A Shower For Sweet Baby Pete

From the moment I found out my sister was pregnant I have been overjoyed! Not only were we pregnant together, but I was FINALLY going to be an aunt for the first time! So from that moment on I knew that I wanted to plan her very first baby shower. Eeek! Many people know that I LOVE planning parties and it just comes naturally to me. So when Krista told me she wanted it to be a Jack & Jill party with all of their close family and friends, casual, and fun for all I knew a Baby Q (BBQ) theme was the way to go.



My mother and I decided on this amazing venue, Rode's Barn, in Swedesboro, NJ. Krista always wanted a wedding in a barn and since that didn't happen we thought that having her shower in one would be perfect!

I chose these awesome invitations from Tiny Prints. I didn't want them to be girly or babyish, because we also wanted to attract the men. All they needed to see was "Beer" on the invite and it was a no brainer.

As I started planning I thought of this cute "Sweet Baby Pete" theme. (There last name is Peterson)

Instead of cake, I chose to do a sweet table. I asked my good friend who bakes to make mini apple and blueberry pies, mini jars of banana pudding, mini jars of peach cobbler, and mini cupcakes. They were a hit and oh so delish!

 This is the stage where the mommy and daddy to be sat to open their gifts. As they opened them, the guests played Baby Gift Bingo!

As guests walked in they were greeted by this table. There was a journal for each guest to write well wishes and advice  to the parents to be. There was also a camera, note cards, and a photo album. Here, the guests had to take a picture of themselves and write a special note for Sweet Baby Pete. The picture and note card would then go into the album.

 For the food Krista's mother in law made some yummy macaroni and cheese, chicken wings, potato salad, and cole slaw. We also had the venue's catering company make us pulled bbq chicken sliders, and we had a local restaurant Ms. Dawns make turkey burger and beef burger sliders and corn on the cob. We got a huge stash of Stewarts Root Beer from Cracker Barrel, an assortment of beer and sodas. We filled up the pitchers with lemonade and sweet tea too.

 One of the games that were played was a race between Krista and T to see who is better at changing a diaper and swaddling a baby. It was hysterical!

For the favors we chose to make BBQ sauce jars for the guests. We chose a sweet pineapple sauce and a sweet hickory sauce. We found these jars in Target's dollar section,
added the sauce, twined the jars, and created the labels that read "Sweet Baby Pete's Baby Q Sauce".
For the little ones, we filled the jars with chex mix, twined them, and added the labels that read "Happy Trails". (We chose chex mix instead of trail mix, to avoid any peanut allergies)

For the kids table we purchased fun toys from Cracker Barrel, chalk boards, and a farm stamp set from Johnson's Farm.

Each table was covered in ivory linen and a burlap runner. I added metal buckets and lined them with handkerchiefs. In each bucket I put shelled peanuts and popcorn. Surrounding the buckets were assorted twined jars and vases filled with yellow and white daisies.



This shower was such a joy to plan. I am so happy that the new mommy and daddy to be loved it and everyone enjoyed themselves. They are one amazing couple and I know that my niece is going to be filled with so much love every second of every day. We can't wait to add another blessing to our growing family!