It seems like just yesterday my best friend and I were in our teens, enjoying our freedom of no longer being kids but not quite being adults. We've had fun times, dancing in the rain, taking road trips, missions trips, and building friendships. I can hardly believe that now we're both married, I am a mom of two, and she is expecting her first baby. When did that happen?!
In the midst of life flying by we pause for these little life moments, those that really matter. When friends come together to support and celebrate a mom-to-be, to encourage her and to simply let her know how excited we are for this new stage in her life.
I really wanted to make this day special for her and everyone involved and I am thankful to Minted for providing the beautiful baby shower invitations and baby shower party decor for our intimate event, a gathering of close friends and family.
From the point of view of the hostess, let me tell you, I was just relieved it was so easy. The whole decor package is coordinated, there is no need to waste your time trying to find matching products. As you can see, the design is adorable, there are many more to choose from for boy, girl, or gender neutral styles. We went with the Nesting Bird party decor, in short - because her awesome husband is into bird watching and ever since their wedding they are married to the bird theme for everything!
The Dream Party package included everything from personalized bunting banners, garlands, and table signs, to cupcake toppers, plates, napkins, and straws. There is a little bit of DIY assembly for the decorations, which is really the fun part when you have some girlfriends helping out. Even for me with a preschooler and toddler, it was fun stringing the bunting banner onto the twine - which can easily be done a few days ahead of course. The cute little 'flags' below are actually supposed to go on a toothpick into a cupcake, but we didn't have any so we decided to wrap those around the straws!
I had some 'supermom' ideas of making my own cake and decorating it, I had a perfect vision that would look so chic with the party decor (i.e. chocolate!). Then I realized I'm just dreaming and a cake wouldn't fit into the work/kids juggle that week. So a quick trip to the craft store for some cute birds and eggs with a nest and trusting my aunt bought a cake big enough to fit them, and voila! A unique cake to fit the occasion. (Psst, just don't tell the mom-to-be that there are seven more eggs in that package, not hinting at how many kids they may have or anything)
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| Fellowship and opening presents |
I left Baby T with my husband for the evening (for the first time) and was thoroughly enjoying not being pulled in different directions by his constant needs to be on the move. Adult conversation can be a rarity as out soon-to-be-mom will discover in the coming months. We chatted with the girls about labor and birth, without trying to scare the mom-to-be too much. We reflected on parenting and its everyday challenges. On staying sane during those newborn days. On the fact that these moments are so fleeting and they must be cherished.
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| Awesome bunting banner |
Minted baby shower invitations and party decor certainly are not cheap, so don't expect crafts store prices. The invitations we picked were $2.56 each and include thick, luxurious paper and matching envelopes. There are also extra add-ons available such as envelope liners and different backer options. The party decor packages are available in three options, Unique Party ($66), Perfect Party ($88), and Dream Party ($144). Each one can be customized for the number of people attending.
If there is anything I would make even better for the party decorations, that would be to include a couple of table cloths with the Dream Party package. I understand cups wouldn't make sense, they would be cumbersome to ship, but tablecloths would be great. It also would have been helpful if along with the package, there was an image with examples of all the decor in use. In the midst of party preparations, I couldn't remember which stickers are for what and what some of the items were for, it would have been helpful to just glance at an example without having to go to a computer and go online to the Minted website. Overall it's pretty self-explanatory, maybe I just had 'mom brain' in full throttle that day?
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| Myself and mom-to-be |
The baby shower went great and we had a good time! We didn't have much planned for the evening, but the fun part was just being together, exchanging stories about motherhood and life in general because we so seldom see each other in our busy lives. I couldn't help but notice how different we all are and all so unique. Each woman with different views, opinions, choices.
We all could agree on one thing though, that motherhood is unique for every mom and our journey is only ours to make. That we should trust our instincts. Oh, and that being a mom totally rocks!
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