Love You to the Moon and Back Baby Shower

Last weekend I co-hosted my little sister’s baby shower! As you follow me, you’ll learn I really LOVE to plan and throw a party. I also adore my sister and would do anything for her, my brother-in-law and soon to be baby G! I tend to get a bit carried away and think every party needs to look Pinterest-able {is that a word now?!}. I could spend days gathering inspiration from photos {which I mainly gather from Pinterest} and then attempt to make it my own/make it realistic without being a real party/event planner.

To get the whole picture of the shower planning {you’re going to see vendors from a few places}, I should explain a couple of things. First, my sister whom I threw the shower for lives in Chicago. I live in Madison, Wisconsin, and we grew up In Minneapolis. So, the baby shower was held at our aunt and uncles home in the Minneapolis area where my sister’s {mine too} extended family and some best friends still are. With that being said, we don’t get everyone together as much as we’d like. When we started talking about a Minnesota baby shower, my sister wanted it more of a party feel with the dad-to-be and all families invited. Not just your typical women getting together type of baby shower.

Another tidbit of information, my sister only has two colors in her rainbow – gold and white. It’s an ongoing joke of everyone that knows her. The fact they aren’t finding out if they are having a boy or girl, those colors were perfect to incorporate and her favorite. Taking all of this into consideration, a theme needed to be chosen {themes really help create fun, neat details when party palnning}, and this is always my first step.

For a party type baby shower, the time was going to be in the evening. We chose a 4:00 pm start time. With the early evening start time, I imagined candles, cocktails, an easy, casual dinner, all ‘under the stars’ on my aunt and uncles beautiful backyard patio. As I was searching ideas, I ran across “Love you to the Moon and Back,” and I instantly thought that would fit into our setting – not too feminine {with men and women attending}, stars, candles, gold, white were all perfect to make this theme come to life. Not to mention, it was one of my favorite books to read to my children. So I had a theme – “I Love You to the Moon and Back.”

As I share these details, I want to say I couldn’t have done all of this without the help of my uncle {who is very handy. When I ask if something can be done he always responds, “Yep, I think we can do that!”}, aunt {made all of the floral arrangements along with my niece}, and my sister-in-law who also has a great eye for bringing a party idea to life.

As guests arrived they signed in at a table featuring the beloved children’s book, “I Love You To The Moon And Back“. I had cards that allowed guests to fill out advice for the parent’s-to-be. My sister had the same thing at my shower and I loved reading through the cards for years after having my daughter.

Shop guest check-in Table:

What is the first thing you look for at a party? Well, for me, it’s a drink! I love adding some personal touches to a bar menu by creating a signature drink {or two} to highlight the party’s theme. For this shower, the signature cocktails were, “It’s a Boy” – a blueberry mojito {blue in color}, “It’s a Girl” – Champagne Margarita {pink in color and a fave drink from Revel Craft Bar in Madison}, and “Over The Moon” – a champagne cocktail featuring jasmine cotton candy from Sugarsmith Modern Cotton Candy, on top of poured champagne to resemble a cloud and topped off with a moon or star stir stick. Lastly, adding a personalized napkin with each drink, is always a special touch. I loved these I love you to the moon and back personalized napkins!

Champagne cocktail featuring Sugarsmith Modern Cotton Candy

Shop Bar Supplies

Once people get comfortable, talking, a drink in hand, a snack is the next best thing. I kept the appetizers simple as out guest list was around 50 including a handful of children. I had a snack mix in small bows on the cocktail tables, a charcuterie platter, and bruschetta from the caterers. I think this simple line-up worked well for an outdoor, casual party.

After hosting a few parties, one thing I like {and I think most people are a fan of} is standing to talk, and eat. To facilitate this, cocktail tables are a must at parties now! I rented these cocktail tables but there are some very affordable folding cocktail tables on Amazon as well. Add a little centerpiece, I like a grouping of 3’s and you have the perfect place for people to talk and eat during any party.

Of course, with people of all ages and moms with babies, seats are needed too. Tables are usually the main event at parties as far as decor. Once again, in keeping with the theme, and color scheme, I wanted gold, white, and warm candle light. I was so happy with these under $10 gold and white sequin table runners. They really made the table pop! Floating candles in vases are such an easy and affordable way to decorate. The vases for this party were from the thrift store {60 cents each!} or the dollar store! Adding some fresh greenery to any tablescape makes it look high end and beautiful.

All glass wear on the table is thrifted or from the dollar store!

Shop I I love You To The Moon And Back Table Centerpieces

If gifts are going to be opened at a party I like to focus on a feature area for that to take place. It makes for some good photos! To be honest, we were expecting rain, so I didn’t do as much with this area as I envisioned, but it still turned out well. My uncle created a white background with a plastic type of material from the hardware store. I added the greenery to the top along with some twinkle lights and glittery stars to make it a bit more interesting. The beautiful and perfect sign was custom created by Signs by Caitlin. I *hope* it will also make a cute addition to the nursery. Lastly, the fun chairs added a neat element and a comfy seat for the mom-to-be.

Shop Gift Opening Area

To feed a crowd this large in an outdoor setting, I didn’t want anything too fancy or difficult to eat or serve. Right away, my mind went to pizza but I needed something more upscale. A wood fire, brick oven pizza caterer was just the right thing! I used WildEarth WoodFired Pizza and they were amazing! Everyone raved at how delicious the pizzas were and the two men that came to cook and serve were so nice! I loved how they made small pizzas and kept them coming through the night as they were always hot and fresh for guests. WildEarth also served a delicious greek salad and my sweet aunt brought fruit, making the perfect simple and tasty spread for this gathering.

On a side note, I was so pleased with my plates, napkins, and silverware purchased from Amazon! They were very high quality for a price. Make sure to check them out for future events you are planning.

Shop Buffet Table

Lastly, one of my favorite points of interest to create for a party is the dessert table {probably because I have a major sweet tooth!}. My sister’s {and mine too!} amazing friend ordered the most beautiful, cute, fun desserts from Farina Bakery. I’m pretty sure this table was the hit of the party. I ordered an “I Love You To The Moon And Back” cake topper to finish off the cake. It all came together so well. The gold sequin table cloth was so fun, affordable, and added the right amount of sparkle! Dessert anyone?!

Shop Dessert Table

I am so pleased with how everything came together. Along with a beautiful setting and decorations we are so luck to have amazing friends and family in our lives that made this a night to remember. I truly hope my sister and brother-in-law had a magical evening. I am thinking this is the last big hurrah I’ll host for my sister {whom I love to the Moon and Back} and I wanted it to be something she’d remember. I cannot wait to meet my niece or nephew! September can you hurry and get here already?