Trunks Up Baby Shower: The decor

Friday, I touched on the Trunks Up baby shower in the Easy Guest Book post. Today and tomorrow we'll talk about the decor, food and games.

Background: the event planner in her circle of friends, Taya, was expecting her second baby boy and really wanted a shower to remember. She's hosted countless events for others and asked me to assist, wherever necessary, to hit this event out of the park. Matter of fact, her exact words were:

"I want people to walk in and ask who hired Martha Stewart!" - Taya

Apparently, I had my marching orders and got to work brainstorming... Taya(have I mentioned she's a budding event planner?) chose the color palette- turquoise, orange, gray and white. She chose the venue - a poolside golf club. She sent a 15-page document with the details of the event AND she SUCCESSFULLY worked my ::very last itty bitty little:: nerve I had left, lol. See, I have to use my excitement to fuel my labors of love. In this case, it was the week of and I hadn't done anything for the shower; I had no desire to either. What's crazy is that I wasn't alone, lol. I could not move forward until I found a way to COMPLETELY disregard Taya's managerial oversight. Have you ever been in this situation? Ya know, hosting an event for someone who made you feel pressured with their expectations? Were you more worried with counting pennies than counting blessings during the planning process? How do you dismiss this kind of personality to move forward? Here's what I did:

Step 1: call that person and threaten NOT to even show up to her shower. Perspective is key

Step 2: remind them of YOUR busy schedule. There are bigger things going on for everyone than the napkin fold

Step 3: ask them if they want to host their own shower. If not, they should trust the people who are willing to do something for them

I know... Seems kinda mean to say to cute pregnant people BUT sometimes a reality check is necessary. Showers are supposed to be happy moments for those the event honors AND those who dedicate their time and money to celebrate...

Anyhoo, I promised myself, because I had 2 weddings the 2 weekends prior, that I would NOT go TOO crazy. I kept the decor pretty simple ::fabulous:: but simple. 2.5 pounds of peanuts (purchased from my local grocery store), several sheets of scrapbook paper and tissue paper really brought everything together. Without further delay(sorry for that rant), I present the Trunks Up shower:

The Bubble guest book:

Focal Table:

A vase(purchased from Dollar Tree) with rock candy and peanuts as a filler was really cute:

I made 2 tall arrangements with tissue paper and peanuts as filler and a pom topper:

The tall arrangements were on the focal table with the sweets. I placed the cupcake stands on chip bowls to give them more height:

I made quick toppers for the cupcakes:

The cake(and pretty apothecary jar):

This cake was designed to match the invite and was SERIOUSLY one of the best I've ever tasted!

The banner above the table:

Photo Props included a sign for baby Tyler and elephant noses:

Other decor:

We filled the space with elephant figurines, framed facts, flower arrangements and of course our paper dots.

I added the elephant silhouette and dots to the fireplace. We placed the gifts below (with a "fill the trunk" sign) and the guests of honor sat in front.