Founders' Note
My Wonderland Baby Shower
Photography by Carlos Amoedo Shot on location at Citrus Restaurant
Serendipitously the upcoming birth of my daughter coincides perfectly with our spring, baby issue. When I announced the big news to my business partner, Chrissy Allen, the fi rst thing out of her mouth was, "Yay! I get to plan your baby shower!" Now, I'm not sure where you stand with people having baby showers for their second pregnancies, but because nearly seven years have passed since my son was born, and because this time around we're expecting a girl ... well, a celebratory soirée seemed in order.
When we were brainstorming party themes, I was inspired by an image of a Wonderland- themed shower that I found on Project Nursery (
www.projectnursery.com). I love "fun and funky," and because my fi rst shower was a co-ed barbecue, I thought it would be cool to go in a whole different direction this time and have a girlish tea party. Chrissy agreed that it was a perfect fi t for my personality, and she was immediately off and running.
Now, if this shower seems as indulgent as a Kardashian wedding, mainly it's because we wanted to show off all the amazingly creative party vendors Central Florida has to offer. Through PLAYGROUND articles and events, we've had the privilege of getting to know these vendors personally, and knew just whom to contact to pull off a picture-perfect baby shower.
The fi rst order of business was the invitations. We knew that my close friend and professional invitation designer Amy Morelli of The 2u Collection (
www.2ucollection.com) was the woman for the job. Amy created the most beautiful invitation using damask glitter graphic paper, black metallic cardstock, black feathers and some fuchsia harlequin ribbon ... wow! These gorgeous invites set the bar high for the entire party. (You can read more details at
www.the2ucollection.blogspot.com.)
Chrissy searched high and low for the best location for the event. She's always loved the vibe at Citrus Restaurant (
www.citrusorlando.com), and its private party room was the perfect size. Once the location was confi rmed, she moved on to planning a custom menu; there was even a signature drink. Pink lemonade margaritas with pink sugar rims went perfectly with the color scheme, and the bartender made sure to concoct a virgin version for the mommy-to-be. The menu selection is such an important aspect of a successful event. For our afternoon fête, we chose mini blue-crab cakes, the Citrus salad, grilled steak and smoked chicken fl atbreads, avocado chicken sandwiches, shrimp and lobster fritters, a cheese plate with nuts and toasted bread points, and, of course, some mini tea sandwiches. Delish!
(Continued on page 14)
• Chrissy Allen ensures every detail is in place before the party.
12 PLAYGROUND Spring 2012 Chrissy's
Baby Shower Tips:
1. Baby shower games are passé. Unless you've thought of some games that no one has ever experienced before, plan activities that benefi t the parents-to-be. We went with The Middle Name Game, The Wishing Tree and a "photo booth" with props for everyone to be able to take their own photos.
2. No detail is too small. Two of Heather's "OMG!" moments of the shower were when she saw that the teacups at each place setting were borrowed from her family's personal collection and that I used sugar to fi ll the teapots that held the CakeShooters.
3. You can never have too much food. Even though we went with lighter, tea party- type fare, we still made sure there was plenty of it and lots of variety — Heather’s favorite: the bite-sized avocado chicken sandwiches from Citrus.
• I'm so thankful for my family and longtime friends who traveled long distances to celebrate with me.
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