A gorgeous teddy bears' picnic baby shower

On a perfect autumn day, friends and family gathered to celebrate baby Sneddon with a teddy bears' picnic. Emily Sneddon shares it with us. 

Where was the location and what was the theme?

We had our baby shower in early autumn last year at our home in rural Upper Hutt, Wellington. Our theme was a teddy bears’ picnic. I remember this being one of my favourite birthday themes when I was a child. It was also relatively easy to style as there were lots of adorable elements that tied in perfectly such as checked table linen, and teddy bears hanging from the balloon garlands. I also had my own treasured childhood teddy and a giant bear we bought for our baby boy's nursery on display.  I wanted the vibe to be dreamy and relaxed with sage and neutral pastel tones, with a touch of teddy bear browns and golds. I also added personal touches to the high tea table with name cards for each guest.

Tell us about the party...

We got really lucky with the autumn weather and had a perfectly sunny day. I had my close friends and the women of my family around for high tea, games and celebrations in the morning. It was important for me that everyone be included in the celebration including my fiancé, so the shower turned into a BBQ later on in the day with everyone, including neighbours, coming over to send us good wishes and enjoy the day with us. I had friends help with the games and setting up the drink station. I’m a graphic designer and a passionate cook so I had lots of fun creating the signage for the shower and the high tea goodies.

Were there any special moments that stood out?

The games went really well and made everyone laugh. We did some classics like the string around the belly (which was deceptively hard to guess, my pregnant belly was a huge basketball) and some other games which I found on Etsy and organised. I ended up having two cakes on the day as my mother in law made one for me as a surprise, so there was plenty to go around. One of the things I loved most was how it turned into a big communal party in the afternoon.

Tips for planning a baby shower?

Don’t leave planning too late! When you're pregnant there’s so many long to-do lists and things that need your mental attention leading up to the birth so organising early is key. Also the day can be exhausting, so make sure you don’t have the shower too far into your pregnancy, so you can really relax and enjoy it.

I enlisted the help of Krista from the incredible Bloom Shine Events here in Wellington – Krista was so helpful in working alongside me to visually create the look that I was after. She set the scene with balloon garlands, tablescapes, and sourced the high tea items needed. Once the baby shower was over she came back the next morning and packed everything down. The day was a huge success thanks to her! If hiring an event planner or stylist isn’t within your budget, asking friends and family ahead of time to help out with things they’re good at makes a huge difference!

Photography: Jenny Pochtarenko

Queen Anne and Colclough teacup sets, $25 each, antiquealley.co.nz; Freedom Furniture, Rita Candle Sticks, $16.95 each, freedomfurniture.co.nz; Kmart Artificial Ivy Garland, $6.50, kmart.co.nz; Culinary Co Stelton Matte 16 Piece Cutlery Set in matte gold, $42, spotlightstores.com; Jellycat Rufus Bear, $74.50, littlewhimsy.co.nz; Instax Square SQ1 camera in glacier blue, $186, harveynorman.co.nz; Seedheritage Linen Twist Front Tiered Midi Dress, $219.90, seedheritage.com/nz; Cintesi Transparent Igloo Chair, $349, cintesi.co.nz; Iko Iko Coloured candles, $3.50 each, ikoiko.co.nz; The Sweet Boutique Teddy Bear Cake, $75, thesweetboutique.co.nz.