Oh The Places You’ll Go: Baby Shower

If you followed along with my Instagram stories a few weeks back you’ll know that I threw a baby shower for one of my best friends in Calgary! As you know I’ve thrown MANY baby showers all of which were either located in Kelowna or Vancouver as I have my go-to connections in these areas having lived in both cities for so long. However, when it came to throwing a shower in Calgary, I was a little intimidated because unlike Kelowna and Vancouver I only had a limited number of contacts in Calgary. To be honest I had no idea where to even start and (thankfully!) that’s when Saaraa from Blush & Co Events reached out to me and offered to lend me a hand in this planning of the baby shower!

I was ECSTATIC when Saaraa reached out because she is a wealth of knowledge (and so creative!) and has a plethora of contacts in the Calgary area … needless to say, Saaraa saved my butt as I was already so overwhelmed with the planning of our cookbook travel and finalizing all of the little details of The Jilly Box so as you can imagine, Saaraa was SUCH a lifesaver and a pleasure to work with! On that note, if you have a wedding or an event coming up, I would HIGHLY recommend reaching out to Saaraa if you’re in the need of an event planner, she is magic!

When it comes down to planning events like these I feel so blessed to be able to work with so many amazing companies and share their brands and work with all of YOU! While at first I was nervous to host an event in Calgary I can honestly say that it was such an incredible experience meeting a whole new group of companies who exceeded my expectations and treated this baby shower like it was one of THEIR friend’s baby showers. I am BEYOND grateful for all of their hard work and expertise! So, on that note, I’m going to share all of the details and beautiful photos with you below!

Speaking of beautiful photos, Robin from Flytographer attended the baby shower and snapped all of the stunning images you see throughout this post. If you didn’t already know, Flytographer is now officially offering Event Photography worldwide, for events just like this one! You can find out more about their event photography, here! Flytographer has also generously provided me with a code that YOU can use which gives you $50 off with the discount code JILLIANHARRIS2019 this is valid for both event or vacation photography!

The theme of the baby shower was a mix of “Oh The Places You’ll Go” and “Let the Adventure Begin”. The reason why I chose this combo for the shower is that the couple had met while travelling and are both avid travellers so I can only expect that they’re little bundle of joy will be quite the adventurer! I’m sure many of you will look at these photos and think to yourselves … this isn’t the type of colour scheme or decor Jillian normally goes with … and you’re RIGHT!! This is one of the main reasons why this event was so much fun to piece together!

My best friend and her man sort of have a hipster vibe, they love pubs, beer, and moodier settings so we made sure to reflect that aesthetic in the decor AND the location. The location certainly was one of the most difficult things to lock down as the shower took place near the end of September on a Saturday so either venues were booked solid or they cost an arm and a leg. So, I took a chance and reached out to Lance Hurtubise who just so happens to be the President of the Vintage Group in Calgary and is also one of Justin’s parent’s good friends! I reached out to Lance and asked if he knew of an available space that was big enough to host our event and he let me know that the Township Bar & Grill was fully available that day and offered for us to host it there … needless to say, I JUMPED on this opportunity!

The location was EVERYTHING I was hoping for and was the perfect combo for all of our tastes, it was a gorgeous pub with brick walls and so much character! That’s about when all of the little details started beautifully unfolding.

All of the gorgeous vintage decor, furniture, and glassware you see in these photos, such as the blue sofa, the suitcases, the bar cart, parlour chair, etc. was provided by Orange Trunk! Check out ALL of their inventory, here, I am absolutely in LOVE with it all! The pipe and drapes were provided by Great Events Rentals!

The beautiful florals were provided by Amborella Studio (I’ve actually worked with them in the past and they are amazing!). One of my favourite things they created in this space were little clouds replicated by baby’s breath which they suspended from the ceiling between each light fixture … it was so unique and something I’ve never seen before!

Also – the AMAZING hand lettered signs including the beautiful piece in the photo below were created by Mountain Grove Studio and the laser cut signature was created by Custom Laser Works!

The mama and father to be LOVE live music so we hired a live band, Cabot’s Crossing, to liven up the party and make us want to kick off our shoes and hit the dancing floor with their Irish tunes! We also had the most delicious plant-based platters provided by Flora Fromage! They supplied two large abundance boards loaded with vegan cheese, vegan pate, assorted veg, fruit, hummus, pickled onions, candied nuts, crackers, locally sourced fresh baked bread, salted date caramels, berry compote, and dark chocolate caramel bark!!

The sweet cakes and cupcakes where provided by Black and White Bakeshop and the cookies were from Sugar Shimmer … can you believe how gorgeous all of these sweets are and how perfectly they match our theme?!

What would a party like this be without a little boozy goodness (well, for everyone BUT the baby mama! LOL!)?! La Marca generously provided their delicious prosecco, which I may or may not have indulged in this once all of the hard work was done! LOL! Mill Street Organic provided the beer that the baby daddy was OVER THE MOON for and Drink Vvines supplied delish wine for everyone!! We even had candle favours from M. Stahl Creations for everyone to go home with!

All in all, it was an absolutely incredible day and EVERYTHING went off without a hitch. I cannot thank everyone mentioned in this blog enough as you all truly made it such a special day for everyone who attended. THANK YOU!!

Also, if you watched my stories during that weekend you’ll know that I stayed at The Fairmont Palliser and I honestly can’t thank them enough for their hospitality. I had the most amazing stay which allowed me to catch up with my childhood friends (this visit was LONG overdue!) and we got to stay in their beautiful suite and were treated to dinner at Hawthorn which was so special.

One last and VERY important thing to mention here is the very first night we were all in Calgary we all went out for dinner and drinks at Waalflower and it was INSANELY good and the neighbourhood, Bridgeland, was so cozy and welcoming!! If you’re in Calgary or have an upcoming trip to Calgary in your near future, make sure you stop here! They have the most incredible cocktails and service and they have SO MANY veggie options! I cannot stress enough how spectacular this restaurant is!! In fact, I’m counting down the days until our next trip to Calgary because this will be my first stop!