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One of my best friends is getting married in July and when she sent me a jubilant text and pic right after her engagement last fall, you better believe I started ugly-happy-crying. She deserves all the happiness in the world. Angela was in my wedding two years ago, and this year I get to be in hers. 

And as maid-of-honor, I had the pleasure of planning her bridal shower and when I started off, I had a LOT of ideas. Mostly TV-related. She and I grew up watching Gilmore Girls in her front room, and in college, I got her hooked on Parks & Rec. But the show she knows better than anything... is Friends.

The ultimate Friends fan deserves a Central Perk party. So, I hopped around the internet to find ideas and, to my surprise, there are only a couple of posts that provide ample advice and ideas for Friends parties. Other than just showing off what I've been working on for the last five months, perhaps someone else could stumble across it and find it useful!

I should preface the following ideas by saying, I have an incredible mother who helped me each step of the way. Bridal showers don't have to be difficult, but they do take a lot of planning and forethought, which my mom truly excels in.

Invitation

We kept the theme a secret from Angela which was a challenge because I wanted to talk to her about it for five months. But the look on her face was also worth it. I introduced the theme to our guests through the custom invitations using an obnoxious amount of show references.

And on the back of the invite is our favorite Tribbiani. I included an index card with the invitation for guests to write advice for the bride beforehand. Guests put their advice in the "tip jar" as they came in.

Decor

The great thing about Central Perk is that everything was mismatched and nothing, excluding the couch, really stayed the same. So, I needed an orange couch and everything else could fall into place.

I created the Central Perk sign from an old picture frame, glass markers, and acrylic paints. First, I drew the logo on a large piece of paper, using a grid system, and taped it face up to the bottom of the piece of glass. On the top of the glass, I traced the drawing with a black DecoArt glass marker. Once that had dried, I filled in the spaces with acrylic paints. Glass paint definitely would have been preferable but convenience won out over propriety.

And the orange couch. Did you know that burnt orange slipcovers are nearly impossible to find? It's true. But thank goodness for the bride's mother who found this orange one at Target, it made for a great place for her to open her gifts and was a nice photo op location, as well. (update: I found a link to one on Amazon) I projected an interior image of Central Perk onto the screen behind us to help set the scene. This room was just the perfect setting. {If you're eying that awesome veil Angela is wearing, more on that coming up.}

Favors

To continue with decor, each table had coffee bean and coffee cup decorations, as well as coffee-themed paper items that my mom hand-crafted using scrapbook paper, kraft paper, and craft punches. Tea lights were tucked in the glass votives and cups, surrounded by coffee beans.

Each guest got their own coffee mug to use during the shower and then take home afterward, along with a bag of treats. My mom and I, plus all the wonderful ladies who helped out with the shower, had been collecting cups for months from Target clearance end caps, thrift stores, and garage sales in order to have an eclectic and varied collection of cups on each table.

The bride was given her own special mug. If you love Missouri as much as Angela (I don't think another human exists that loves MO as much as she), you can pick one for yourself on my Society6 store.

Drinks

In the words of Lorelai Gilmore, "Coffee, coffee, coffee." Aside from lots of coffee, we wanted to give the ladies lots of cafe-type options to choose from. 

From left to right, ice water, a delicious coffee punch, a tub full of iced Frappucino bottles, various teas and hot chocolates, whipped cream and toppings, a house blend coffee, hot water, and decaf in the urn at the end.

Food

The perfect accompaniment to hot coffee... an enormous helping of desserts.

I really had some great ladies helping me out with this one. Everyone pitched in and brought a few dessert items and we ended up with a delicious variety of pies, pastries, cakes, sweets, and fruit. I wanted a chalkboard display that mimicked Central Perk's yet started lettering ambitiously with an hour or so before the shower. As you can see, I lost my focus near the end but, it communicated what I needed it to.

Games

I know boisterous games are like, the thing to do, for showers - but we kept it pretty low-key. We did a coffee bean guessing game where everyone could put in their bet and the closest couple of guesses won a prize. {More on the prizes coming up.} See that little jar? 460 beans. Never would've guessed correctly.

And on each table, we had Friends trivia, with more prizes for the most amount of correct answers. Want the trivia for yourself or a party? You can download a PDF version here. And if you're not at Angela-level yet, here are the answers.

Prizes

My mom came across these bags of coffee in Big Lots one day; I simply could not believe our luck. We tucked a bag of coffee in a Kraft paper bag with two biscotti for six lucky winners. I put popular quotes on the bag with a Sharpie.

I thought about making the Geller cup for some ultimate winner. It's very difficult to find Troll dolls nowadays. I had a block of wood and everything. I was just waiting to come across a Troll doll.

Rachel Veil

I think I may have mentioned already that my mom is awesome, but I should definitely mention it again. My mom made an almost identical replica of Rachel Green's pilot episode bridal veil out of tulle, an elastic headband, and a string of pearls & beads.

If you need more ideas or inspiration, you can check out the Pinterest board I made for the shower and grab ideas from there.

Now that you're in the Friends mood, here's something to dance to.