One of my closest friends, Candice, asked myself and my another good friend, Ange (you might remember her as my baking buddy) to organise her baby shower. We were super excited to be organising this important event and decided to do all the décor and catering ourselves (I think if I knew then what I know now…I might not have done it this way…anyway you live and learn). We started discussing, themes, colours, menus and games…as these are the important things in any event planning. Luckily Ange and I get on like a house on fire, so we agreed on everything and there was no fighting at all 🙂
Below are the ideas, inspiration and things we did for Candice’s baby shower…I hope it brings some inspiration to you if you need to organise one.
Theme :
We knew Candice was having a girl but decided not go crazy on the pink and actually found a completely neutral but super cute theme – Mummy-too-Bee. The main colours were shades of yellow, white with a hint of black. We also incorporated flowers and bees subtly into the decorations. We used this theme and general colour scheme for as much as we could.
Below is our invite template :
Our invitation template for Candice’s babee shower
Décor :
We kept the décor simple and clean with what I like to call a little Capetonian flair! We used white tea pots as vases and got some pretty white and yellow daisies to put in them. We also bought some white and yellow balloons to add a little extra colours. Lastly we found some yellow and white paper doilies and used them to make our bunting…it looked so pretty…love this idea…Ange is a genius! Can’t find bunting you like and don’t have the energy to make it – buy doilies and string and tread the doilies on the string and voilà…unique and pretty bunting!
the table of the baby shower cakes, savoury snacks and welcome drinks
Food :
We decided on a high tea as both Ange and myself are big bakers…just mentioning in case you hadn’t noticed…hehe!
We might have gone crazy with the selection of sweet and savoury treats. Ange and myself baked everything ourselves…which almost caused us to cancel at the last minute as we were stressed and exhausted after 16 straight hours of baking! Sounds glorious until you have been on your feet for that long…suddenly it sounds and feels like hell!
Needless to say, we managed to somehow finish everything and it looked fabulous. However, I do not recommend doing everything yourself. You just do not realise how long it takes to bake so many different items.
We baked the following (all recipes will be posted on the blog over time – so keep a look out).
- Victoria sponge cake
- Baked cheesecake with white chocolate ganache
- Lemon polenta cake
- Orange cupcakes
- Madeleines
- Honey & ginger mini bundts
- Marmite & cheese savoury bundt
- Mushroom, onion and thyme quiche
- sugar biscuits
P.S you must always consider dietary requirements, for example halaal and kosher. In addition, nowadays, it is common for people to be intolerant to gluten, diary, etc so make sure there is something for everyone to eat.
Candice having her belly measured so we could guess how big it is
Games :
There are so many fun and cute games you can play at a baby shower, the internet is full of them – Babycenter.com is a great site to start with but just remember Google is your friend and so is Pinterest!
However, we decided on only three games…I am not normally a big ‘lets play games’ at these events kinda person but they were fun, especially the play-doh babies and bingo. We went simple with prizes and gave chocolate bars to all the winners and then the worst Play-doh baby got a small chocolate lolly. However, you can go as big or as small as you want with prizes, I guess it depends on your budget.
We played the following games :
Guess the belly size
It’s a good idea to first check with your pregnant friend, if she is happy to play this game as some women may be sensitive to their size and find the game a little too personal. If she is game, then its a great icebreaker and is the game we started with. All the ladies had to greet Candice and guess her belly size.
How to play :
All you need is some string and a tape measure. Each guest places the string around the expectant mommy’s belly and needs to guess the length of string, for example 90 cm. If some guests do not want to use string, they can just guess by looking at the mommy-to-be.
After everyone has had a turn, then you measure the mommy-to-be’s belly with a tape measure and compare her measurements with the those of the guest’s. The person who is closest wins!
Simple, fun and it can be surprising how far off some people’s estimates are!
Play-doh babies
Next we decided to play Play-doh Babies, as we thought it would be great fun as most of us have not played with Play-doh since we were small children.
How to play :
Give each guest about a golf ball size of Play-doh in a variety of colours. Set a timer for five minutes and have them sculpt a baby to the best (or worst!) of their ability. The mommy-to-be can judge which one she likes best and which one is the worst or most disturbing. If you have lots of ladies, then you can add extra categories for judging, such as most realistic, most creative, most silly, etc. We only have 12 ladies so we decided and best and worst only.
It’s a great game to help break the ice, since it gets people talking and laughing.
Baby bingo
We played Baby Bingo last, as it is done while the expectant mommy opens all the pressies.
How to play :
Pass out pencils/pens and blank bingo cards, give your guests a few minutes to fill in the cards with the gifts that they think the mommy-to-be will receive, such as baby grow, dummy, socks, t-shirt, etc.
Line the gifts up in front of the expectant mommy and let her rip into them! As the mommy-to-be opens her gifts, guests should mark off any gifts listed on their cards. When guests have marked off all the blocks, they shout out BINGO. The first to call out BINGO wins.
The ladies Play-doh babies…The winner for the most creative baby was the red fetus
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WOW! I love this theme and you guys really made it work. Those paly-doh babies are so funny. Love this! Can I hire you one day?
Well I am not sure about that…hehe! However, happy to assist 😉