Rustic Chic Baby Shower
As I previously posted, I have been working on putting together a baby shower for a dear friend of mine. The baby shower was last week and it went off without a hitch (minus the strong gusts of wind blowing vases over and the light shower of rain). It took me several hours (and gallons of wine) to paint, locate, buy and assemble all of the decorations. On the day of the event I had a small army helping to put everything in it's perfect place. I was extremely pleased with the outcome of the event and more importantly the Mom to be was thrilled as well.
We served lemonade and water. We decided to omit alcohol because the party was from 2-4 pm and it adds an element that isn't always appropriate at a baby shower. I bought several inexpensive chalkboards, painted the borders and wrote on them with a paint pen. I used them to label the items that were available. I bought several dozen mason jars for a previous event and continue to reuse them. I love mason jars because they are inexpensive and they look much nicer than disposable cups.
I made vases with old wine bottles and large mason jars. I wrapped the top of the mason jars in a white lace ribbon and tied a twine bow at the top. The wine bottles I wrapped with twine, a small pink ribbon and glued fabric flowers in the front. The vases were inexpensive (and a great excuse to drink more wine), cute and perfectly country. Each table was decorated with a chocolate brown linen, five vintage doilies and two vases filled with Baby's Breath and Gerber Daisies.
I made several signs to display around the yard. I bought acrylic paint in the color palette that I had chosen, wood steaks and thin unfinished wood signs. All of the items are sold at Michael's for under $10 a sign. I reused a few signs from a previous event and just repainted them, it worked out well.
I used hand me down clothing to make an adorable clothes line. The line was made from twine, I bought clothes pins from Michael's and all of the clothing items that I hung were in the chosen color palette. It was a very simple addition to the event's decor.
It's always nice to have a designated site for the gifts. Gifts are so colorful and beautifully wrapped, they can be a wonderful addition to the overall look of an event.
Since the event was held from 2-4 pm we had the option of serving food, appetizers or desserts. I decided to do a dessert bar. This is the first dessert bar that I have executed. I learned a few helpful tips that I'll surely apply next time around:
1. You do NOT need 100 different choices. Simple is best.
2. Stick with 5 candy choices and 5 baked good choices.
3. No need to have a large amount of each item. Not every guest will indulge in every item.
4. Choose items that perfectly match your color palette.
5. Use boxes to prop different items, so that the display has items at different heights.
6. Use different sized vases, jars, dishes and stands. It makes the table look perfectly displayed.
7. Test ALL of the items. ; )
There was an insane amount of treats left over from the event. I have definitely learned from my mistakes but I was happy with the way that it turned out, especially with it being the first dessert table I have designed.
Cheers to a great event. Can't wait until I have another event to plan!!
