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No Place Like
OME
Bridal-shower hostesses nix restaurant and synagogue parties
in favor of in-house get-togethers.
BY SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN
U
mbrella-and-raindrops wrap-
ping paper, an assortment of
tiny sandwiches, petit fours
and gushing women — there's bound to
be a future bride in the center of it all.
And for reasons that aim toward a
more intimate gathering, curbing costs or
just something different, showering the
bride-to-be at home is finding its way
onto the list of pre-wedding celebrations.
Mirjam Gunz Schwarcz, for example,
estimates she has hosted 15-20 bridal
showers in her Oak Park home over the
last eight years after friends and neigh-
bors discovered her ongoing offer of hos-
pitality. "There is something about the
privacy and coziness of a home shower,"
Schwarcz says. "Having everything you
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JUNE 2006 • JNPLATINUM
need — from a nearby lemon for your tea
to easy access to the powder room — is a
nice convenience."
Most of the showers that Schwarcz
has helped plan have been what she terms
"hostess showers" — parties where nearly
everyone is a hostess — held among her
Orthodox neighbors. "Anywhere from
15-30 women get together, share the
expenses and really set up the husband
and wife with as many of the major
things they'll need," she explains. "A lot
of the girls do not register, so we look
to get them what is popular in linens,
cutlery, cookware, baking items and small
appliances."
The group involved in these show-
ers has charted a system that puts each
hostess' monetary input to its best use.
"Saving money for gifts is the reason we
plan the showers at home, menu and all,"
Schwarcz says.
Another innovative way to allow
for more quality gift items is through
advance shopping. "There is a woman
in our community who, whenever she
hears about a sale, jumps into her car and
shops for toasters and telephones and
other things needed to set up a home,"
Schwarcz says. "Then we choose shower
items from what has already been pur-
chased at great prices."
Over the years, Schwarcz has acquired
stacks of chairs and table linens to help
expedite shower set-up. "The food is
set up as a buffet in the kitchen, and
everyone eats roaming around the den,
dining room, living room, wherever," she
explains.
Decorating is also a breeze since
Schwarcz has accumulated shower-
themed items like candles, candlesticks,
pillows and small bride-and-groom figu-
rines. She also shares the collection with
other would-be hostesses, asking only for
a security deposit and the promise of a
donation to the Zichron Foundation, an
Oak Park—based organization that helps
brides with wedding expenses.
For Barbara Dworin of Bloomfield Hills,
the decision to host a summer 2005 bridal
shower in her home came after an unsuccess-
ful search for a kosher location large enough to
fit 50 women but small enough to keep things
intimate and more personal
Because all guests could gather in one
room on the main level of the house,
Dworin's home was deemed a fit for
Tracye Burnstein's party, after discus-
sion among hostesses that also included
Davida Robinson of Franklin and Linda
Jacobson, Robin Pappas and Betsy Wolf,
all of West Bloomfield.
"All the hostesses are friends of
Tracye's mom," says Dworin of her friend
Tobye Bello of West Bloomfield. "Tracye
is the oldest of the group of family friends
and the first to get married, so hopefully
this was the first of many showers we'll
plan together in our homes."
And according to the bride, the set-
ting for the late-Sunday-morning shower
was ideal. "A room with large windows
looks out to the lake and woods behind
Barbara's beautiful home — it was per-
fect," says Tracye, who settled in Ferndale
with her new husband, Jeremy Burnstein,
after their November nuptials.
On shower day, the furniture was
moved out of Dworins' family room and
round tables and chairs were set up to
accommodate guests. "The tables were
colorful, with lots of purples and pinks,"
Dworin says. "We used linen cloths and
napkins and silver serving pieces. And
each table had different coordinating
flowers that Davida arranged in porcelain
vases."
A wait staff served the kosher lun-
cheon, prepared entirely by the hostesses,
that included poached salmon, salad and
sweets. "They are all fabulous cooks, and
the fact that they each made something
made it more special," Tracye says.
Her mom also was touched by her
friends' generosity of time and involve-
ment and was delighted with their choice
of venue. "It's a warm and cozy feeling to
be in someone's home," Bello says. "But
they also made it very elegant."
Adds Tracye, "Everybody raved about
each part of the shower. Many of them
commented that they had not been to
a shower in a home before, and they
thought it was such a unique and creative
idea." ❑
Clockwise from top left: Bring out your best
china and silver to set a pretty table for an
intimate gathering at home. Tracye Burnstein
was the recipient of an at-home bridal shower.
Hostesses Betsy Wolf, Linda Jacobson, Robin
Pappas and Davida Robinson are friends of the
bride's mother, Tobye Bello.