Being a tea enthusiast and long before I knew I was having twins, I had planned on doing a tea party themed baby shower. Ever the PR person though, once I found out we were having twins, I came up with the "Tea for Two" slogan ;)
Invites:
For the invitations, I used Shutterfly to create some really nice thick 5x7 card stock. I edited their high tea theme to read Tea for Two in the headline and changed the bridal shower mentions to baby shower ones. Instead of using regular postal stamps, I purchased sheets of Disney Pixar stamps for mailing the invites for an even more fun childish look.
Venue:
For the big event, we chose the Greenwich Hyatt's atrium restaurant, which has a streaming brook, trees and a high glass ceiling, making it feel like you're outside when you're really inside. I loved the bright atmosphere and castle like entrance. An idyllic setting for such an event.
Flowers:
To continue the tea theme, I placed two of Teleflora.com's lovely Cup of Roses Bouquets ($47.95) on each end of the table. Everyone loved seeing the little tea roses in an over-sized teacup. Several of my guests asked me where I got them even. No other online flower service or local florist offered a tea cup bouquet, so I was thrilled to find this option. Perfect for any tea party! They also doubled as an elite parting favor at the end of the shower for my two aunts.
Attire:
I didn't want to buy a fancy maternity dress, just to wear it one time or spend all that money and not feel elegant enough.I took a chance and rented a non-maternity dress from designer Jay Godfrey ($395 retail) at Rent The Runway and luckily it paid off. I looked for a style that was free flowing and this cape-like draped dress worked perfectly. I chose a vibrant blue in honor of my future boys and I felt super chic and received tons of compliments. The cool thing about the service is that they send you two different sizes for the same rental fee, so either way you're likely to have a good experience. Now I just have to send them back in their pre-paid envelope and enjoy the resulting photos.
Decor:
To add a little color to the tables, I purchased a pack of Polka Dot Aqua Blue & Green Paper Straws from cu·te·ta·pe and put them in everyone's water glasses. Meanwhile, the restaurant kindly provided light blue cloth napkins for each setting, further personalizing the atmosphere. I then scattered some blue plastic pacifiers on the table for extra flair. I also had framed baby photos of Raphael and I and put them on the tea service table, so guests could imagine how our future babies might look like.
Favors:
For each of my 24 guests, I ordered Heart Tea Infusers with personalized labels. To go with the infusers, I put a heaping of my favorite loose leaf teas from Teavana into little tins with stickers on them that read "Ocampo twins 2012." Plus, tea cup shaped lollipops.
Games:
Although I like games, I'm not a big fan of forced games. I also know that most people don't like playing them either, so I tried to pick some fun activities that wouldn't require everyone to participate or stop the event itself. They could literally be happening at each table independently and throughout the shower.
For example, I got the following idea from Nicole Richie's baby shower. It's called the "Don't Say Baby, Pacifier Necklace Game." When entering the shower, each guest received a necklace to wear with a plastic pacifier strung on a ribbon. Then, anyone caught using the word "baby" will be forced to hand over their necklace to the person who catches you, the object of the game being to collect as many as possible. So, if you lose yours you can always get another back. The guest with the most impressive collection at the end of the shower received a special prize. I was surprised that all generations present took part in the game not just my friends, which made it even more fun.
I also ordered baby shower scratch off cards, which were placed at each table setting. One lucky card then revealed a winning match and that guest also received a grand prize. Thus, nice and easy.
Lastly, I passed around a calendar for guests to fill in their due date prediction. That winner is still yet to be determined ;)
Aw, how lovely!!
ReplyDeleteSL
aw how cute, your shower looks adorable. and love those teacup bouquets, very fun!
ReplyDeleteLooks absolutely wonderful! I can't wait for them to get here!!!!
ReplyDeleteEverything's so pretty! Nice job mom-to-be!
ReplyDeleteSo cute and you look amazing!
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice baby shower this must have been. I have to say I loved the teacup rose bouquets.
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