There is nothing more precious than life…. except for new life. I thought I knew all the world had to offer, until I became a mother and POOF my world was rock. There is truly no sweeter job or role I know. As you might remember, when I was pregnant, I had a little baby shower, well, little is a little understated. The shower planned for me in honor of Wisdom was one of the most special moments of my 31 years on this earth! Planned by my sister, and Wisdom’s godmother, Melinda, it was a day, that even now, warms me up inside and brings a smile to my face.
When we found out that Melinda was expecting early last year, I knew I had to be the one to repay that generosity. If you follow my personal life at all, you know that Melinda is my partner-in-crime, my best friend, my sister. We get together and magic happens and we LOVE making magic. Events is something that Melinda is not only gifted at, but passionate about. She has amazing vision and unique ideas. I love bringing vision to life, seeing it all play out and come to reality, so the two of us together are kinda ridiculous.
When picking Melinda’s brain about what she would want, she said she wanted it to be more modern, more sophisticated and glam- she had three requirements of me – black, white and gold color palette, that it had to be under the stars and that it needed to be fun! Because Melinda decided to wait to find out the gender of the baby, we decided to spin a traditional nursery rhyme and make it our theme: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star “How We Wonder” what you are. She wanted very modern and clean aesthetic with touches of gold, and naturally, we had a dress code, as most our parties do, and everyone was asked to wear a little black dress for the ladies, and all black everything for the men.
I am incredibly sentimental, so I wanted to make sure every activity and every game had a significance.
When sending out the invitation, every guest was given a letter of the alphabet. They were asked to customize this letter with special papers, materials or a note, so that the alphabet could be used to create an Alphabet Wall in the nursery. Each alphabet would then have a special meeting and would be from the heart of all of the people invited to participate in this celebration. Traditional to many showers, we also had a diaper raffle, any guest who brought diapers to the shower, were entered into a special drawing to recieve a prize.
We had a few special games, because the gender was unknown, the shower served as a gender guessing party as well. When guest entered the soiree, they were asked to pick a side. This was done by choosing a gender specific clothes pin, pink or blue, to wear on their black dresses and suites during the night, they were asked to also suggest names for the baby, and to write them down in either blue or pink on a chalkboard. As guest participated in the activities, they were able to choose a glass filled with sparkling cider, that also had the different “due dates” – that served as their guess for when they thought the baby would arrive.
During the shower, guest also had the opportunity to leave messages on a onesie for the baby to wear at their first photo shoot, when they turned one – with well wishes and hopes for the future, write messages in birthday cards that would be giving to the baby each birthday, from age one to age thirty, and write blessings and words of encouragement that could be put in the baby’s first album.
We also did a Blessing Tree, stars were tied to string and hung from a large tree in the backyard. Guest were able to go to that tree and write messages for both mom, dad and the baby, but also for the baby’s big sister, Lyric, to encourage and build her up as she prepared for her big role, and hang them to add to the atmosphere, there was also a photo booth set up with large vintage frames, both ornate and traditional, that guest could have their picture taken in.
Some of the most inspiring and entertaining moments of the night included guest breaking up into teams and coming up with songs about the new baby to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” It was both highly entertaining and incredibly special to hear so many beautifull and creative words spoken about this baby who had already rocked the world and hadn’t even arrived.
The night closed out with each guest going around the table, to the glow of the moon and the light of the candles on the table, and underneath the stars they said how they knew the family and gave their well wishes in person. The entire table was filled with tears of joy, laughter and huge smiles.
It was assumed for the nine months of Melinda’s pregnancy that she was indeed carrying a little boy. I could never quite put my finger on it and Melinda always felt so strongly that it was a girl. She never wavered even when folks had prayed and almost bet money against it…. well, I guess mommy knows best because, that sweet baby girl joined this world in November and things have never been the same.
From Melinda:
“While in college, doctors told me I wouldn’t be able to have any children, but there I was getting ready for number 2! God is amazingly GOOD! We decided that we didn’t want to know the gender and that we wanted to keep it a surprise. As much as I love doing events, I had no idea how to visualize a gender neutral shower. Needless to say, my shower was EVERYTHING I wanted it to be and more! My vision grew hands and feet with Tasha at the helm and we had a BLAST putting it together.
It was a co-ed evening with tears and laughter! Even Lyric had dinner under the stars with her special guest! Tasha had so many surprises and sentimental touches for us that I’m still beaming about today! Friends and family made that night so very special to us. Every idea and detail, from the invitations to the cupcakes were amazing. It was one of the most beautiful, meaningful and special evenings of my life. My little girl was loved so much even before she arrived! Now that she’s here we no longer have to “wonder” what she is. Honour Smile is just like that evening..Perfect.”
Check the images below to see that special day!
and one more picture of my GORGEOUS niece, Honour-Smile at 4 days old, November 2013:
Cake & Dessert Bar: Divine Cakes, Roseville, CA
Tufted Couches & Dresser: The Find Rentals, Sacramento
Vintage Chalkboards, Frames, Lanterns: Simply Country Weddings & Vintage Decor Rentals
