My friend Sara is having her second baby (a BOY!) this month, and when she casually mentioned a few months ago that she had never had a baby shower for her first, I knew I had to plan something special for her! Sara is the type who loves to entertain, and she hosts dinner parties like no one else – the pressure was on!

Full disclosure, I love to throw a party, and especially if it’s something for a close friend, and I get to surprise them. I wrangled in Sara’s mom who let me use her home, and who helped me plan the entire thing. I always like to have a loose ‘theme’ which can either be certain colours, textures, or an overall feel. I wanted this party to feel classy, sophisticated and elegant because that is Sara’s taste (and mine, as well, so that worked out!), but it’s a baby shower, so there had to be some fun elements to the design.

DESIGN A FOCAL POINT

I oftentimes use one piece of decor as the jumping off point, and for this party, it was the black sparkly custom cake topper. I chose to play off of it, and went with a black and white sprinkle and floral theme. For me, the food is always the center of any good party, so I designed the dessert buffet with plenty of sweets and levels using milkglass cake plates. I always like to have a photo opportunity at a party, and this buffet was definitely it.

SPRINKLE YOUR THEME EVERYWHERE

The floral theme was sprinkled throughout, from the fresh flowers, to the paper floral wall art, and the floral marshmallows, while the black and white came through with the paper straws, the table runner, the cake topper, and the colour of the sweets.

DETAILS MATTER

The cake was a showstopper, and I hid a little bit of fun in there with the multicoloured confetti. Party on the inside! For the flowers, one larger arrangement for the brunch buffet, along with various smaller bud vases with a smaller bundle of blooms was all we needed, and they made a huge impact. Plus, Sara could take them home with her afterwards, letting the party linger a little longer.

DECOR SOURCING

You need to consider supplies (plates, glasses, napkins etc.) and decor (platters, table decor, wall treatments, balloons, etc.) and they need to both fit your theme. I like to source decor from so many different places, grabbing items from places like Etsy, Tomcat Studio, of course, Michaels (which was where we got the milk bottle glasses), and pulling from my personal collection. It can be super simple to just rent your plates, cutlery, linens, and glasses (plus you can return them dirty!) if you don’t have enough, especially in your theme.

MENU PLANNING

I always like a party menu to have an ease to it, but with an elevated twist. For this shower, we wanted to do a loose interpretation of brunch with it being a Sunday morning, so we prepared a bagel bar with lox and capers, quiche, fruit skewers, watermelon salad, scones with devonshire cream and jam, and of course, tons of sweets. To drink, we did a simple sparkling lemonade, but presented it in a fun way, using milk bottles with paper straws and donut toppers.  It’s always a worry that you won’t have enough food, so overdo it a little if you can. Nothing wrong with leftovers!

I hope my friend felt super loved and felt the excitement we all have about this new sweet baby boy!

Cake, cupcakes, donuts: Sweet Bake Shop
Flowers: Flower Factory
Marshmallows: Archimallows
Paper flowers: Mur de Fleurs
Cake Topper
Balloon Banner (no tassels)
Table runner: whiskey+cake home