AFTERNOON TEA, BABIES AND LOTS OF LOVE

Last Sunday I had the honour of hosting a baby shower for my older sister. Expecting her first child in just over a month, I can't even explain how excited I am to be an Auntie. It's been a long, hard struggle for herself and her husband, but in the end a little miracle occurred and this summer, our family will have a brand new addition. 

With that said, I wanted to give my sister a really nice send off into motherhood if you like. She is literally one of the most kind hearted people you will meet - if, and when, you need her, she's there without a doubt. So last Sunday myself, and 14 of her closest friends and family met for afternoon tea at Browns Restaurant in Leeds. But before then, it started with an invite...

If you're looking for any kind of invitations, I couldn't recommend Minted.com enough. I've worked with them previously on a blog post and remembered their baby shower section, so when I started to look for invites I came across these gorgeous postcards. How gorgeous are they? Most of them arrived in tact but Yorkshire postmen don't understand the meaning of posting something through an actual letterbox. My poor sister found hers down the drive!

Anyway, after looking on Pinterest for inspiration, I decided to go with a green, lemon and white theme - they've decided to wait for the birth to find out the sex of the baby, but I really like this colour scheme regardless. Pink or blue is just a bit obvious.

I picked up these cute bags which I filled with sweets as favours, as well as champagne glass decorations from a shop literally called UK Baby Shower Co and used my trusty Ikea candle holders to pop faux flowers in the centre and Gypsy Folien down the middle of the table. Spot my silver candles as well?

The food was delicious, with miniature scones, lobster sandwiches, creme brulee, mini lemon cheesecakes, salted caramel profiteroles topped off with Prosecco. What a way to send me off my Slimming World game. The bags' full of sweets I prepared for everyone didn't really help either...how can you say no to Haribo? 

My sis got some beautiful presents, including a day at Rudding Park spa in Harrogate from me, Mum and Dad, so she can have a little respite after the baby arrives to just relax and breathe for a second. My baby niece or nephew also got a little Giraffe I aptly named Geoffrey. Geoffrey's a cool dude.

I love this last picture I managed to get, just because my sister and mum look so happy. Plus, they don't know I'm taking it and nothing beats a natural photograph in my book. So there you have it, my first, and highly doubtful, my last baby shower. What do you think to my efforts?