Showered With Love: Day of the Dead Style!

Halloween weekend was FREAKIN' AWESOME!

Bridesmaid K and Sister Meerkat decided to throw me a untraditional bridal shower that totally suits my personality. They themed everything around Día de los Muertos which translated means Day of the Dead. Contrary to how the name sounds it is a VERY joyous celebration in Mexico where loved ones who have passed away are remembered with lots of great food and celebrating.

There were really only two things that Bridesmaid K and Sister Meerkat incorporated that were not part of a traditional Day of the Dead celebration; Halloween costumes and a piñata.

Here is Bridesmaids K as the cop, me as a hippie and 

Sisiter-In-Law Meerkat as one of the pink ladies from Grease. 

Intrigued yet? Keep reading your going to love this.

So first off that darn fail blogger bride struck again cause she forgot to get photos of the Mexican food, the place mats Sister Meerkat made explaining day of the dead or the games we played for the first 1/2 of the shower (which included a prize for best costume). The one thing I am really sad I didn't get was a photo of Mama Meerkat & Mama-In-Law Meerkat showing us their best Mexican hat dance.

I did get my little blogging butt in gear though and passed the camera off to Sister-In-Law Meerkat before we headed out to beat the stuffing out of a piñata.

Ignore the shorts sticking out for under my costume. I added some layers to keep warm.

One thing Sister Meerkat and Bridesmads K didn't think about was that I am a softball player. That poor piñata didn't stand a chance:

Then we all proceeded to collect the candy I had bashed out of the poor piñata. Sister Meerkat gathered the most candy of any of us. (She really is as much fun as she looks in this picture.) 

Some of the candy didn't survive my assault:

Then we headed inside for some cake and to open presents. Everything started out very light hearted like the rest of the party:

I must have been really excited about that garlic press.

But then I got to Mama Meerkat's gift and she went for all out pull on the heart string shower gift. I should have know something was up when I opened the card and she signed it mom AND dad. I opened the bag to find a framed photo of her and Father Meerkat with a poem in it called At Our Daughters Side:

Tomorrow is a lifetime away, now suddenly its here
How did it happen so quickly? The wedding drawing near.
How can we act so happy? On this most glorious day?
When soon is just a short time, we'll give out daughter away!
We wish we could grasp a moment and make the clock stand still
So we could let our hearts catch up but we know they never will.
All of the worries of being a parent, all of the battles won
No one warned us of the day our job would be finished and done.
Yet, there is another side, where our heart is not as sad. 
When we look in our daughter's eyes, we can't help but be joyful and glad. 
This day she has dreamt about, for just about all her life. 
She's going to be such a beautiful bride and a loving, caring wife. 
We'll clasp out hands tightly and manage to smile
With tears full of joy at the bride in the aisle
And we will think of the girl we were blessed to watch grow...
This beautiful young woman that we both love so
And whenever she needs us we will be there with pride
As always with love at our daughters side.

Seriously I couldn't even get through the first couple lines without crying. Bridesmaids K took over and read it for everyone.

After everyone ohh and aw'ed over the poem, the party got back to the fun, joyful atmosphere it was before. (The margaritas helped too I am sure!).

Well there you have it. A quick look at my Day of the Dead bridal shower. Anyone else deviate from the norm for their bridal shower?