I have always planned and prepared events for family, and this was the first time I did it for someone else...a close friend who was pregnant with her daughter and who trusted me enough to decorate her baby shower. My friend likes unicorns and anything pink, and I started looking into ideas for an enchanted forest. She gave me the color scheme and I went with it! I had so much fun planning it out and designing it! Well, here we go!
WELCOME TO THE ENCHANTED FOREST!
The baby shower was happening at their friend's home. I was in charge of all the decorations and her other friend was in charge of the entertainment. As always, I started with the dessert table. My thoughts were to create an actual forest with little dwarves, fairies, unicorns and other inhabitants of fairy land just going along their daily business.
I found a beautiful forest background with pink flowers on Amazon. The fun part was trying to keep the background upright without ruining any walls and blending it in. :) I got several square pieces of real looking moss to cover the table and attached a ruffle skirt. I guess it became an enchanted forest on a cloud. :) Home Goods and Joann were my go-to place this time. Found a whole bunch of wood serving platters of various sizes, a beautiful cake stand, large glass vases to put flowers in, etc. The figurines I found were so adorable and perfect for a baby shower! The mommy-to-be even kept a lot of them for herself to place in the nursery. It turned out beautiful!
The desserts themselves were delicious! I tried to place them in a creative way so they flowed with the theme of the forest. The strawberry mushrooms came out perfect in their moss circle surrounding a baby deer sleeping on a flower. It was literally "enchanting"! :) The cupcakes also looked like colorful pastel mushrooms or some other forest feature. As you can tell, other that the centerpiece being the cake, there is not much symmetry in the design. I feel it makes the whole table seem more alluring and surreal...like an actual forest.
And speaking of the cake...oh my! As always, my go-to bakery delivered! I told them the idea I had for the cake with some photos of cakes that I wanted them to combine into one cake. I gave them some of the figurines I had, and they even added some butterflies. That cascade of beautiful flowery design that just flows down the cake alone was amazing! They even placed a small piggy in the flow! Such attention to detail!
ENCHANTED FOREST DECOR
Then I went on to the favors table. The favors themselves I will not take credit for because that was the work of the mommy-to-be. She wanted to do those herself so she can be involved at least a little bit. :) Fine by me! I found a beautiful small chest with unicorns and various flowers that fit the theme. I probably would have gone with a different table cover, but you live and your learn. The mommy-to-be also got some cards where guests were supposed to guess the baby's birthdate, weight, height, etc. The parents are supposed to give a gift to the person whose guess is the closest to reality. The teddy bear in the middle was actually the baby's first toy! It was all very sweet and girly...just like the mommy-to-be.
There wasn't too much other decor around the house because there was not much need for it due to the layout of the house and where the guests were going to gather. The fireplace I decorated with flowers, unicorns and a "IT'S A GIRL" sign. On top, I placed light up letters of the baby's name. This is what the parents placed in the baby's nursery. This whole setup seemed very ethereal, and at the same time, homey.
And last, but not least, was the gift area. The homeowners had the "Home sweet Home" sign there, and I thought it was perfect for this baby shower...because children make a home more bright, sweet and beautiful!
It was a pleasure creating this baby shower for someone other than my family, especially a close friend. It made me ecstatic to see the delight on the parents' faces when they saw their baby girl's shower come to life! What could be more thrilling?? Well, yes, there might be other things, but I think this is in the top 10%. ))) ha!
Vendor Credits:
Planning and Decorating - SMLA Happy Events
Decor - Home Goods, Party City, Amazon, Joann, Michael's
Cake and Cupcakes - House of Pastry (www.houseofpastry.com)
Macaroons - Sweety Bitty Pastry (https://www.yelp.com/biz/sweety-bitty-pastry-los-angeles)
Photography - SMLA Happy Events