Baby Shower for Bentley Kate

My friends and I finally got to host a baby shower this weekend for our very pregnant friend Brooke. I have known Brooke since the 8th grade and I was just thrilled when I found out she was having a little girl. I feel so blessed to have her in my life and can't wait to see her embark on the journey of motherhood.

My wonderful friends gave me the honor of being in-charge of the invitations and shower decor. They know how much I love coming up with party decor. Seriously, I go a little crazy sometimes. Of course I thought of using the color pink, but how boring is that. Since Brooke has always been a very bubbly and outgoing gal, I decided against using pink and went with red, black and white polka dots; and boy I am so glad I did! All and all, I think the decor turned out really cute and different. The pictures are below and I hope you enjoy! By the way, my friend Kelli took the pictures and I think she is talented!

This blog and all of its content and images may not be transferred or shared in any way without my prior authorization. SimplySouthernEvents©2010.

Thank you for your understanding!!

These cute cheesecake bars were made by my friend Amber. They were really tasty and I loved the way she included the letter "B" for Bentley.

I actually saw the words of encouragement cards on the baby gardner website and decided to make my own version. I think they turned out pretty cute!

Ashley & Brett's Boxed Invitations

Finally, Ashley and Brett's baby shower invitations are finished, and are on their way to the invited guests.

Set like a present in a box, the printed invitation is placed on top of white delicate feathers. Attached to the inside top of the box is a handmade sleeve holding Ashley and Brett's baby registry information and map directions to the baby shower. The outside of the box is wraped in recycled grocery bags, and contains a handmade label addressed to each recipient.

Sure, I could have mailed the invitations out in regular envelopes, but what fun would that have been? I wanted their guests to feel like they were getting a present themselves. I just thought it was a neat idea, and added a little extra special feel to Ashley and Brett's baby shower.

Overall, these invitations were pretty labor intense, but worth every moment I spent creating them. The pictures are below, and I hope you guys like them.

My Hunt For The Perfect Invitation

Picking out invitations is probably one of the most important aspects of party planning. The invitation you select gives the guest a preview of the event they will be attending. The more unique and creative the invitation is, the more excited your guest will be about attending your event.

Recently, two very special people in my life found out they were expecting. I have been waiting for years for Ashley & Brett to have a baby, so you can just imagine how excited I was when I found out they were pregnant. Over the years I have been secretly planning a baby shower for them, and this March, Ashley and Brett's once imaginary baby shower will finally get the chance to make its day view.

Okay, back to picking out invitations. I love picking out invitations; however, it can be pretty daunting. It is really helpful to have a theme picked out. The theme for Ashley and Brett's baby shower is "They Are Adding to Their Nest". I love this theme, and though it may not be the most original of themes, I felt it fit their personalities perfectly.

Once you have finished picking out your theme you need to decide how much money you want to or are able to spend on them. Let's face it fellow party planners, professionally printed invitations are not cheap. There are discount invitation companies out there who carry really adorable invitations, and I have listed them on my blog.

For Ashley and Brett's baby shower, I chose PaperStyle.com. I am kind of a snob about invitations, cakes, food and well, so many things when it comes to planning events. I have to literally fall in love with something to actually spend money on it. One late night while hunting for the perfect invitaion on-line, I came across PaperStyle.com. I fell in love with this one invitation and I have posted it above.

What makes PaperStyle so wonderful is I was able to fill in the information and see the proof immediately, and in less then three days my beautiful invitations arrived. I had originally wanted to make the invitations myself, however, limited time prevented this. Don't worry, I do have a little trick up my sleeve, and it involves putting my very own signature touch on the invitations.

The invitations were not cheap. I spent $71.89, which is expensive for a baby shower but they turned out wonderful. They may have a simplistic look to them now, but soon a little extra something will be added and a whole new vision will be revealed.

I hope this blog post has been been helpful. Don't forget to check out PaperStyle.com.

http://www.paperstyle.com/is-bin/