The last couple of months I have ardently been working behind-the-scenes on a client event that is near and dear to my heart for many reasons. My friend and lovely mother-to-be Rocio, asked me to plan a baby shower that would be a celebration of love, happiness and joy and an opportunity for all her family and friends to get together and celebrate, it was to be unique, elegant and timeless...
I immediately began brainstorming a color scheme, a concept, working on all the numerous details that makes an event a success, and came up with the following inspiration board:
I chose a fun, modern, yet classic color scheme that was a little unexpected twist for a Baby Boy: yellow/grey/white/black. When it came to concept, the inspiration actually came from Rocio's own real-life tweetie bird aptly named "tweetie" who till now had held the honorary title of the "baby boy" of the house. Needless to say she fell in love with the idea of the little yellow winged fellow appearing as the main motif for this party...And so after many months of painting, crafting, creating and planning. the inspiration board came to life as seen below, a collage of the day of event pictures.
Day of Event Pictures
(click to enlarge)
The Invitations
The invitations - like most of the components of this event - were 100% hand-made. I purchased craft paper in the colors of choice and began tracing and cutting out nesting birds. I then decided that I would hand-paint the tree branches and type the party information cutting out an oblong "nest" shape. The final touches were some floral embellishments and a little unique flair with a painted chevron pattern on the birdies perch, as a nod to the chevron fabric that would later be used in the table-scapes. To package them I chose something a little different from the typical envelopes and slid the invites into white paper bags I had trimmed with decorative scissors and tied with twine. I asked Rocio's daughter to help me and she was the most gracious worker bee cutting, painting and stuffing along me. Needless to say the invites were quite the hit!:
Centerpieces/Table-Scapes
The end result made me very happy!!! I used the remaining fabric as a cover for the head table.
For the head table (where Rocio, her hubby and her daughter Ashley sat) I chose a simple vase with the most gorgeous yellow roses, I adore how they bloomed in time for the event. To add a special touch, I purchased a decorative frame from a craft store and painted it the perfect shade of "canary" yellow and added some silver candle holders to flank the table. Simple yet elegant.
(My trusty paint and brushes. I used these four little guys for almost every single DIY project for this event.)
The Sweets/Cake/Gifts Station
For this area the concept of DIY took on a whole new level. In order to add unique personal touches that can't be purchased in a store and save money, I painstakingly painted and designed every single one of the little birds, birds nest, cages, bird houses, etc. I'm not complaining, this process was art class all over again and I loved it:)
I decided to add some interesting decorative patterns on my "birds" with colored dots, stripes and even some chevron pattern, what, you've never seen a little chevron bird in real life? :)
For the "sweets" I purchased yummy candies in a variety of flavors and styles that all shared the same yellow color scheme. I ordered piña colada taffies, organic honey candies, Godiva white chocolate truffles and lemon drops. To add another fun element for the younger guests, I prepared little white bags of buttered popcorn with a mini butterfingers chocolate bar inside. I also provided a neat pile of of empty white bags for everyone to help themselves to the sweets.
To label each section/station of the room I DIYed these cute little bird signs that I printed and cut out of craft paper and glued to a skewer stick. I made about five of these to be used throughout the party.
The Favor/Frame Table
The entrance table greeted guests with framed portraits of the gorgeous glowing preggo with memorable portraits from her fantastic maternity shoot here, as well as hosted the favors. Favors were glass trinkets filled with almond "eggs" and a gray and white favor tags I created from scraps of the craft paper used for the invites.
When guests first entered, they were greeted by this DIY sign I created to welcome everyone and let them know of the seating assignments. I painted the frame and used left over craft paper to create the charming sign.
Last but definitely not least was the gorgeous venue we chose. The Chandelier Banquet Hall Ballroom provided the ideal elegant backdrop for this special event. They provided the waiter staff, the delicious and plentiful food, the linens (I selected in yellow and gray to match the color scheme) and even the strawberry-short-cake filled cake for the event. Highly recommended!
This baby shower turned out to be an immense success, the new parents-to-be were over the moon with happiness, and I couldn't be happier for them.... They enjoyed their special night to the fullest...
and so did everyone else:)
If your looking for creative, capable and always affordable party planning advice, or need a detailed-oriented Day-of-Coordinator, look no further. Please email me to cestlavie.events@gmail.com, or message me to my Facebook Page and we can get started planning an unforgettable event night of your own!
Stay tuned, plenty more projects coming to the blog. Recent Photo Shoots and updates on our renovation projects to the humble abode.
xoxo,
Ly
