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Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Operation Baby Shower: Success!

I am going to preface this post by telling you that I did not take nearly as many pictures as I should have, and the ones that I did take were not very good.  So sorry!  I was a busy bee and time just got away from me. 

This past Saturday night, Dan and I hosted a couples baby shower for my bestie.  She has done so much for me over the years and we are so excited for she and Jon (and Ralph!) and the arrival of baby Hadley that we wanted to do something special for them.  I had grand ideas for this shower - some I executed well, others I didn't - but overall it turned out wonderfully.  We had a great turnout, everyone seemed to have a good time (including the boys, but that's probably because there was beer and football), and of course the parents-to-be got some great gifts that I can't wait for Baby Hadley to use!

Here are a few photos of how everything turned out.  I'm hoping that Steph got some better ones because mine are terrible!  I also hope that she doesn't have many with me in them, especially if I looked anything in real life like I did in the pictures taken with my camera.  Ew.

Below are a few pictures of the spread:



The banner says "steph's cravings."  It didn't hang quite the way I envisioned - long story, but there was a snafu with our clubhouse and the setup so not only did we not get to set up on time but I ran out of time to measure for the banner and had to just guess on length.  Either way, it still turned out pretty cute, I think.  Any of you who have been following Steph's blog know that she has been craving Mexican, fruit and pizza.  I tried to incorporate that into the food.  Our menu was as follows:  Nacho bar (beef and chicken) with various toppings, pepperoni pizza dip, fruit tray, veggie tray, and pulled pork BBQ sliders (I know, BBQ was not one of her cravings, but my Dad's so good at it and I wanted to make sure we had substantial food for drinking boys, so we went with it).  Mom and Dad came in on Thursday night to help me get ready, and we spent all of Friday and most of Saturday shopping and cooking.  It paid off, because several guests thought I'd gotten the food catered.  It really was delicious - thanks again Mom and Dad for all of your help!

Steph's sister Bekah made a diaper cake:
Impressive, right?  I've always wanted to make one of those.  Hers turned out perfectly!  She also helped bring one of my favor ideas to life:
I LOVE the way these turned out!  I was trying to think of a favor that people would actually keep and use, and everyone loves koozies.  Thus, the shower koozie idea was born.  Pretty cute, right?  Bek, you are awesome!  As you can see, the colors were pink and red: red because it's Steph's favorite, and pink because it's Hadley and I's favorite.  :-)

The following photos show how I decorated the space.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any full room shots, but there were four cocktail tables.  I tied them with red and pink patterned ribbon.  For the centerpieces, I filled mason jars with baby's breath (get it?  BABY's breath?) and tied with a ribbon (thanks for the idea, Leah!) and then used empty baby food jars as candle holders for tea lights.  They turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself:

I got the baby's breath from Fallon's Flowers here in Raleigh. Who knew they sold wholesale?  Flowers were very reasonably priced and Fallons was very helpful in determining how much I'd need, etc.

My original plan was to get cupcakes from my fav, the Cupcake Shoppe (pretty in pink and red velvet, obviously, because they are the most delicious and also to keep with the pink and red theme).  At some point the week of the shower I nixed that idea and decided to make them myself because I wanted to make cute little wrappers for them:

I made the toppers myself, and bought nice paper and cute flowers from Michaels and made the wrappers using this template (more thanks to Mom for helping me cut!).  The cupcakes were chocolate and vanilla with funfetti icing, and they were a huge hit!

I had a few surprises in store for Steph.  The first was these wish cards:
I borrowed the idea from something I saw on Pinterest and re-created it.  These cards were so cute - Steph said she and Jon read them all and were both laughing and crying.  My intention was to get a really nice scrapbook for her to put them in, but it honestly slipped my mind.  Maybe next time!

The next surprise is one that some of you may have seen at weddings.  A lot of people have started coming up with creative ideas for their guest books.  Enter below thumb print tree:
I wanted her to have something for Hadley's room so that Hadley would know how much she is already loved, and so that Steph and Jon would have a little piece of the shower to take with them.  I found several designs I liked and roped my friend Moneque into painting the canvas for me.  She did a fantastic job - I was beyond pleased with the way this turned out, and I know Steph absolutely loves it.  If y'all get a chance, check her Gifts and Mo page out on Facebook...you won't regret it!  She is so talented and has never NOT been able to do something I've asked about.  Thanks Mo!  I bought various shades of green ink (and baby wipes for clean up!) and some nice pens for guests to make leaves and write their names.  My favorite signature was "Fun Uncle Jeff."

Finally, one more favor and the gift table:


The popcorn idea evolved from about 10 other ideas that didn't work out, but I'm pleased with the way it turned out.  I got the popcorn from Carolina Popcorn Shoppe over on Western, and I am here to tell you it is delicious - people are still raving about it (If you ever drop by, I highly recommend their caramel popcorn.  To DIE for.).  I bought the bags and ribbon at Michael's and made the labels myself.  The very last picture is of the gift table - just wanted you to see my cute banner (and the bird cage that Diana let me borrow for my wedding which housed the wish cards).

Apologies that I didn't get more pictures, but the shower was a huge success.  Steph and Jon, we love you both and can't wait to meet Miss Hadley!  Special thanks, once again, to the following:
  • Mom and Dad, I couldn't have pulled it off without you!
  • Bekah, for the diaper cake and koozies, and all of your help with set up.  And for eating.
  • Heather, for your help with set up.
  • Mo, for the fantastic canvas which I cannot stop talking about because it is amazing.
Hopefully I didn't leave anyone out!  Almost hump day, and I am pretty stoked about it, because it's one day closer to the release of Breaking Dawn on Thursday.  No judgment zone, you know you're all wishing you could stay awake to make the midnight showing, too (clarification: I'm not saying I'm going to the midnight showing, I'm saying I wish I could keep my eyes open long enough to make it, because I totally would).  :-)

Sarah

2 comments:

  1. In your words "tres adorbs"!!! I'm getting ready to post about the couples shower we did recently for Jen and Joey...great minds think alike! Hope you are doing well. I can't wait to see you and your cute bump soon :) xoxo

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  2. I had a great time at the shower! I'm glad the print tree came out the way you wanted because I couldn't handle the judgement if it hadn't, lol.

    I would also like to add that you've been holding out on the level of your craftiness....we must talk, lol

    ReplyDelete

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