how to put together a baby shower in two hours

I mentioned that our trip to Denver was an absolute whirlwind; our schedule was pretty jam packed. In fact, when we first chatted with my sister-in-law about adding a baby shower to the calendar of events, she mentioned that maybe we should just let this one go. But every baby deserves a celebration, and so we plowed ahead with the baby shower plans (probably more accurately baby *sprinkle* plans).

The result was our first ever Two Hour Shower. Meaning, of course, that we pulled this whole baby shower off with about 2 hours of work and errands. Game changer, friends. Absolute game changer.

There is definitely tweaking to be done, and I’m not sure I could’ve done this in Saipan (access to Target and Whole Foods were central to pulling this off), but I can say with certainty that this will not be our last “Two Hour Shower.”

Essential components of the Easiest-Ever Baby Shower-

Food- Since we stuck with dessert (perhaps the easiest menu of all!), it was so simple to acquire the entire menu with a trip to Whole Foods and a drive through Starbucks. We grabbed ice cream and toppings (Tricia’s fav this pregnancy), strawberry wafers, yellow cake with chocolate frosting, a couple packages of two bite coconut macaroons, and half a dozen birthday cake pops. Easiest baby shower menu ever.

Drinks- Again, our aim was simplicity (and prettiness). We picked up grapefruit Izzes and Wild Poppy blood orange chili bottled juices, and whipped up some rosemary grapefruit water. Paired with some extra pretty gold rimmed glasses from our mama’s collection and pink straws, our bar cart was a fully equipped drink station.

Decor- We used a few pieces of pretty gift wrap as the back drop (these are from PaperSource), hung a tassel garland above the dessert table (we made it awhile ago, but you can order one too- I saw some at Paper Crush and at Flair Exchange, and there are a ton on etsy), added a “Yay!” chalkboard to the treat table, hung the Oh Baby poster and some cute signs (did you know that Staples can have printables ready same day?), and added a couple of bouquets of flowers that we bought at the grocery store to the mix.

Favors- Dark chocolate bars, wrapped in pretty paper with an “Oh Baby” polka dot label. Done. Guys, why didn’t I figure this out sooner? Easiest, yummiest favors ever. And especially apropos for our dark-chocolate-loving guest of honor!

Other Not-So-Essentials- My vintage cooler from World Market made serving ice cream easier (and prettier). And I could sing bar cart praises all day long- they’re just so versatile! Using the bar cart for drinks and favors was not only functional, it also added to the decor. Also, having a few white cake stands and a couple of neutral tabletop easels on hand made this whole set up come together more easily.

All in all, even with the pared down, well, everything, this shower turned out to be so much fun- and such a great celebration of our sister-in-law and their new addition!

There are more Two Hour Baby Showers in my future, I am 100% sure of it (even though they’ll be more like 4 Hour Showers in Saipan). If you are lucky enough to have a Target, a Starbucks and a Whole Foods nearby (bonus points for World Market and Trader Joes), you could do variations of this 2 Hour Shower forever. Happy baby Trish!