“Shello” Baby! My Beachy-Boho Baby Sprinkle Recap

I’m so excited to share the details of my Baby Sprinkle with you! If you’ve been following along for a while now, it’s clear as day that I LOVE planning (and executing) beautiful events. In another life, I must have been a party planner! It brings me so much joy to take my vision and run with it, and I’m so lucky to connect with many incredible and local vendors through the power of social media to make these pipe dreams a reality. Read on for the nitty gritty details, and of course, to view the photos from the event!

Stephen and my mom initially tried to plan this as a surprise, but they quickly remembered who I am and decided it would be best if I could micromanage every little detail down to the color on my toenails the day of the event. I don’t usually like to type “lol” in a formal blog post but….. LOL!!!!!! Truly…. the best decision they ever made. Not only did I not want a surprise, but planning this really allowed my brain to focus on the fun for the latter half of my second trimester and the beginning half of my third. This level of “busy” was SO necessary and really did the trick for me.

I sent out Paperless Post invites, but I had my friend Joanna at @OrderSheWroteNYC design the template. Then, I printed one (and had her work her calligraphy magic on a matching envelope) to have as a keepsake. She is SO amazing! She did exactly what I wanted, and I’ve loved watching her business grow and flourish over the last 5 years. I first used her for my wedding, back when she was just starting out…. and now she is blowing the roof off of her industry!

I knew I wanted dried flowers for this event – lots of Pampas Grass, neutral tones, and apothecary-style vases. Hope of HopeLyss Romantics had posted an arrangement to her instagram that screamed what I had been looking for, so I reached out to her and she was able to make this magic happen for me, even working around a vacation to ensure that I had the centerpieces for the big day. To dress up the tables, she also supplied me with a box full of beautiful seashells, and I topped things off with some gauze-style table runners that I found on Etsy and terracotta candles from the Target Dollar Spot. (The Dollar Spot literally ALWAYS comes through, y’all….. I swear)

I’m a firm believer that every event needs a “focal point” – something that can act as a photo backdrop, and equally beautify the space when not in use. For my baby shower with Indie, I had a paper flower wall installed at the venue – so this time, I rented some pieces from Dovetail Vintage… antique doors, a rattan peacock chair, a jute rug and some boho floor cushions… and then hired a local balloon vendor to flank it all with a gorgeous balloon art installation. Add some more of that pampas grass and a seashell-shaped throw pillow from Amazon and… VOILÁ! Pure bohemian magic.

Now that everything was lined up to look amazing… it came time to find a few vendors to supply the sweets (in theme, of course!). Splurge Bakery is always one of my go-to spots for outrageously gorgeous (and delicious) cakes, and I was so excited when they were willing to work with me again on this project. Hope came through with just a little more of those dried grasses & palms so that we could top the cake. This cake was a twist on something I had seen on Pinterest…. instead of pink and white hues, they gave me terracotta and cream tones which was absolute perfection. Add on a platter of matching macarons, and we had ourselves a dessert table. But wait – it’s never enough!!!! So I enlisted Brittany Jeffrey, a very talented lady that I know from the NYC theatre community, to bake us some absolute MASTERPIECE cookies. Rattan furniture, Macrame hangings, Dried flowers, Seashells and Sand Dollars…. She essentially took the space and replicated all my little details in cookie form! Fun fact: Brittany was featured on The Christmas Cookie Challenge on Food Network. These bad boys were almost too pretty to eat. Emphasis on almost. Follow her creations on Instagram at @ItsBritsBatch.

Since this was a “Sprinkle” (not a traditional Shower) – I passed on opening presents. So many people were generous enough to give a gift to baby sister, even though we only asked for diapers! But my tip for hosting a sprinkle is to skip opening what you DO receive… for a few reasons: 1. Everyone who’s been to your LAST baby shower already watched you do this. And sometimes, as it was in my case, those showers happen fairly close together. Been there, done that. More importantly…. 2. If you didn’t ask for gifts, opening gifts in front of your crowd could make your guests who didn’t feel uncomfortable. And a party is meant to be maximum fun for everyone! So to add some more fun to the event, we did a diaper raffle and a DIY Onesie Station! The craft table was a huge hit, and I got a lot of really cute creations that I will totally put on the baby someday! All you need are fabric paints, disposable cheap paintbrushes, some construction paper, and adhesive stencils (I used the Martha Stewart brand of stencils). All found at Michael’s or any craft store! Obviously we did this craft on onesies, but this would even work as a “DIY Party Favor” for kids, at a bachelorette, bridal shower, or birthday! I could picture it working really well on tote bags or fabric cosmetic cases.

Last but not least… we needed someone to capture all of this in beautiful photos, right? So I enlisted the help of Chloe, an associate photographer with Laurel Creative. She was an absolute rockstar!

I’m so happy to say that another great “production” is a wrap. I had the best time… and I am quite literally still sore 48 hours later as I’m writing this because I ran around like a madwoman! I feel so lucky to have celebrated our second baby with so many of my loved ones, and I’m eternally grateful to the team of experts who came together to bring my vision to life alongside me! All of their websites or instagram accounts have been linked above, and of course there’s also my instagram to keep tabs on for all things motherhood + lifestyle! Now… we wait for Baby Sis!