I am not an expert but I think I am getting the hang of this baby shower thing. Just about a year ago Julia Roitfeld threw hers at the The Maritime Hotel – there was a male stripper dressed like a baby – and last Sunday Julia and I hosted Anya Ziourova’s at A Voce Columbus – sadly no stripper, though I offered to do the honors. It’s really quite simple and fun to organize a shower. All you need is this check list:
1. Make a guest list: Anya gave us the names and e-mail addresses of 70 people she wanted to invite.
2. Design a paperless post (Julia’s job). Paperless post is great to keep track of rsvps and you can reuse the e-mail addresses for future parties. I sent out all the invites and kept updating the head count.
3. Create a registry: Julia helped Anya put together a list of items (at giggle.com) she would need right after the birth.
4. Find a location. Anya’s friend Nadya gladly offered the event room at her restaurant A Voce for the afternoon.
5. Order a baby cake. Julia ordered a pink tiered cake from EmpireCake.com.
6. Order flowers. I got ours from Whole Foods Market on Columbus Circle.
7. Order balloons. You can get them in every shape, size and color from any party supply store and they will deliver.
8. Tell your guests the dress code is pink. (Or blue if it’s a boy, or any other theme you want). It gives the people something extra to look forward to. It’s quite a challenge actually. You’d be surprised how very few people own pink clothes… (Unlike me of course. I saved Anya a trip to Barney’s by dressing her in one of my 70s vintage dresses.)
9. Invent some games to play. This was tricky because you don’t want it to be cheesy. We played ‘pass the parcel’. I wrapped my present (leopard print booties) in about 15 layers of tissue paper and each layer contained a multiple choice question for Anya to answer or a mission to fulfill. You pass the parcel around the room to a song and when the music stops the person holding the present has to take off one layer and read whatever’s on the next post-it.
10. And have someone take pictures. As the guest of honor and/or host you don’t want to be running around with a camera all afternoon (except if you have a blog ha!). We had Vogue and Tatler there.
So if all else fails, I have a career as a baby shower planner to look forward to…. And I bet you I would make a LOT of money….
Oh and HAPPY EASTER!! Pink is the new yellow, remember?
