Tuesday, January 19, 2010

A Nautical Shower for Baby Oliver



I joined forces with three friends to host a baby shower for our dear friend Lynne and baby on the way, Oliver. It was a treat to co-host with such a creative bunch.

My friend Jen kicked off our nautical theme with homemade invitations. They turned out so cute. Even the envelope had a great nautical detail with a stamped image that was personalized and read "Baby Shutt" (their last name).


We had planned to send "message in a bottle" invitations but it got too tricky so we used the corked bottles for the place cards. We stamped out the names of each guest on beautiful card stock, placed them in the bottle with some sand, and then tied twine around the neck of the bottle to finish it off. They were too cute for words.

We also used the bottles to label the food. Our menu included:

For favors we filled navy boxes with salt water taffy and tied them with a traditional nautical knot (that our friend Lauren assembled on her plane ride to Seattle, bless her heart) and topped with an anchor detail. We put them out on an old map with starfish "crawling" all over them. It looked great.

We had a guest book for everyone to sign with a word or two of advice for the new mom. We will attach a photo of each guest near their message and give it to Lynne when the baby arrives. A wonderful keepsake filled with notes from all her guests and photos from the party.

We found these adorable
garland centerpieces by googling key words for a nautical themed party. We copied the idea with our own color/pattern choices, using the sand filled vases with rods on each end of the table to hang the garland. We used small wooden boats for the centerpieces under the garland and gave the table a little light and texture with tea lights placed in sprinkled sand on each side of the boats. The napkins were wrapped around silverware and then twine was tied around it in the same nautical knot. We used the same twine to tie little brass nautical charms around each of the wine glasses.

The event was a hit and we all enjoyed celebrating with the glowing mom-to-be. Now we just can't wait to meet little Baby Oliver.

29 comments:

Lynne Shutt said...

This was the most amazing shower I have ever been to, and to be the guest of honor was beyond touching. I can hardly even describe how I felt when I walked in to see their masterpiece. My friends put so much time and love into this event and their creativity and hard work showed in every detail!

Alexis said...

Wow, everything is so great. Beautiful and classic, I love it all, what a wonderful shower.

Jennie Warren said...

THE MOST DARRRRRLING shower I have EVER been to! Details, details, details... and the best part... being surrounded by great friends. :-)

Unknown said...

that shower was ridic. love my seattle girls and little baby oliver!

Sharnel said...

I love this baby shower!!

The Social Secretary said...

I'm so glad party perfect linked to you, this shower is so wonderful! Perfect timing as I plan one myself :)
Thank you for sharing and, great blog!

Cari @ Socially Circled said...

LOVE! LOVE! LOVE!!!!!!
This is just amazing!!!

Brittany said...

This is such a cute party! Way to go, and thanks for sharing. I'm linking this post to my blog so I can remember how cute this is.

julie desmeules said...

Everything about this event is fabulous!

adrianne said...

I love this party! I am working on a crab/nautical themed party for my son's first birthday. So many great ideas here that aren't based on a Disney character. Love your blog!

Wendy said...

This is a beautiful shower idea. So classic; something that can be enjoyed by mom-to-be and grandma. Wonderfully done. Thanks for sharing.

Unknown said...

This is so beyond fantastic - so elegant! I had to feature it on my blog post for Nautical parties!

Kim@
http://frostmeblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/sailboatnautical-part-2.html

b.a.s.h.ful custom event kits said...

this is SO SO cute!

I love it!! The bottles used for signage?! darling!

{gretchen}

Chris @ Celebrations At Home said...

this is such a beautiful and elegant take on a nautical theme!

Unknown said...

I absolutley adore this shower!!

Unknown said...

I absolutely adore this shower!

Anonymous said...

I absolutely love this shower....we're throwing a nautical baby shower for my friend and were using alot of your ideas! Thank you! Would you want to sell any of the decorations...if you still have them??? christinelynnlee@gmail.com

Unknown said...

I'd love to find these small wooden boats...can you help me locate some?

Colleen Terpening said...

Thanks for all the comments. We don't have any decorations left to sell. So sorry! And not sure where the boats came from. They were from a friend of a friend who's had them forever. I'm sure you could find something similar via google or etsy???

Deborah Burton said...

I am hosting a couples baby shower this August. We are having it at a yacht club so the nautical theme is perfect! I love the little blue wooden boats. It is so sweet!
Can you please tell me where I can find them?
Thanks.

Anonymous said...

There's a site called Saige Nicole's that carries some beautiful nautically themed shower gifts and decorations like sailboat place cards and frosted glass sailboat tealight holders. You can check them out here: http://bit.ly/bzYb3G.

tina said...

I love this, it's fabulous!! :) I think that it's so expensive

Andrea said...

Can you please let me know where you guys purchased all those cute decorations and the little cork bottles. I love the decor and have recently decided to have a nautical themed baby shower. Thanks so much!!

Andrea said...

Can you please let me know where you guys purchased all those cute decorations and the little cork bottles. I love the decor and have recently decided to have a nautical themed baby shower. Thanks so much!!

Anonymous said...

can you please let me know where did you get the glass bottles with the cork top, I have been looking all over cant find the one you use in your baby shower.

Lindsey Clarke said...

I am throwing my best friend a Nautical themed shower...I love EVERYTHING you did on this on : )Where ndid you find the little blue boats ?

Colleen Terpening said...

So sorry - those boats were something my friend's mom had. You could try to source something on Etsy. I think they were homemade. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

I would love to share this party on by site, Love THe Day. Please let me know if that is something you are interested in.

Colleen Terpening said...

You can definitely post on your blog. I'm flattered. :-)