Last weekend I had the most wonderful baby shower organised by my beautiful sister, best friend and fiance (team awesome) and I just had to share it with you.
Most people who know me know I am a bit of a control freak. Not in a bad way (that’s what all control freaks say 😉 but more that I am extremely organised and I like to plan ahead, do things myself and don’t expect anyone else to do them for me. I have always loved organising events for other people, and when it comes to my own celebrations I do the same.
When I was pregnant with Finn, we were in the process of moving from New Zealand to Australia (yes, I am crazy!) so my beautiful friend Brogan threw us a baby celebration/farewell party very early on. At that stage we had no idea what the gender was and it was more of a boozy party with the guys and girls but a fun one at that.
Even though this was my second baby, I didn’t want to feel like I wasn’t celebrating him considering it had been four years since I had been pregnant with Finn.
I started planning a small celebration with close friends and family and I soon realised that I basically ruined my surprise shower these three were planning for me…typical Sarah! I was then told that everything would be organised for me and to stay out of it! haha in a nice way. I do make it particularly hard on myself to be surprised when I organise things well in advance. Plus I’m super nosy (must be the journalist in me) and observant. Even in the week leading up to the shower I could tell Chance was trying to hide a few things from me and he even warned me not to snoop around as to ruin any surprises! ha!
However, I did think the way it worked out was perfect because even though I knew about the shower itself, everything else including the decorations, theme, food etc was kept from me and most importantly I didn’t have to do a thing! The good thing about it was I could also let them know who to invite as they didn’t know a few of my work friends.
The baby shower was hosted at our house as we have a pretty decent sized dining area for everyone to fit in to. I told the guys that I would leave early morning so they could set everything up without me there. It was a good excuse to go and get my hair blow-waved and my makeup done. I really wanted to feel like I looked half decent for the shower as it had been so long since I had felt glamorous!
I was told to be back home at about 11.30 and I was actually running late because my hair went well over schedule (just to blow-dry!) and I felt awful that everyone was waiting for me to arrive. Late to my own baby shower…another typical me moment!
When I got home I walked in to the most amazing set-up of food and decorations that it blew me away how quickly they had all put it together. I was also greeted by all my wonderful close friends and family.
The theme was grey, white and mint which is also my nursery theme. My friend Emma really payed close attention to the things I love! I loved the way they had displayed the food at different heights using mint coloured boxes and wooden cubes. It had this gorgeous rustic yet pretty vibe to it. The black chalkboard sign with Sarah’s Baby Shower and the light box with #Oh Baby on it really made it personal and sweet.
Chance had also made these adorable stickers for the water bottles that matched the colour theme and included our little man’s name on it. We first got that idea for Finn’s 4th birthday and I think it will stick for all special occasions because it is such a cheap and effective way of personalising your event!
My eyes were instantly drawn to the amazing platter my fiance Chance had put together. As you can see it was kind of out of this world! Everyone was mesmerised by it and it had such a great combination of sweet and savoury treats. I definitely want one of these platters at my wedding ceremony!
The cake my beautiful friend Emma had made was also outstanding. It was a three tier black forest cake covered in cream and topped with mounds of delicious chocolate, berries and three magnum ice-creams! It looked spectacular and it tasted just as good. She’s starting to make my baking look bad!
On the kitchen table there was a cute little punch station set up with adorable milk bottles and colour-themed straws!
In the lounge-room they had covered the coffee table in a cloth and put all the presents on top it it which were complimented with the beautiful mint, grey and white balloons. I was so overwhelmed with all the beautiful things we got given by friends and totally did not expect so much (I have pretty amazing friends and family!). I also had some little helpers on the day who were more than eager to help open them. It was so lovely to have Finn on the day to share in the celebration of his baby brother. I really want to make him feel so included in the whole process so that he doesn’t feel left out as they would break my heart! He has never shown any signs of jealousy this entire pregnancy, instead showing so much love to the growing baby bump! I can’t wait for them to meet!!
After demolishing lots of food and opening presents we played a few games, talked all things babies and then finished off with the cake! Everyone stayed for about two hours which is perfect for a baby shower as this mumma was getting pretty tired!
Living in a different country from where I grew up, it is especially hard to get everyone I care about together. To have met such amazing friends from only four years here in Australia who were willing to come and celebrate and show this baby love was really awesome. I am especially thankful to my friend Emma who always goes the extra mile for her friends, my sister Emma whom is always there for me and my fiance Chance who put a huge amount of effort in to make sure everything looked superb. These three made me feel really special and that is all I can wish for as I near the end of my pregnancy.
I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed the day. xoxox
A few tips for planning your baby shower
- There are a lot of different old fashioned rules (mostly in the states) about baby showers and I ignored them all. The first one is never to throw your own. I have been lucky enough to have amazing friends who have wanted to throw me a shower, but I never ever expect it or want someone to feel obliged too so I actually started planning a small something myself this time around. I feel that it is totally acceptable to organise something yourself with close friends and family. It doesn’t need to be about gifts or games, but it could be a lunch with friends and family.
- Another rule is usually to only have one for your first baby, but it’s nice to see that that has now been overturned. I am now in a new country to when I was pregnant with Finn, I have made some amazing new friends who have been apart of Finn’s life and will be apart of this little man’s life as well and I wanted to have everyone together before we embarked on the crazy journey of having two kid-lets. There has also been a four year gap between kids so I felt like everything was new again and it was important to acknowledge this bubba. For me, it is never about the gifts. We all love gifts, of course but all my life I have placed so much more importance of having people together because I am a sentimental freak. It’s one of the biggest things I am looking forward too at our wedding, I can’t wait to have everyone together. Gifts are just an extra bonus but I have never asked for or expected them. I feel if we’re having a baby (and especially a second), we should be pretty well prepared ourselves! You don’t have to celebrate them with a huge baby shower but something like a high tea with friends or a lunch is perfect as well!
- Another old fashioned tradition which is now being changed is to just have the girls at a baby shower. Chance is just as important in this baby’s life as I am. He helped to create it, he will help to bring him up to and shape who he becomes as an adult. He won’t however, have to go through the pregnancy and labour (if only!) so us women do deserve a bit of extra credit. I loved having him there and people being able to give him a hug and a kiss and congratulate him as well. I know he didn’t want to participate in the games or the girly stuff but we had a few other boys there to keep him entertained and he even participated in the games because the girls had made sure they were suitable for both parties (bonus points girls).
- Keep the games fun and engaging! Some of them are really boring and guests are often left feeling awkward. Emma made a great game called labour or orgasm where she showed us different pictures of women’s faces and we had to decided what it was. It had everyone laughing and entertained (even the boys got involved).
- Keep it short! I think having a start and end time is perfect for everyone because people can feel like it is OK to leave without feeling bad. Two hours is usually the perfect amount of time for a baby shower because the mumma is usually started to get tired after that and people often have other things to attend during the day.
- Don’t be discouraged if not everyone turns up. I absolutely love having my friends and family around me but a few people couldn’t make it on the day and all for good reasons. Just like any event such as a birthday or wedding, not everyone can make that date so enjoy the day with the people who are there with you and make sure to catch up with the others when you can.
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Md jabbar ansari says
Beautiful