Our Happy Hour Baby Shower
welcome to our
Happy Hour Baby Shower
Almost two weeks ago, we hosted family and friends for a fun spin on a baby shower! I wanted to include everyone in Baby Koch’s grand arrival celebrations. I knew I wanted something upbeat during the day and an opportunity for people to pop in, connect and share in our joy! Thus, the happy hour baby shower was born! We had it on a Saturday afternoon between 3:00 and 6:00pm, we encouraged our guests to stop by or stay the whole time! Let’s get into it.
We worked with Dogwood Hill on our invitations and thank-you notes! I chose the Blue Hydrangea Dinner Party invitations, and we could customize them accordingly. We also chose the Blue Hydrangea Notecard for our thank you notes! They were incredible to work with and perfected the details for our event. I loved how everything turned out! One request I had for guests was to bring a book in lieu of a card with a handwritten note to the baby inside of it, which was a great way to kickstart his library! Unlike a traditional shower, I did not want to open gifts at the party. I really wanted a cocktail party-like atmosphere. To those guests who wanted to see me open, I sent them pictures and video of Brian and me opening everything up privately the next day. I really appreciated this because I felt like I was able to really read through and appreciate all of the notes and process all of the generosity without feeling rushed or in the hot seat.
My wedding planner turned bestie Karina over at @KCYouThere agreed to help me with some of the design and functional details of the event. I wanted a space with plenty of bright light, Seneca One’s Grand Hall fits the bill with 360 views of Buffalo’s downtown area. The room is a blank canvas, so we were able to have a mix of round and high-top tables for guests to mix and mingle.
What is a party without the snacks? I previously hired Marisa over at B Sweet Designs for our wedding and knew I had to have her back five years later for our baby shower to create a deliciously sweet display of our favorite treats. Sweet Dreams 716 was responsible for this stunning cake, believe it or not it was chocolate cake with chocolate frosting underneath all of the layers of edible paper. They both matched the blue and green theme perfectly!
We had heavy appetizers and a full-service bar with plenty of non-alcoholic options, thanks to Lyres. If you haven’t already heard of them, I’ve made a bunch of mocktails on the blog with their non-alcoholic spirits. I highly recommend them!
We found Chuck over at @chuckuterie_ny to create the most beautiful and delicious charcuterie cups! I wanted the charcuterie option to be approachable and for people to eat them rather than on a table/display too pretty to eat. I loved how he found these cups to coordinate with the theme. We had Dogwood Hill print up a few coordinating signs for the bar, food, dessert, and gift table and used this six-pack of frames that would be perfect for weddings and any other events.
For a little extra mingling and fun, we had @bflophotobomb come in with their glam booth! This allowed you to text the photos to yourself, which I thought was a great favor for our guests.
I have to give a shoutout to my girl Candace M Read who helped me put together my outfit for the shower. Getting dressed while pregnant is not always easy, and I knew I wanted to feel like an elevated version of myself for this party, even with the bump! We tried on many options, and I think we pulled off this look pretty well. The key (for me) was shopping non-maternity yet bump-friendly styles and pinning/taping where we needed to. The bust part of this dress was a bit big on me, but we could pin and hide the evidence with this fabulous blazer! I think the key to dressing the bump is paying attention to your ever-evolving measurements and being open-minded regarding silhouettes. I previously shared some bump-friendly shower dress inspiration on this post, and also check out my special occasion dress guide. I’m actually wearing the same dress in that blog post that I am for my shower, just in a size smaller.
It was truly a very special day; Brian and I felt all the love and are excited to add this baby boy to the family! Sharing a few additional details that we included in the day, including our napkins, cutlery, and disposable plates. I’ve also included a list of all of our vendors that we used, if you’re interested!
Thanks for reading!
Thanks for reading up on our happy hour baby shower! Feel free to leave any questions below. The countdown to baby K is officially on, stay tuned as I will be sharing my third-trimester recap, what I’m packing in my hospital bag, the nursery room reveal and much more! In case you missed it, be sure to check out the motherhood tab of the blog for more on my pregnancy journey so far.
special thanks to:
Flowers by @theplot_buffalo | Linens and bar rental by @tesoroeventrentals | Welcome Sign by @binabonnet | Venue @senecaonebuffalo | Event Planner @kcyouthere | Desserts by @bsweetdesigns | Cake by @sweetdreams716 | Photo Booth @bflophotobomb | Charcuterie Cups by @chuckuterie_ny | Photos by @seekaxiom | Invites + Signage by @dogwood.hill | Non-Alcoholic Spirits from Lyres Spirit Co | Hair + Makeup by @groomservice
xx CMK
