I’ve gotta say… this baby shower just stole my heart. Celebrating the pregnancy of a dear friend is always a wonderful reason to throw a party, but when the mom-to-be has had a difficult time getting pregnant, then ends up with TWO peas in her pod… there’s a pretty good chance the celebration will be TWICE the fun!

Dani Blasena of HauteFêtes not only dreamed up a beautiful day for her BFF Brenda, but she impressively traveled with all her crafty materials, glass vases, etc. from San Diego to Portland (where Brenda had recently moved), ready to bring the party to her! With lots of love and time, Dani create a super chic Two Peas In A Pod Baby Shower that is feminine and sweet, but also gender neutral, as mommy-to-be was expecting both a boy and a girl! From darling desserts adorned with hearts to warm textures like burlap and yarn, see all the lovely and heart-felt inspiration below…

PARTY DETAILS to look out for:

• Whimsical tissue tassle & pom pom garlands + handmade “Sweet Peas” banner
• Burlap napkin rings & table runners + hand dyed ombre cocktail napkins
• Luscious springtime florals + a baby’s breath wreath for the guest of honor
• Champagne cocktail-filled glass baby bottles adorned with twine
• Clever yarn pom “baby mobile” craft activity for the guests
• “Little Pea” guestbook, felt invitations, and heart shaped table confetti

PARTY DETAILS, as told by Dani…

The shower was for my bff Brenda Dos Remedios who recently moved to Portland from San Diego. After a really difficult time trying to get pregnant, she and her husband Matt, finally did with not one but two little peas – a boy and a girl! (She actually popped last week and while the twins are healthy, they are still in the NICU so we are praying for their speedy growth so they can go home!)

THE SHOWER

I’ve never been to Portland, so I planned the shower from San Diego sight unseen working closely with local vendors, the VQ for our venue, and local Portland florist extraordinaire, Sammy’s Flowers.

The shower was an exercise in DIY and knowing that I would have to pack most of the décor and take it with me on the plane, I had to focus on the details that would have the most impact. The inspiration for the event was a children’s book called “Little Pea” which I used as our guest book in which guests shared ‘sweet words’ for the babies. With spring in the air, white sweet peas were the perfect choice as our main floral element, which we accented with pale peach tulips (how stunning are their watercolor stripes?), ranunculus, and jasmine sprays. For a pop of bright color, I added Kelly green and just a touch of mint, with additional gold accents. The tissue paper tassels captured all these colors and made for a great focal point above the buffet table.

For the handmade invites, I carried on the theme, using hand cut pea faces, felt pea pods, a burlap background and of course a bright red heart for those two little heart beats. The heart accent became a secondary theme which carried into the delicious cookies (more to come on that in a minute!!) and the burlap flag garland.

I hand made the burlap flag garland onto which I stenciled “sweet peas”. For more DIY elements, I hot glued ribbon onto burlap napkin rings (so elegant when tied – great for picnics and summer garden parties, too!) which I tied around the silverware; wrapped and tied twine in a bow around the necks of our champagne cocktail-filled baby bottles accented with peach striped straws; used a heart shaped hole puncher (hello! Love this device from Michael’s) for the green and gold heart confetti which I accented with peach paper flowers. And to top it off, I also hand dyed cocktail napkins and pom pom garlands to further tie in the Kelly and mint green colors.

Speaking of pom poms – they’re my absolute favorite, so we had to make them for our craft project! I mean, who wouldn’t love a pom pom mobile above their bed? The guests set about making pom poms for the babies in matching colors to the nursery decor, and we hung them the yarn balls from gold washi paper wrapped hoops and strung them from colored yarn.

For the mama to be, I hand made a baby’s breath wreath (coat hanger, floral tape and hot glued ribbon and flowers), accented with tiny roses.

For the eats, the VQ put on an awesome spread! We had bacon wrapped dates, olives and a fromage board, grilled zucchini pizza, rabbit pate with toasted brioche, and a scrumptious Caesar salad. The desserts were made by the lovely ladies at the Crimson Cake in San Diego which I brought up to Portland by hand, (almost losing them to San Diego airport security who threatened to confiscate them for themselves!) Since I was flying into town, I didn’t want the desserts to spoil. So we decided on low maintenance desserts including vanilla sugar cookies frosted with royal icing (a great alternative to cupcakes and cakes), gorgeous little sweets peas in their pods and bright red hearts, and the lightest, most moist cake pops ever, dipped in white chocolate with sprinkles — oh and don’t forget the little red heart accent!

For the favors, I stacked ‘Botanical Interests’ pea and flower seed packets on the tables with the silverware, tied with a Kelly green ribbon which I attached with a teeny clothes pin, for the guests to take home and plant.

For one last little décor item, I adapted a sweet pea poem for Brenda’s babies and attached it to a burlap frame hung with wool.

GREAT PARTNERS

While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend traveling with vases, glass bottles, tassels, and other décor, my biggest advice for your readers is that planning a shower from afar doesn’t have to be intimidating, especially if you have your venue go neutral on their décor so that you can accent it with yours. Fortunately, the VQ is an awesome space, with their exposed brick walls and huge conservatory windows. It made it easy to design, style and plan the shower making it elegant and neutral with a touch of European je ne sais quoi. And of course, having Erin at the VQ and Sage at Sammy’s, who were my girls on the ground, was invaluable.

Finally, I loved working with Niki Rhodes, our photographer who took the beautiful photos. She got married three weeks after the shower, so hats off to her for taking time away from the craze of wedding prep.