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What I Wore To My Baby Shower

This is a cautionary tale: A few months before the shower, I bought what I thought would be the perfect dress for my baby shower. It was fairly flowy and I bought a size up, so thought it was a done deal. The Tuesday before my Sunday shower, I thought, oh wow, I haven’t actually tried that thing on in two months. Let’s go ahead and double check that the fit is still good. Lo and behold, I couldn’t even zip it up. Cue the last minute dash to find something to wear to my shower. Which is no easy feat at eight months pregnant.

After striking out virtually everywhere, I spotted this simple Zimmermann dress online and by some UPS miracle.  It arrived on my doorstep Friday afternoon. Thankfully, THANKFULLY, it actually fit. PHEW! I absolutely love the dress, but was it my ideal dress for this special occasion? Not necessarily. However, when your abdomen is larger than a basketball, you’re just so damn grateful for something. Anything that actually zips up.

A word to the wise: Don’t start shopping for your baby shower dress until a little closer to the date.  Three weeks in advance would probably be best.  And when selecting a size, don’t underestimate the speed at which your bump might grow! For more help on shopping for the right dress, check out my comprehensive post here on how to find killer maternity-friendly dresses!

Details on my everything I’m wearing and everything my mom wore below!

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My Baby Shower Invitations

Before we get to the actual event, we must discuss these adorable baby shower invitations that my hostesses got from Minted. Not only are they stunningly beautiful and perfectly on-theme with the classic bunny motif at the top, but learning about the quality and personalization options available at Minted truly floored me. It’s hard to tell in the photos above, but the paper is a gorgeous, thick, textured cardstock. The kind of high quality paper that I thought was only available at boutique paperies and printing shops.

The hostesses were also able to personalize nearly every element of the invitation including the font, text layout, card shape, edge color (it also comes in pastel blue and green), and envelope liner (how adorable is that pink gingham?!). As you can see, they were even able to have my name printed in gold foil. If you check out the product page here, you’ll see that Minted offers customized address printing (both recipient and return addressing) as well as custom postage stamp options to match. Cuteness overload.

Needless to say, Minted has officially become my go-to destination for printing and stationery products. Ee already have plans to use these beauties as our birth announcements!

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The Venue

My friends at Village Marketing were kind enough to let us use their gorgeous Soho studio space, Village Studio, for the event.  The space is breathtaking and since it’s set up like a chic loft apartment (with a stunning kitchen, living and dining area), it was absolutely perfect for the intimate afternoon tea theme that my hostesses had in mind.  Lots of brands rent Village Studio for events and photoshoots, but private individuals can rent it as well so if you’re interested, get in touch with them here!

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The Flowers

The hostesses used UrbanStems (my love for them is no secret, they’re the best!) and all of the arrangements were made from their gorgeous Macaron Bouquet.  Whether you need flowers for a special occasion or just want to send flowers to a special someone, I can’t recommend UrbanStems enough.  Their arrangements are stunning and many are curated by Vogue editors, so there’s none of that cheap filler-flower nonsense. Through September 2019, you can use code MARYORTON20 for 20% off your order.  If you’re reading this after September 2019, you can use referral code MO-MDE4OTcyNA for $15 off!

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The Food and Refreshments

Given the classic Beatrix Potter theme, the hostesses served afternoon tea with tea service catered by Bosie Tea Parlor here in NYC. In addition to enjoying an assortment of incredible teas, we feasted on their delicious tea sandwiches, scones, mini pastries and canapés. Guests were served Veuve Clicquot rosé champagne throughout the afternoon.  Tea service culminated in the most insanely delicious cakes by Lady M bakery. I’m a sucker for red velvet, so that was a must, but the real superstar was their truly mind-blowing strawberry mille crepe cake. We’re talking more than twenty layers of lacy thin crepes layered with light pastry cream and fresh strawberries. Game over.

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The Tablescape

To serve afternoon tea, the hostesses brought in china, flatware, glassware, linens, a super long dining table and gold dining chairs from Party Rental Ltd.  This party rental company has the most incredible assortment of products and furniture.  This allowed the hostesses to find items that were absolutely perfect for a classic, Beatrix Potter-inspired baby girl celebration. As a china lover, I’m completely obsessed with the “mismatched” china pattern they selected that features four complimentary floral patterns. When placed together on the table, it created such a gorgeous heirloom aesthetic.

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Beatrix Potter Decor

Nico and Lauren added the most thoughtful Beatrix Potter touches throughout the space which added so much charm and whimsy.  Hardcover copies of Beatrix Potter’s most well-known works (think The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck, The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and so many more of her classic children’s stories which were my favorites growing up) were placed throughout the venue. Guests were asked to write a personal note inside the covers. I thought this was such an incredibly sweet idea. I can’t wait to read these books to our little girl while revisiting special messages and remembering this day.

The hostesses also had the cutest Beatrix Potter cocktail napkins, gorgeous prints of classic Beatrix Potter artwork throughout.  They even managed to procure some baby photos of Rich and me so we could all start making guesses about who this baby girl was going to look like.

On the dining table amongst the floral arrangements and tiered serving towers, various pieces from a vintage Beatrix Potter tea set were placed down the center of the table along with the cutest little foil-covered chocolate carrots. Following the event, the hostesses sent me home with the vintage tea set. I can not WAIT for all the tea parties to come with that set. Get ready, Rich!

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Baby Shower Games

Of course, no baby shower is complete without a few silly baby games, and the games Nico and Lauren chose could not have been more fun. They started out with “Baby Predictions” cards which asked guests to guess the baby’s due date, length, weight, etc. Only time will tell whose predictions will be accurate. Here’s hoping my friends (now ex-friends) who guessed that she’ll be twelve pounds and two weeks late ARE NOT CORRECT.

We then filled out “Baby Price Is Right” cards which ask you to guess the price of common baby products. Naturally, my guesses were way off on basically everything. I’m still trying to understand how diaper cream is more expensive than a onesie. The world may never know.

Finally, the games ended with a Mary vs. Rich questionnaire that the hostesses had Rich fill out ahead of time which I had to answer in real time at the party. This included things like “What has Mary’s biggest pregnancy craving been?” and “What is Rich most excited to teach the baby?” Some of our answers matched up, and others were hilariously divergent.

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Baby Shower Favors

When I said that Nico and Lauren didn’t overlook a single detail, I wasn’t exaggerating. At the culmination of the afternoon, guests were given customized Peter Rabbit tea sachets printed with the event and date along with a Georgetown Cupcake (my favorite cupcakes on the planet!) with baby pink frosting and adorned with adorable nursery motifs.