You may recall that I shared the news of my newest nephew who is expected to arrive in the upcoming weeks. I'm super-duper excited and I love that I will soon have another baby to love and another opportunity to be a great auntie.
I was thinking of hosting a small lunch at my place to celebrate his arrival. In my mind, we knew she was pregnant before Mason turned one year. Do you remember how big the shower was for Mason?
The event planner in me said it wasn't appropriate.
Don't plan an event, I said. You have so much going on, I said. They don't need anything, I convinced myself...but the bump grew and with it, my excitement did also. I started to consider doing something for my new nephew... I mean, I don't want him to be the baby of hand-me-down, do I? I do want him to have SOMETHING special, right? Right. Don't worry, I told myself. It'll be small, I assured myself. It'll be manageable.
I'll host a luncheon from my home - a few girls, light lunch, cute decor... simple. chic. nice.
Rewind! For Christmas, Ryan mistakenly sent dad their Amazon list for Mason's gift(s) and it also happened to have other items on it, including the bedding set for BabyDos. My parents went crazy and purchased all the items on the list. Like, all of them. Including the bedding and nursery decor.
When I saw Ryan unwrap it, I immediately thought of what I wanted to do for the luncheon. It hit me. All of her immediate family was present on Christmas; it made for the perfect opportunity to share the luncheon idea with others. We agreed on a luncheon and we told the mom-to-be. I instantly went home and pulled together an inspiration board using the bedding as my starting point:
All of the elements I had in mind were pulled on to the board - colors found in the bedding, wood, outdoorsy elements like pine cones and greenery, and the deer silhouette. I immediately went to Michael's and stalked their Christmas inventory. Don't look at me like that. You know I always check for what's on sale or coming on sale surrounding events. Anyhoo, the rustic Christmas decor wasn't on sale that soon after the holiday but it was cool. I decided to wait. And I waited until finally several days after Christmas, I caught items as soon as they hit 80% off! I brought it all home and sat excitedly staring at my inventory.
- 3 pine cone rustic garlands (retails for $29.99 each)
- A white deer bust (retails for $39.99 each)
- 12+ Christmas tree picks shaped like antlers (retails for $4.99 each)
- Arrow-shaped wooden ornaments (retails for $4.99 each)
- Lodge ornaments (retails for $4.99 each)
- Faux greenery with pine cone accents (12.99 each)
- Faux greenery with berries and antlers ($14.99 each)
... and more!
Truthfully, I had everything that would make for a fabulous tablescape but I needed a plan. I needed to be sure this would make the statement I wanted and that it would focus on the details I needed to nail down a theme... something that would make sense. As time passed, we decided to host from a local restaurant. It's one of the area's nice Italian restaurants and Ryan loves it. It was also large enough to accommodate our growing guest list. We now expected 24 people!
It was time to get the word out with an invitation. This critical piece needed to set the tone for guests and for the other printables. OMG! It also needed to tie it all together - the nursery, the antlers, the rustic, the woodsy, the baby shower element... all of it. I looked and searched and finally came up with something that met our needs!
Ryan's Loved So DEERly Ladies Luncheon
I thought about it and here's the invitation I came up with:
Things to Note:
- Gifts weren't required: when your guests have purchased gifts for the first baby a year ago, it doesn't feel right to assume they'd give another gift.
- We wanted to keep this event manageable so, I called it a ladies luncheon instead of a baby shower... we weren't showering. We weren't hosting a baby shower bash. We were coming together to show Ryan some love as she endures the last few weeks of her pregnancy. It's not easy chasing a baby and growing one at the same time. This was an opportunity to relax, to enjoy some good food, and to be surrounded by those closest who love her.
- The invitation design is simple. NO need for too much information or details this time around. Come. Eat. Here. At this time. The end.
Islanders, I can't wait to share the other printables and final table design; it turned out lovely.
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