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So the baby shower finally arrived! …and left as quick as it came. For those of you who have been married or had a baby before, you know that feeling where it all leads up to that one day and then it’s over in a split second and you’re left with that ‘now what?’ feeling. Well, now I’m waiting about 45 days for baby to arrive but in the meantime, I wanted to share a little snippet into my simple neutral baby shower recap…
Shortly after I got pregnant, my mom was excited about planning my baby shower.
I had personally been dreaming up my baby shower for over three years since that’s how long it took us to get pregnant via IVF.
You can imagine over three years, you bet your butt I had a secret Pinterest board going and knew exactly the color scheme and decor I wanted.
I’m not a big PINK person. I can tolerate blush, but pepto bismol pink-everything is just not the only way to do a Baby Girl Baby Shower, in my opinion.
Also, the baby shower isn’t for the BABY… it’s for the MOM. So let’s keep her style and taste intact.
I only wanted white flowers and generally speaking, white/ivory decor. As her nursery theme evolved, I also developed a thing for elephants. Between the white of the flowers, the grey from the elephants and a touch of greenery with a teeny hint of rustic charm for some texture/style, my simple, neutral baby shower was born.
Invitations: Minted | Flowers: Bakanas Flowers | Cake: Two Sweet Boutique | Popcorn Favors: Merry Me Design | Elephant Welcome Sign: Blue Bunny Printables | Baby Predictions Card: Petite Flowers Studio | BABY Glitter Letters: Party City | Cupcake Tray: Martha Stewart for Michael’s | White and Gold M&Ms: Party City | Elephant Cupcake Toppers: Amazon
Let me tell you what an adventure it was to find something I felt remotely attractive in… 11 dresses ordered and 10 shipped back.
Finally, the very last one I ordered out of desperation ended up being the final pick. Isn’t it always that way?
I tried non maternity maxi dresses… they weren’t bad but nothing special.
I tried a TON from Pink Blush… the materials are just always hit/miss to me. Some items are great, but some feel super cheap.
As a last ditch effort, I started Googling celebrities that I felt have a similar pregnancy body to me (short/petite, carrying high, short torsos) and stumbled upon this photo from Kourtney Kardashian at one of her baby showers:
…This officially became my style inspiration for the shower… which isn’t surprising. I love Kourtney’s pre and post pregnancy style anyway.
I ended up finding my dress at Nordstrom and it felt so comfortable and flattering on my growing bump! It fit true to size based on the size guide. I wore a size Small with plenty of room to grow because of the lightweight, stretchy material.
My earrings (on MAJOR sale… like $24 from $75 in multiple colors) and necklace are by my favorite jewelry designer, Kendra Scott, and although I wore heels the first hour of the party, I switched to my Tory Burch Miller sandals for comfort soon after.
I did have to have the dress hemmed a solid four inches, but the nice thing is hemming is FREE at Nordstrom for full price items.
been friends with some of these girls since I was 4 years old!
For my makeup, I wanted to feel my ultimate bronziest! Is that a word? Oh well. I love a good neutral bronze makeup look, so I amped it up a notch for the shower by adding the PIXI eye glitters for a little extra sparkle.
Foundation: Too Faced Born This Way, Sand | Concealer: Tarte Shape Tape, Medium | Under Eye Powder: Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder | Face Powder: MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural, Medium Golden | Bronzer: Too Faced Sun Bunny Bronzer | Contour: Benefit Hoola | Blush: MAC Melba | Highlighter: Estee Lauder Heatwave | Brows: Benefit Precisely My Brow #2, Gimme Brow #1 | Eyeshadow(s): too many to name, but mostly MAC singles and then the PIXI Liquid Fairy Lights Glitter | Eyeliner: MAC Blacktrack | Lip Liner: Lancome, Ideal | Lipstick: ColourPop, What’s Your Sign | Lip Gloss: ColourPop, Moon Child | Setting Spray: Urban Decay Chill
Before the shower even started, I was SO excited to see my cake from Two Sweet Boutique! I gave Alex (my cake creator) my vision and overall theme, but let her have creative freedom to do whatever she wanted.
Having all of my friends from all phases of my life – from childhood to college, career and beyond – all together is always my favorite.
At my bridal shower, I made sure I took a photo with every single guest before she left and I love looking back on those memories so I made sure to do the same at this baby shower. On everyone’s way out, I had them take a picture with me as they got their party favors.
I also love that one of my friends I grew up with is due just 9 days behind me! It made for the cutest photos and can’t wait to show our little girls when they get older!
I didn’t open my gifts at my shower and I TOTALLY recommend this. First of all, I was SO tired by the end of the meal and the couple of games we played, plus taking 50+ photos, I just wanted to go home and get comfortable. I also get bored watching other people open gifts, so I figured… eh… do it home.
As soon as I got home, I ripped off my outfit and changed into PJs and had my immediate family over to open the presents. I was/am completely awed by how generous our family and friends have been for #BrighterDarlingBaby.
We got everything we needed and THEN some. Her closet is entirely full with options from newborn all the way to 24 months! People love little girl clothes. I’ll save sharing those details for the nursery tour!
Hope this was fun to get a little glimpse into the baby shower.
As always, if there’s any items you totally recommend for baby, let me know in the comments so I can pick them up before she gets here!