This baby shower was one very near and dear to my heart. Not only did I design the invitation for it, but I threw the shower as well for my dear cousin Chandra. She requested that the shower be gender neutral because she wanted to reveal the sex of the baby at the shower and liked the idea of white as the main color. White is tricky because you want it to look baby, not bridal. So I came up with the idea of going with a subtle theme of hush-a-bye baby, with stars and moons and clouds.
I used creams and whites, different textures and brought in some natural elements like manzanita and wheat grass. We invited over 80 guests so I had to be thrifty with decor, I made wishing trees and cake platters as well as cake pops for favors - all tutorials that will be coming soon on this blog. My dear friend Karen White, owner of Flowers A'la Carte helped me with the center pieces (that girl is sooo talented!) and my other dear friend Jackie of VanHatten Photography (another ridiculously talented lady) was kind enough to photograph the details so we could remember every little piece and share them too! So here are some of the fun details:
I used creams and whites, different textures and brought in some natural elements like manzanita and wheat grass. We invited over 80 guests so I had to be thrifty with decor, I made wishing trees and cake platters as well as cake pops for favors - all tutorials that will be coming soon on this blog. My dear friend Karen White, owner of Flowers A'la Carte helped me with the center pieces (that girl is sooo talented!) and my other dear friend Jackie of VanHatten Photography (another ridiculously talented lady) was kind enough to photograph the details so we could remember every little piece and share them too! So here are some of the fun details:
The Invitation and Stationery
The Tables
Of course this is my favorite part:) The invitation I did in a metallic cream and white and to add interest had a hanging star with the diaper raffle information. The invitation really set the stage for the rest of the decor and style. I personalized water bottles and wrapped ribbon and labels on everything. Food labels were poking out of cute wheat grass containers and banners hung all with the same look and feel.
The white table cloths were layered with different fabric squares of shiny cream satin, sheer white polkadot and dainty lace. They were topped with tins, glass bottles and pots from IKEA. Dream signs from michaels painted white and dipped in glitter. Strands of pearls and candles. Wheat grass, geraniums and moss.
The food table was one long table that stretched the length of the room, so to add interest I hid cardboard boxes under the table cloths so the food could be staggered on different levels. I also made cake platters out of old dishes and wrapped in pearls and set food on those as well. (tutorial coming).
The cupcakes were an important part of the shower- they were all white with little edible pearls on top, but inside was a colored frosting that was either pink or blue- telling everyone what the sex of the baby was. We did a raffle where people wrote their name and put it in the girl jar or the boy jar and then did a bunch of "tests" to see if they would tell us what the sex was- for example: put a ring on a necklace and hold it over mom's tummy if it circles one way it's a girl, the other way it's a boy...
Each place setting had a napkin wrapped in irredescent white ribbon and topped with a shiny star and their favor- which was a cake pop wrapped and tied with a little star that said " thanks for popping by". It was a great inexpensive favor and everyone loved them (thank you bakerella for such a lovely idea!)
I also LOVE pennant banners, but kind of feel like that is what everyone does nowadays. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE them but decided to do pinwheel banners instead for the diaper table and gift table. They are a lot of work but turned out cute. ( tutorial on the cake pops and pinwheels to come as well!)
Food
Everything had a cute little label sign that poked out of a white dish filled with wheat grass, moss and a glittery star. There was a small candy bar that included white chocolate dipped pretzel rods I made ( tutorial to come), Also on the menu was pesto cream sandwiches Cut into star and moon shapes, berry kabobs, white chocolate dipped strawberries, mocktinis, strawberry mint lemonade and mango tea.
Wishing Trees
On each end of the food table I made wishing trees out of manzanita branches-Luckily we have those in Southern California and my cousin happened to have some on her dad's property but you can purchase the branches too. Below the trees were feathery pens and a fill-in-the-blank wish list to fill out for for baby and hang on the tree. They turned out really cute, and Chandra was able to hold onto them after as a keepsake.
Games and Prizes
I am in that stage in life where I go to a LOT of showers, so I find myself scouring the internet for unique baby shower games. My favorite one was called "Look Who's Talking". You find funny pictures of baby faces on the internet and add conversation bubbles next to them. Everyone writes in what they think the baby would be saying in the photo. After all of them are filled in I had each table choose one person they felt had the best paper and those ones were reviewed by the mom to be who chose a winner. The prize bags als went with the theme- White bags filled with irridescent tissue paper and tied with ribbon and a glittery star.
It was a lot of fun, and this week, on May 2, 2012, Chandra delivered a beautiful baby girl into the world. Welcome Cozette Marie Bartlett, your auntie loves you!
Photography by VanHatten Photography
Flowers by Flowers a la Carte San Diego
Invitation and labels by Whimsique Designer Invitations and Stationery
