Co-Hosting a Baby Shower

After being asked to co-host my dear friends baby shower I instantly thought of my son's first birthday. I went a little out of control and went a little overboard with his party. At the time, It didnt seem a little overboard, but looking back I could have scaled back a bit. Anyway, It was a great party and I thought I would recap on that event while planning my next party.

First things first...Pick a Theme. I went with a Nautical theme mainly because my son's birthday is at the end of summer, it was super hot and we wantedt a pool party.

Second...go over your guest list. Make sure not to leave anyone out. Just like planning a wedding, you need a head count to plan the menu, how much you will need and party favors.

Once you have the guest list, I would start on the decorations. This is what took me the longest. I was lucky enough to be planning this in the middle of summer. So every resource I used, like Hobby Lobby and Home Goods, I was able to find plenty of nautical decor. It took a few trips here and there but I found most of what I needed and everything else I found while thirfting.

I knew I wanted a candy bar and a dessert table..along with the food bar. Here are a few pics of each.

The Dessert Table...accented with burlap, ballons and pictures of Kannon

 

The Candy Bar. I bought all the vases from Home Goods, wrapped them in burlap and glued the nametags on them. Its all in the details.

 

 

 

 

If you dont't have the tools or good printer to make all the dcorations yourself, I highly recommend going to Etsy. I made a few of the decorations myself, but since I only had less than 2 months to plan this I went to Etsy. I found this great shop http://www.etsy.com/people/ALLthatsPretty

that was incredibly helpful. She walked me through everything I would need and was very patient with me. She made the experience that much better.

 

The Dessert Menu...Sweets for my sweet

 

The cake, cookies and chocolate covered oreos I ordered from Sweet Art Bakery. My sister in las has used them many times, and they always deliver. http://www.sweetartbakery.com/

 

 

Like I said, I went a little overboard. I wanted my son to be able to look back on these pictures and think, Wow...my Mom threw an awesome party for me. Mission accomplished.

Just a few more candid moments from the party. All of which were taken by my family photographer, a dear friend, and a mother of two... https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/wantedphotography/115979041768291

 

All party favors came from the $1.00 section at Target and the bags came from Oriental Trading Company.

Picture Frame from Babies R Us for all the guests to sign.

The Birthday Boy. I ordered his Birthday shirt from etsy also... http://www.etsy.com/people/PocketBaby

 

It was such a fun party, and we have a lot of great memories to enjoy for a lifetime. You don't always have to have such a big production. Perhaps just pick the big milestones...1st birthday, 5th birthday, 10th birthday and 16th birthday...but whatever you choose, Remember its all in the details.

I can't wait to get started on the baby shower. Picking themes we go...

 

 If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Thanks for reading!

Much love and God Bless

Jenn