You’ve seen the spring woodlands baby animals inspiration board, and now it’s time for the real thing! We ordered this invitation from Minted in “tree moss.” First, a little background: this was Nancy’s one big shower, and the guest list drew from all walks of her life — family, church family, childhood friends, high school friends, more recent friends, team members, and more. We sent invitations to around 60 ladies, and only received a handful of “no” RSVPs. To ease the strain on my house and on street parking, her sister Mary Lindsey and I opted to make the shower an open house, and encouraged guests to drop by between 10am and 1pm. This worked out very well! Guests trickled in for the first hour, mingled for the second, and we opened gifts in the third (we were playing the gift opening by ear, but it worked out great). Some guests stayed for the whole time, and some stayed for a shorter period. You may recall our Christmas deer. Bucky did an excellent job greeting at the front door outfitted with a custom sign. As guests arrived, we encouraged them to pin on a pink or blue clothespin based on whether they thought Baby Ray would be a girl or a boy. I proudly wore one of the few pink ones, and was delighted a few months later when my guess was confirmed! Our only other “game” was a prediction sheet, which we encouraged everyone to fill out before they left. For decor, I picked up a few bags of moss at World Market and used that to fill in terrariums and cake stands. Callie was my terrarium queen – her loaners made all the difference! I also purchased spring flowers in white, green, and lilac from Whole Foods and

To know Nancy Ray is to love her. She is one of the most faithful, encouraging, insightful, and delightful people I have ever known, and her friendship has meant so much to me over the last few years (as I know it has to so many others!). When the opportunity arose to co-host a baby shower for her this spring, I jumped at the chance! I considered it a small opportunity to repay her the love she’s showed me over the years… and, let’s be honest, to throw a party where I could actually put my larger-than-normal collection of cake stands to use!* Nancy had requested a “spring and woodland and baby animals” theme, which was perfect for our March party and her May due date. Since there were many hands helping, I put together an inspiration board to keep everyone on the same page. Our palette was mint, shades of green, creamy white, and tan. Clockwise from top left: nursery photo by Brooke Palmer from SMP Living, fairy lights terrarium photo by Dulcet Creative via 100 Layer Cake, cheese platter from Martha Stewart, Minted fabric, fern backdrop by Dulcet Creative via 100LC, terrarium decor from Martha Stewart, leafy greens photo by Liz Banfield via Southern Weddings, spring tablescape from Creatively Yours Check back in tomorrow to see photos from Nancy’s shower! *Most of the other showers and parties I’ve hosted have been a plane ride away, making prop transportation problematic :)