Despite my lack of posts and lack of project productivity the last few days, we spent the three-day Labor Day weekend at home. Mostly cleaning, then doing some baby shower partying with 60 of our family and friends, and then sleeping it off.
Our parents hosted our baby shower which was masked in the form of a very casual, family-friendly catered BBQ, and from the start we knew we wanted to have it at our new house. Test the waters, I guess, just to see how well our larger home and larger backyard could accommodate a sizable event. Verdict? It was perfect, we have most chill and generous group of friends ever, and we loved having the space to comfortably entertain. Bring on the large parties anytime (especially if someone springs for a cleaning service beforehand).
I always have great intentions when it comes to party planning and executing–bloggers like You Are My Fave and Hank & Hunt make me legitimately eager for the opportunity to throw any kind of bash–but as the date rolled closer and I really had nothing creative prepared to decorate our home for the day, I gave in, bought tablecloths from Target and red party cups from Wegmans, and let it slide. A backyard free-for-all with no decorative banners, no balloons, and no fancy Pinterest-inspired appetizers, ya’ll. Take that.
In the way of the DIY spirit, I had designed the invites which went out earlier in the summer using two of my favorite free fonts, Blackout and Bebas Neue. Much like our wedding save the date cards, we had no trouble having these invites printed at FedEx on self-supplied 120# white cardstock. They turned out pretty cute, if I do say so myself, and only cost about $20 + postage.
The only other last-minute DIY plan involved a party contest (a small concession for not giving out a multitude of gifts and prizes to attendees, like you might find at a classic baby shower), which asked our guests to guess the baby’s birthday, sex, and weight. In an entirely f-r-e-e effort, I wrapped two layers of pre-used foam core board with brown kraft paper (two layers couldn’t be punctured by the push pins), and printed out directions and entry forms for our guests to fill out as they arrived. By the end of the night, we were left with a full board of (mostly serious) entries, and it’ll be really fun to keep an eye on them as the date grows closer.
I hear I’m not the only one to have ditched the classic baby shower for something more Baby-Q-esque. Any other inspired non-traditional baby showers? Share them in the links!
2 Comments
OMG! First of all, how did I miss that you’re pregnant?! Congrats lady! I hope you’re feeling fantastic! You look great! New house, new hubby, new baby… you’re on a roll!
We are expecting as well, and we will also be hosting a ‘BaByQ’ if you will. I think its so much more fun and approachable to people! My husband is super involved – obviously lol- with all things baby, so to have a party and include him just seems weird. Plus, all those creepy baby shower games… yikes. I’d rather share some drinks and laughs with friends!! Looks like your party went off wonderfully. And my guess is Boy ; )
Thanks Laurel! On a roll, that’s for sure! I hope your shower goes well! The casualness was way more my speed… and I actually never even intended to open gifts at the party (standing with people watching me is the part of the shower that I most dislike, so I wanted to open them individually as people arrived) but I got seriously pressured into a mass opening party… it ended up being great… but still not an aspect that I was especially prepared for.