Oh baby showers. I have to be perfectly honest – I really don’t like them. I mean, welcoming a new life into the world always deserves a celebration! But typically I’m not a fan of the traditional baby shower festivities: the games, the opening of presents, the food. If you guys haven’t figured out by now, I’m a bit extra and non-traditional when it comes to things. So it really should be no surprise that my baby shower would not be any less.
Baby shower planning for our little one began months ago. I started a trusty Pinterest board where I started gathering inspiration. I’m not going to lie: major inspo came from the Kardashian showers. I mean, three of them had babies this year, how could I not be influenced??? Kim with the cherry blossoms? Kylie with the pajama-jam? Khloe with the super pink party and balloons galore?? I wanted all those elements and more but I also wanted the shower to represent me.
Let’s not forget my husband and partner Zell. I mean, he is the baby’s dad, i.e. my baby daddy. Initially we planned to have a co-ed shower but ultimately scratched that due to the guest list. Zell and I are super fortunate to have a TON of family here in Vegas on both sides of our families. Our wedding was primarily family with just over 150 guests – who all still came although we planned it within a month. So we knew that they would definitely show up to celebrate our bundle of joy. Knowing this, we thought it would be best to go the traditional route of inviting women only. I’m not going to lie, I was a bit bummed doing this. And in hindsight, if we are blessed enough to have another, we WILL have a co-ed barbecue in the park to accommodate everyone and their mama. But considering this is our first (and possibly our only; time will only tell), I wanted a full on girlie bash.
Even with reducing the guest list to just women, we still ultimately invited 60 women and ultimately 50+ came. Since we knew this would occur, it was important to find a location that could accommodate such a group with a reasonable budget. Thankfully, our neighborhood has a clubhouse for such events, equipped with a full kitchen and everyone fit comfortably! At $50 for the day, it was a steal.
Now, let me clear the elephant in the room: I know it’s bad etiquette to plan your baby shower. Well guys: NOTHING about this pregnancy has been normal so we are beyond that realm. Thankfully, I was not alone in terms of executing this affair. My amazing tribe consisting of my mom, step-mom, aunts, cousins and close friends (more like framily) made this shin dig happen without missing a beat.
The vision my tribe help execute and create was a Brunch for Baby. I wanted flowers. I wanted greenery. I wanted pinks, white, gold, hints of mint. Burlap. Wood. Super big balloons. Rustic. Classic. Chic. Fun. And amazingly it was all that and more.
Brunch consisted of:
- Waffles
- Scrambled eggs
- Pork and turkey bacon
- Pork sausage
- Donut bar
- Cereal bar
- Momosa (mimosa) bar
- Other sweet treats like chocolate covered pretzels, rice krispie treats, cakes, frosted animal crackers, etc
- Also lunch items such as sandwiches and pasta salad
As I mentioned, being inspired by the Kardashian’s parties, I really, really, REALLY wanted a flower wall for the party. But after checking into pricing decided that I needed to find an affordable alternative, hence, the tissue paper flower wall.
I commissioned my dad to model this wall off of a YouTube video I found. Ultimately, with him being so handy he made it his own and constructed it of PVC pipe and chicken wire so it could be easily reused. I then ordered the paper from PaperMart.com in the colors I preferred, with the gold being purchased from Amazon as I wanted a shiny look. My mom and cousin Karen then stuffed it for me, taking about 2-3 hours total. It definitely became a focal point of the shower where lots of photos were taken:
To ensure that all the guests, festivities, and hard work was captured that day, I made sure to hire a photographer. I lucked out finding Winie’s Photography which specialized in doing baby shower events at an affordable price.
To say the least, this shower was a tremendous labor of love. I may have had the ideas and vision, but our amazing friends and family are the ones who made it happen all for our little one. We are eternally thankful for them ALL.
Now off to do thank you cards before this little girl gets here!
Best,
MJ
Your shower was beautiful! Your parents did a great job creating the photo backdrop.