A Sip & See is a new take on a traditional baby shower that is typically to celebrate the arrival of a mom’s second, third, fourth (you get the picture) child in the family. The idea is to give family and friends an opportunity to see the new baby while toasting his or her arrival in celebration. When I first heard of the “Sip & See” idea I knew I wanted to host one to celebrate Kate’s arrival.
Of course, I added a bit of a different twist to keep things fresh and to suit my family & friends the best way possible. Last summer I attended a brunch themed retirement party for a dear friend that was hosted from 10am to 12pm – the party was not only classy with us toasting coffee, tea and water to our friend but it was a great way to host an event on the weekend and not take up someone’s whole weekend. I’ve also always loved the idea of a morning wedding like they used to do years ago where the ride and groom say their “I do’s” by mid-morning and the celebrations to follow typically included some type of brunch. By now you can likely also guess that my favourite meal of the day is breakfast…haha.
With the time of the day and a theme of “brunch & pretty” in my mind I set out to plan the simplest, worry-free event possible.
I have planned many events in the past so started with the most typical “to do list” and went from there:
– Theme
– Choose a Date
– Guest List / Invitations
– Location suitable to accommodate the guest list
– Decoration
– Food & Beverage (beverages being especially important for a Sip & See!)
Then I did what anyone planning an event should do, but often forget to do… I called in the experts!
*Side Note: Many of us, myself included, often think it is way cheaper to do everything ourselves and complex DIY a party… well, after doing this many times and learning the hard way many times I am here to tell you that it’s not. Before you judge me and assume I spent a fortune on this party take a few minutes to think what you spent on the last pinterest perfect birthday party, wedding shower, baby shower, bachelorette, etc. you hosted and did everything yourself…. when you add it all up it wasn’t cheap was it?! The different here is you will have 1 or 2 bigger bills to pay rather than a whole bunch of small ones so it certainly feels different, but it’s actually very close to the same if not even less without all of the headache and work associated with it.
As I was saying, I called in the experts! I knew I would have a group of about 30 people and so even though my living room seemed like a good idea I quickly realized it was not going to be a great space to host a group of this size. One of my favourite event spaces in Bathurst, NB is Gowan Brae Golf & Country Club – they have two spaces for events that both have all kinds of windows making the rooms feel bright and airy even on winter days. They also offer great catering services with excellent pricing, a friendly staff and the ability to completely customize the menu based on your requests. When I met with the staff at Gowan Brae and told them my ideas for food and beverages I wanted to serve at my house (fruit tray, cheese and cracker tray, yogurt parfait bar and pastries with coffee, tea and water) they were able to provide that exact menu for me. This made the decision pretty easy… they do everything… meaning I wouldn’t have to clean my house ahead of time, no grocery shopping, no food prep, no plastic utensils or paper plates to buy, no dishes and no clean up afterwards – sign me up!
Once I secured the date and location with Gowan Brae I then contacted my most trusted person in northern New Brunswick when it coms to making an event look and feel exactly how I want it to – I called Linn MacDonald (no relation to me) who I have worked with on countless events from business cocktail receptions, banquets (of all sizes an a wide variety of themes), wedding receptions and more. She has always listened to what I am thinking for an event and has been able to deliver something that exceeds my expectations and not only matches what I was thinking but surpasses it in the best way possible.
When we discussed the decoration for Kate’s Sip & See all I said was “I like pink and would like to have something that feels pretty”. I think we can all agree she nailed it!
It was then time to invite the guests! I took the simplest approach I could think of (as well as the most cost effective) and designed a pretty digital invitation that I could send by email and also use as a cover photo on a Facebook event.
Of course there were a few people who do not have email addresses or Facebook so I asked my mom and mother-in-law to help me out by making phone calls to ensure everyone had an invitation and the details for the Sip & See.
When it came to the food there are a few special touches that I had planned when the event was still going to be in my home. Morning Mama tea from Bueteatiful, a New Brunswick tea company based in Sackville and Pastries from R & J Boulangerie, a French Bakery based in Bathurst. Having some local content added to the event felt like the perfect way to try a few new things while also supporting local small businesses. Plus, when you think of “pretty” and you think of pastries they simply have to be French (in my opinion).
Gowan Brae, R & J Boulangerie and Linn’s decorative touch worked as a great team and did a fantastic job making my vision for the brunch themed Sip & See really come to life.
Last, but certainly not least, I wanted to make party favours that would include a picture of Kate for the guests to bring home. I absolutely love her newborn photos so thought sharing them by having a photo book at the Sip & See for people to look through and having a wallet size photo on a favour for them to keep would be a nice little touch.
I was really impressed with how the favours came out, especially since they were not expensive but have a high end look to them (in my opinion) – the paper bags are from Dollarama with pink ribbon i bought for $0.50 and wallet size pictures I had printed. The bags were filled with pink treats I bought right after Valentine’s Day (a great way to get pink treats on sale!) and I had planned to write notes that said “So sweet of you to join us”, but did not realize how long it would take me to make all of these, so the notes didn’t happen. A good idea for someone else who might be making favours for a party one day 🙂
Photo by Jenna – Kate with her Nanny & Grammy |
We had a great morning celebrating the arrival of baby Kate with family and friends. Hosting a Sip & See was a lot of fun and something I highly recommend.
If you like this idea and found this post helpful please be sure to share this post on Pinterest, Facebook and with your friends, it would mean so much to me 🙂
xo Jenna
Kate’s Sip & See was sponsored in part
by the vendors that played a part in the event:
Linn MacDonald – Decoration provided In-Kind
Gowan Brae Golf & Country Club – Preferable rental fee provided while I paid in full for the food and beverage service provided
R & J Boulangerie – Pastries provided In-Kind
Bueteaful – Tea provided In-Kind
A special thank you to Sonya Rose Photography for the photos as seen in this post.
As always, all opinion are my own.
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