Today’s Real Party feature is nothing sort of, well…”EXCEPTIONNEL” – to use an appropriate term for this absolutely gorgeous French Circus-inspired soirée!

Designed and brought to life by the creative minds behind Alchemy Fine Events and Canvas and Canopy, this is definitely not your typical baby shower… (unless, of course you’re accustomed to being greeted by stilt walkers and seated in translucent crystal ghost chairs beneath a sky of vintage umbrellas and parasols at the baby showers you attend!)

As you can probably tell from the dazzling pics and event recap to follow, no detail was left unturned at this lavish celebration, which offers up fabulous inspiration for occasions like bridal showers, weddings, and chic milestone birthdays as well.

Read on for tons of beautiful images and and all the party details, as told by the Lollipop Girls…

“In January we hopped on a plane to New Orleans to do a shower for a mommy-to-be with a baby girl along the way. The French soiree was co-ed and a celebration for both of the sophisticated and stylish parents.

We went with a pale pink, baby blue and onyx palette for baby Genevieve along with a Parisian circus vibe to play off of the French influence of New Orleans and to add a whimsical element.

Elegance, jeweled antiques, and vintage Barnum & Bailey were the major influences in our design. Inspired by the whimsy and eccentricity of an early 1900’s Parisian circus  we wanted the shower to feel glamorous, whimsical, opulent and for guests to say ‘ooh la la’ upon entering!

Lush tabletops of anemones, peonies, and ranunculus, resembling the Parisian gardens of the Champs-Élysees were set atop round ice blue Russian linens with caps emulating couture clown collars.

Black and white canopy striped napkins were layered with blush pink velvet ribbon and the tables were framed with transparent crystal Victoria ghost chairs.

Playing off of the baby ‘shower’, vintage umbrellas and Parisian parasols hovered over tables with strings of dripping crystals that refracted the blue uplighting and resembled raindrops.

The entire room was washed and ensconced with baby blue lighting to create an ethereal effect while the ruffled, pagoda style umbrellas hung at varying heights creating drama over the dining tables.

The “Carousel de la Tour Eiffel” photo op of a vintage ferris wheel with the Eiffel tower looming in the background was set up in the corner. The ladies were able to pose for photos with vintage parasols and the men posed with pastel bubble gum cigars in honor of baby Genevieve.

Next to the photo op was a dessert buffet with a vintage Patisserie sign, a glittering chandelier and a striped cake perched in the middle.

The dessert table resembled a true Parisian patisserie with large spheres of popcorn balls on crystal cut glass cake stands, pastel treats in bowls, macaroons in pale palettes of pink, sherbert green, and lemon yellow.

Rock candy in bright punch-pink and otter pop blues, cupcakes swirled with pastel frosting and old-fashioned stick candy with swirling stripes were labeled with custom pink tags and boldly striped ribbon.

The dessert was even served by a comical baker wearing a chefs hat to add to the topsy turvy circus feel!

Inspired by big top tents, trapeze artists and French circus performers we had a stilt walker greeting guests at the door and waiters with clown couture costume makeup serving appetizers true to French Creole cuisine.

A mixologist served sweet tea and strawberry drinks with pink flags that said ‘baby love, ooh my baby love’ from a bar covered with candelabras topped with blushing pink peonies.

Guests were enveloped in music from a DJ spinning beats in front of a large spinning ferris wheel mural that was situated behind him as a backdrop.

Surrounded by chipped bricks and loft like space, modern white belly bars topped with tall candelabras created a contemporary twist on a traditional French bistro.

No detail was left unturned, including the vintage circus signs on the bathroom doors, “the clowns” sign for the men and “the tightrope walkers” for the women.

The walls were sprinkled with custom circus posters and white ceramic elephants guarded Evian bottles emblazoned with a Christian Lacroix print that were the guests take home gifts.

The entire evening had that certain ‘je ne sais quoi’ that can only be expressed in the French language of love, and guests exclaimed that they felt truly transported to another place!”

P.S. – A note regarding Real Party Features:

We’ve received TONS of Real Party & Event submissions recently, and there are sooooo many amazing parties that we’d love to feature. If I haven’t responded to your submission (which is most likely the case) PLEASE don’t feel ignored. I appreciate all of the hwtm readers so much and truly wish that it was possible to personally respond to every email – it’s just that there are literally hundreds of submissions & inquiries in the inbox right now, new ones coming in daily, and just too few hours in the day, plain and simple… especially between juggling several regular work projects, a huge addition to HWTM launching later this year (yay!), and – of course – the newborn to attend to!

With everything that’s going on, I’ve realized that something’s gotta give, and email correspondence has to be that thing for now. However, we still warmly welcome & appreciate all submissions, and hope to soon have a new person on board that will specifically help manage Real Parties & other types of correspondence. Thanks so much for your patience & understanding!

For more info and details on the Real Party submission & selection process, please click here.