparents' and great-grandparents' wedding days. The one of Grandma Downs was my favorite, in part because it's in a frame that belonged to my great-grandparents more than a century ago.
My mother-in-law, who lives in California, couldn't make it to the shower. But she also sent her wedding photograph and gave me a beautiful wooden box that my father-in-law made. I felt like this shower helped tie our two families together before the wedding.
I loved how guests interpreted "heirloom." Sure, I received gifts you'd traditionally associate with the word, such as linens, silver and china. And some pieces had been in my family for years, including my great-grandfather's christening cup from England. But I also received some new items that are timeless enough to be passed on some day, such as good knives and breakfast dishes. Quality always lasts.