A DISNEY PRINCESS BABY SHOWER
When you wish upon a star…
About a year ago, I was strategically planning for the day that Dania would share joyous news that she would be expecting a baby. I had already panned out in my mind what kind of baby shower theme we would create if she was to have a boy or a girl. If you know Dania, you know she is infatuated with the fairytale ideals that Disney portrays in all of their movies, so it was a no-brainer that we would throw her a magical Disney princess themed baby shower for the arrival of her beautiful baby girl.
My mom and I wanted to go all in with the theme, so we meticulously-crafted out ideas for food, decorations, set-up and a location that would capture the aesthetic of our vision. We decorated the entrance of the Ascot Clubhouse with cardboard boxes wrapped in baby girl-inspired wrapping paper, with princess letters that spelt out ‘baby girl’. A gold frame was spray-painted to hold the iconic ‘Be Our Guest’ phrase with a large red rose that channeled one of her favorite Disney movies, Beauty and The Beast.
With the help of Pinterest, Etsy, local vendors and our creative imaginations, we were able to achieve a party that’s one for the storybooks.
Vibrant vined florals in shades of pink cascaded the ends and corners of Dania’s romantic throne. With Dania being a floral connoisseur, we knew that decorating the landscape of this DIY set-up was naturally our favorite option. We used scintillating sheer fabrics in pink and blue as an overlay for a gleaming finish, and hung groups of pink carnations on the backscape for a feminine touch. A chair sat in the center so that all eyes would be on the mama-to-be, with Disney princess balloons accented on each side to bring the whole look together. This created a magical aura that was ever-lasting all throughout the party.
Silk tablecloths in vibrant Disney-inspired hues covered the round tables of our set-up. We custom ordered intricately-designed princess centerpieces to accent each one, and beautiful bows were tied on the chairs to boot. Small arrays of flowers were placed in vases to bring freshness to each table so that we could capture a truly romantic and charming layout. Searching high and low, we finally found life-sized Disney princess cardboard cutouts online and filled them all around the room and in front of the food table to channel an enchanting scene.
The food was the most creative and fun part in the process of planning this majestic baby shower. We tied in several iconic phrases and Disney references from Dania’s favorite movies when making our savory and sweet bites. We found Disney designed table cards to go in front of each portion of food and labeled them with witty titles that tied in perfectly with our theme. Seashell salad, tuna sandwiches and a salmon cake were all geared toward a Little Mermaid theme, while a spinach artichoke bread bowl carriage was created for Cinderella.
We got extremely excited when it came to planning the sweet treats we presented for guests to nibble on. We did our very own baking in the kitchen by creating Ariel’s Pearls with vanilla wafers, green icing and candy pearls, easy-to-make pretzel rods dipped in white chocolate with sprinkles inspired by favorite Disney movies, and even recreated the ever-so famous ‘grey stuff’ from Belle’s iconic kitchen scene. A ton of cool whip, grey food coloring and pearls created this super delicious dip!
Disney dress silhouettes cut out as cookies brought a unique touch to our dessert table and were easily found on Etsy. One of our favorite bakeries located in Rock Hill, South Carolina called Hey Sugar Shop provided us with the most delicious cake pops in a multitude of flavors like oreo, red velvet cake and lemon and were perfectly tied in colorful foil for a festive touch. Red candy apples were offered as an ode to Snow White’s ‘bad apples’, along with ring pops that showcased ‘Jasmine’s Jewels’. A beautifully layered cake took center stage as the final accent.
One of the best parts of the party was the outdoor landscape of the Ascot Clubhouse. There is quite a large patio filled with chairs for guests to sit on and enjoy the nice breeze, so we decided to take advantage of this massive space and continue flowing themed-decor. We created a “Magic Carpet Corner” that resembled Agrabah’s ‘Cave of Wonders’. I found a tasseled magic carpet on Magic Princess Whitney’s Etsy shop that fit in just right with the aesthetic and laid a gorgeous rhinestone-encrusted hookah for an Arabian feel. Gold Mardi Gras necklaces and jewels were filled in a vintage briefcase to achieve the entire set-up of an Aladdin-inspired theme.
With our love for balloons, we decided to create a balloon arch infused in pastel-popping hues to create a place for taking photographs. With the photogenic tones twisted together, picture opportunities were perfect and it was a huge hit with our guests!
