In lieu of Confessional Friday this week (and any other post...I've been a little MIA lately), I thought I would catch up on last weekends happenings! As many of you know, and I've talked a little about before (
here and
here), this weekend I helped host my sister-in-law's baby shower this weekend. It was an amazing time, filled with laughter, great food, awesome gifts for Baby Calvert, and even a few tears I think (happy ones of course!)
When Mallory's sister first asked for my help, I said yes right away. For some reason I've been gravitating toward baby items on Pinterest (...baby fever anyone??) and planning a baby shower gave a real reason to start pinning. =)
We started out by choosing a date and time. Several factors went into deciding which day it would be held on:
1) What did Mallory want?
2) What day would most people be likely to come?
3) What time would be most convenient for people?
4) Which date and time made the most sense for us host-ies?
First thing's first, it's always a good idea to make sure the guest of honor/mommy-to-be is going to be available on the chosen date! Otherwise, what's the point of having the party?! Also, we thought it would be important for the shower to be on a Sunday, given that Saturdays in the fall always seem to be super busy with football games, children's activities, what have you. Given that, we chose a 2 PM time on Sunday, November 9. Some thought went in to the 2 PM time as we wanted to give people enough time to go to church and eat lunch but not cut it too close to dinner time. Plus, having an early afternoon shower allowed us to cut back on the food amounts some since we figured most people would have eaten by that time.
We also had to find some place to have this shin-dig! A couple of options that came up were the party room at the Dakota City Fire Hall and the fireside room at Mallory's church. After talking with Mallory, she told me she thought the fire room would work well (she meant the room at the church).
LESSON #1: Clarify, clarify, clarify. Upon learning this from Mallory, I told her sister to book the fire HALL room for the party, which meant the Dakota City Fire Hall. Big miscommunication. We got the fire hall, but Mallory didn't know this until she got the invite. Big fail. But, it turned out great so it could have been worse.
Once we settled on the place, next came the invitation and decoration selection. I was in charge of invitations, and after consulting with Mallory, I selected ones Mallory's sister had found on Pinterest sold by a shop on Etsy. (Man, I love that place.) We got them in grey and yellow to match the gender neutral theme! So cute!
Then we started talking about decorations! Pinterest had the cutest diaper bouquets and salt water taffy bouquets inspirations ever. Mal's sister decided to do the diaper bouquets and I made the taffy ones. Here's how they turned out...pretty good I have to say! (Side note: Yellow salt water taffy is EXTREMELY hard to find!).
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| The diaper bouquets |
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| Taffy bouquets |
Mal had also sent me a picture of a streamer and balloon backdrop she saw...so I thought it seemed do-able. I got all the supplies, got the picture, and got Justin and his dad Dave to work on making it happened. HUGE thank you to them because it looked amazing!
LESSON #2: Don't be afraid to bring men to help get up.
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| Inspiration Photo |
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| In progress... |
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| Final result...so great! |
She also sent me a photo of some sucker favors with a little label on them thanking everyone for coming and the saying "Look who's ready to POP!". Below is the inspiration picture, and then my final result picture!
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| Inspiration Photo |
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| My version |
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| I used shipping labels and designed them using two columns on Word |
We also knew we wanted to have some games. I had seen a Pin about a "The Price is Right" game where you have guests guess about the price of common baby items. Mallory's sister say one about putting several baby items into a diaper bag and then have guests feel around for 30 seconds and try to write down all the items they felt. We decided to do both of those as well as a "Guess the Baby Bump Size" game where guests cut a piece of measuring tape as big as they think the momma-to-be's baby bump is around. They were all super fun!
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| Guess the bump! |
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| We used something similar to this found on Etsy...but Mallory's sister made ours! |
One thing we did forget however, was a prize for each of the game winners.
LESSON #3: Don't forget the party prizes! That was too bad, but since the gifts normally end up with the momma anyway, we'll just have to make it up to her later. ;)
Next, we had to figure out what we were doing for food. Since it was an afternoon shower, appetizers and finger foods seemed like a good choice. I wanted something easy to whip together so I chose little BBQ smokies, spinach dip, and glazed meatballs. Mal's sister said she would do the sandwiches (egg salad, chicken salad, and tuna) as well as a veggie pizza, fruit, and a cold salad. It turned out amazing and I think everything was a really good balance for people to choose from. She also got the cake. It was from HyVee, tasted and looked amazing, but she said it was a little pricey.
LESSON #4: Ask about cake prices to reduce sticker shock.
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| Part of the food set up |
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| Adorable cake and dessert table Mal's sister put together |
After that, everything was pretty much set! We showed up two hours before the party, got everything set up, and the shower went great! Baby Calvert got lots of cute items and should be ready to make his or her debut any time now!
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| Final set up! |
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| Myself, the beautiful momma-to-be Mallory, and her sister Lacy |
Words can't explain how excited I am to become an Aunt for the first time! My heart is so happy!
I've created a Baby Shower Planning Guide in case I ever throw another baby shower...maybe that way we won't forget the prizes! =)
You can download it by clicking here!
Thanks for reading and Happy Sunday!
-Emily
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