Here is what kept me
busy this summer- prepping for a new addition to our family! For the last 9 months I have
held a secret from you and it is now time to share that little secret! We
welcomed our li’l princess into our home a few days ago and we feel truly
blessed!
It has been a journey of sorts doing this all over again after 12
years – that’s right! Our older one is 12! Taking a second stint at parenting after a super long gap, defying
societal stereotypes in the process has been a unique experience to say the least. Sleep deprivation and diaper fiascos were a thing of the past. We were in cruise control parenting mode and now, it starts all over again! My personal journey of pursuing a higher
education, a meaningful career, discovering myself and mothering
a second child close to 40 has been nothing short of an adventure - one that I have
embraced whole heartedly in spite of the struggles! I am loving every minute of
it – despite the exhaustion! Baby A has all of us wrapped around her li’l
fingers!
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| A medley of pastels to start us off! |
We celebrated this
joyous event in our life with an intimate celebration this summer and I bring you images
from the baby shower in this post.
At Aalayam, we take pride in our parties and
this one was no different!
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| Custom made goody bags - shabby chic paper doll all the way! |
Every detail was well thought out and I hope you
enjoy this recap.
I am doing a two part
–to showcase both the American and Indian versions of the shower. So, join me
this week and next as I look back fondly at both the celebrations.
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| Keeping mommy-to-be stylish! |
A big shout
out to all my girl friends that helped to put the events together and indulged
mama-to-be!
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| These girls know how to run a show! |
Supriya and a few other friends flew in to celebrate my little girl
and it meant the world to me. My girlfriends and my two boys left no stone unturned in making this event one of the best days of my pregnancy!
Inspirations: Style me
pretty living, Kara’s party ideas, babyshowerideas4u and the hostess with the
mostess
Desserts: Fate Cakes
Photography: Uj
The hosts- my dear
friends Supriya, Ruchika and Shilpa graciously indulged me and allowed me to
have my say and customize the theme and the décor.
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| Cookies and cupcakes- all dolled up! |
You know my penchant for all things décor! I have always
enjoyed styling personal events at home. What fun it was too- trading ideas and
brainstorming with this enthusiastic team of girls to style the shower! I am
truly grateful for their time, effort and energy and for making it such a
special occasion for my entire family. I had an amazing time!
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| Game stations - let the party begin! |
I fell in love with
the location, the minute I saw it. The local conservatory had a great indoor-outdoor
space that was ideal to host an intimate group of friends for a summer shower.
The event coordinators at the location worked with me patiently as we arranged
the space to fit our theme – shabby chic paper doll.
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| and 'coz li'l girls fancy a touch of pink! |
The venue enhanced the
décor with its great outdoor areas and gardens.
Leading up to the event,
we had a few themes in the running – Alice in wonderland, vintage alphabet and shabby
chic paper doll. In the end, fun and feminine won and “shabby chic paper doll”
was a perfect way to welcome my sweet bebe into this world!
Etsy was a great place
to find printable templates for the party and the rest came from local craft stores.
But mind you, not everything came from
the stores. My friend Shlipa put in tons of DIY time customizing the goody
bags, the cupcake toppers and other details.
We layered and mixed in the
vintage paper doll elements with shabby chic décor items such as burlap, paper
doilies and birdcages for a touch of whimsy. And we topped it off by
integrating delightful fresh flowers in our color scheme. Everything had a
delicate and feminine flair- just the way I had envisioned
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| Shabby chic centerpieces |
We intentionally mixed
in some vintage blue with shades of pink and white for a non-traditional color
scheme for a baby girl. As Supriya
pointed out we were getting away from gender stereotyping. After all, nothing
about this pregnancy thus far fit into any stereotype and we wanted the shower
to reflect that.
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| A li'l pink and a li'l blue - no gender stereotyping here! |
The dessert table
was a fabulous display of white, pink, and blue and housed our gorgeous cake
(with the damask and ruffle detail) elegantly. Marie from Fate Cakes went all
out to create my custom doll dress cookies, cupcakes and the two-tiered cake
enabling us to put together this perfect dessert table.
As an extension of the
color theme, the girls were told to dress up in pastels too! Don’t you love our
gorgeous palette?
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| And here's one with momma-to-be! |
The lunch tables were
a picture of style and elegance – dressed in baby pink linen and shabby chic
décor pieces. The colors and theme flowed subtly through the space and
everything came together beautifully.
The caterers at the conservatory did a marvelous job of cooking
the menu to perfection with fresh homegrown ingredients.
We played up the
festivities with lively music and lots of fun games. Thanks again to my
gorgeous hosts for thinking through every detail.
The rustic outdoor tables and
the string of globe lights was the perfect blank canvas to host the games- cake
boss (where teams were asked to make diaper cakes), pin the pacifier on the
paper doll, guess the number of baby items and drink from a baby bottle were
some of the games that amped up the fun factor that afternoon.
As I look through the
guest book now, I am nostalgically reminded of how much I loved that afternoon.
I cannot wait to share these pictures with my little girl one day! In the meanwhile,
I am sharing it with you – my dear Aalayam family.
Next up, the Indian
equivalent of a baby shower or bale shastra (bangle ceremony). Join me again in a few days as we take a look at the symbolism and visual splendor of the Indian
ceremony and as always, I will sign off for now with one more image of this dreamy dessert table !
