- A Project For: Baby Swartout (Name TBD)
- Age: Due August 10, 2010
- Location: Apopka, FL
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Description:
We wanted to do something really fun to announce our baby's gender, so we decided to have friends and family over for a fun "Gender Reveal" party!
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Design Inspiration:
I wanted to keep it simple and modern, and to stay on a small budget. I looked at a lot of sites, including Project Nursery, to get ideas on colors, styles, ect. To save money, we decided to use evite.com to send out evites. I found a great, simple, nuetral evite, that had yellow, gray, white, and a bit of green in it, with an abstract flower. I loved it and ran with those colors (minus the green)!
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Decorating Style:
I tend to be very modern, clean lines, with little detailed touches of uniqueness.
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Project Details:
When I brought the idea up to my hubby, he was like, "that sounds like fun," but was being sarcastic. He thought it was going to be like a girly shower, with "cheesy" games (in his words) and tons of my girlfriends. When I explained to him what it was really going to be about, and that I wanted to mix my style with stuff he liked too, he started to get into it.
We came up with a BBQ style party, where everyone brought a dish (to help with costs) and byob. We were on a small budget of $100 or less, so getting our friends and family involved was a great option.
I knew I was still going to add my moder flair and design to the party, so I kept it simple by decorating the food table, along with a table that included a chalkboard, where guests could vote boy or girl, save the dates for my shower, and a thank you note for everyone being there to celebrate with us.
For the food table, the cake was our centerpiece. I was so excited to find Amy, with Luna Blue Bakery, to help design our cake, as the cake was going to be the most important part of the party. It was how we were revealing it to our guests. Aside from our parents that are out of town, she was the only other person to know what our baby's gender was before the party! I think she was equally as excited as we were too! She was a blast to work with! She listened to my ideas, and she gave me a few of hers as well. The inside of the cake was died a beautiful blue/teal color, so when we cut into the cake that would reveal to everyone the sex! Along with the beautiful cake, one side of the table had my cravings on it, and the other side had more appetizers and some really yummy lemonade.
Above the table were two banners that I made. The top said "Baby Swartout" and the bottom read "Boy or Girl?" It really tied the entire party together. I loved how it came out!
On both tables were floral arrangements that I created. It added a little bit of the girly glam that I love, while still staying modern. Michaels' florar was 50% off so I scooped up some of my favorite white stems and channeled my wedding centerpieces as a style that I liked (the grass, with the tulips in the cylinders, etc) They came out beautifully, and after the party, I was able to use them around my home.
Behind the scenes were the coolers of beer for the hubby and his friends, but I didn't capture that in the photos, haha! :)
Some of my favorite web resources are:
-Project Nursery (of course!)Tips:
-Start with a style or theme, then find one inspirational piece whether is the invite, cute plates, a banner, etc. Once you have that piece, you can expand and grow from there. If you try to think of everything all at once, it gets overwhelming.-Don't be afraid to be inspired, and then try to do it yourself before spending $$$. There are sooo many DIY projects out there, you would be surpised how easy they really are.
Photography by:
Jessica Liane Photography (me!) -
Favorite Items:
I would say the cake was one of my favorite items, because that was the part of the party that revealed the big news. It was so pretty, and it tasted delicious too!
The floral ,and the banner where two of my other favorite pieces that really brought the party together, and I had a lot of fun created them.
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Advice:
Keep it simple, the colors are really nuetral colors-- yellow, white, and gray. Check out evite.com for free online invitations (saves money and time, and is an easy way to track guests replies) Don't be afraid to try and make the banner yourself. If you're computer savy, you can create your patterns, or grab a coupon for your local craft store and pick up some fun scrapbooking papers and letters. If you want to know how to make something, google it and add DIY in front of it, you'll get tons of tips, tricks and tutorials! Anytime you go to buy something, look up the store online to see if they have coupons. You can almost always find a coupon online. Also, pick a budget and stick to it.
