DYLAN & Co.

I finally had my baby shower this past weekend. It was so much fun and it felt good to have one last hoorah. Because let's face it: it could be a while before I can travel a lot again once the baby comes.

I had a very clear vision of what I wanted my shower to be like: a cocktail brunch. Back in Dec 2013, I decided on a Breakfast At Tiffany's Theme because one, I love the color, and two, how classy does that sound? I didn't want to sit around playing games the entire time. In my head, it seemed like it'd be fun to dress up and attend a cocktail party that just so happened to be in honor of my sweet little Dylly.

Immediately, I began researching how I could bring my vision to life (read: I created a vision board and stalked every website and Pinterest board until I had curated all of the perfect supplies). I found this really pretty shower by an event planner named Jen Carver of Banner Events, and decided to use a few of her recommended vendors and add in more cocktail party elements to make it more me.

 A few things that I really, really wanted: onesie cookies, a Tiffany box cake, candy and food stations, Tiffany box center pieces, feather center pieces, and a balloon ceiling.

 My mother-in-law is from Thailand and she told us that it's tradition there to make a wish for the baby and release balloons so that the wishes come true. It looked really pretty (some of my friends who were leaving the area saw them in the sky and sent me pictures).

This is my "big sister" (she's actually my cousin/bff and my mom's twin lol) Erika. She is the one who threw my shower for me. She did such a great job with everything. I know I got on her nerves though with my "vision" lol. What can I say? I'm very anal. Thanks for putting up with me and my crazy ideas E!

What I'm wearing: Custom Convertible Dress c/o Nuova Vita . This isn't a maternity dress, but it was perfect for the occasion and I can wear it a lot because you can tie the top in like 500 different ways to create a "new" dress each time.

 I asked my friends to wear black cocktail dresses so that we can all play up the theme, but I could still stand out because mine was long. (I didn't wear heels because my hands and feet looked like marshmallows from all of the running around and decor making I'd been doing. Please ignore my tired, pregnant feet lol).

I put my keepsake  invitations in Dylly's baby book already. They were so beautiful. I had to send out a couple of batches because I had to give my New York friends and family at least 3 months advanced notice. The first batches were the little Tiffany onesies complete with response cards. I LOVE them! And the lady who made them, Yvette Sencion of SDezigns, is so sweet. She did this design custom for me. For the last batch of invites, I used some by Anders & Ruff. They match the printables I used. 

I saw this diaper cake online that was so pretty and from then on, I was determined to make one just as beautiful. The result ended up on the welcome table. A few people thought it was a real cake lol.

Me and Trevy's table, though he never sat at it and I was only there for a few minutes. We were mingling up a storm and taking so many photo booth pictures lol. I started a scrapping a baby book for Dylan. You can kind of see it on the table.

The candy station was so important to me. I had so much fun picking out the apothecary jars and decorating them with ribbon and such. The table had my pretty Tiffany box cake, popcorn with white chocolate and edible glitter on it (yum), "It's A Boy!" chocolate pops, onesie cookies, Tiffany box and "Baby Boy" cake pops in assorted flavors,  and cupcakes with Tiffany box and baby boy themed toppers. 95% of this was gone by the end of the shower:)

I have been a mess during this pregnancy. Everything that I once loved, I now hate. Especially meat. I can't bring myself to eat any meat except seafood. For that reason, I had a LOT of shrimp lol. My menu included: jerk chicken with rice and beans, mini meat loafs, mac & cheese, beef sliders, french fry cones, shrimp cocktail, shrimp skewers, shrimp & grits, chicken and mini waffles... And from what I heard, it was amazing. I barely got  chance to eat:(

My plate that I didn't get to finish. In my head, it was very, very good. I did nibble on most of it though. I didn't get to try the shrimp & grits though. Trevy said it was delicious. I love these cute little milk bottles. The "Baby Dylan" wrappers and drink flags on the black and white paper straws and cute little drink flags are from a printables suite I used from Anders & Ruff. Becky, who is one of the owners, was so helpful and their customer service is great. She made sure that I got the Tiffany color just right. BTW: I decided to serve faux mimosas (not because I'm pregnant, I don't drink in regular life and there were plenty of libations at the after party lol)

 Besides the candy station, food station, and my baby bump (lol), the photo booth was probably the most popular part of the party. I swear everyone took like 5000 photos. That's a good thing because Trevy and I were so busy mingling that we barely had time to eat or take photos.

As some of you may know from my Instagram, I made my decorations myself. I placed every feather,  draped every pearl, painted every box, put vinyl stickers on the bags and vases, made the diaper cake, the cake pop box and centerpiece (I now sell centerpieces, favor boxes and more at my shop here)... I won't buy anything I can make myself lol. Luckily, (because this pregnancy has worn me out) my Erika and my Aunt June helped me out by doing all of the decor on the baked goods.

I was beyond excited to get the chance to see so much of my family and friends at once. That NEVER happens because I've been bi-coastal for so long. Lucky me to have an excuse to get so many of them in one state at the same time:)They traveled from near and far to help us celebrate the upcoming birth of our new baby. I'm so grateful and thankful that we are so blessed. My baby is so loved already. And, he got so many awesome gifts from everyone, even my friends who couldn't make the shower. 

Thank you so much to all of my friends and readers for all of your  kindness, prayers and well wishes for the baby during my pregnancy. You guys are the sweetest. I love and appreciate you all so much. This pregnancy was so hard (with Trevy being deployed for most of it) and you guys helped me through. Only 5 weeks to go!

xx Slim

Credits:

Photos by Trevor, NK, Tosin, Shala, Jovoni, Erika, and Katie
Shower Hostess/Planner: Erika Williams
Decor: Made by me. You can visit my shop Slim Crafts
Catering (food, cake, baked goods): Terry of Dreamin' Of Sweets
Printing Suite (used for drink flags, labels, rectangle invitations, and blue banners): Anders & Ruff
Onesie Invitations: Yvette Sencion of SDeszigns
Photo Booth: Rudy Loza of Knockoutphotobooth
Skinny Tiffany box cake pops: The MaD Cake Pop Shop
"It's A Boy" chocolate pops: Erika Williams and June Williams
Dress: Francesca Maestrales of Nuova Vita