5 Reasons You Need This Item On Your Wedding Registry

iRobot Roomba Virtual Wall

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My husband and I absolutely LOVED registering for our wedding. Some of our friends had told us about funny and stressful experiences that they had while registering, but we had the best time! We decided to start at Bed Bath & Beyond and then go from there. We had such a great time that we not only registered at Bed Bath & Beyond, but we also decided to register at Dillards and Target! My husband is pretty easy going and we had already discussed certain things that both of us really wanted to register for before we left for the day. However, there was one item that my husband was insistent we have on our wedding registry, an iRobot Roomba!

For those who are not familiar, a Roomba is made by iRobot and is a programmable robotic vacuum cleaner. Basically, one of the best inventions ever made! I too wanted a Roomba, but these are on the pricier side, so I wasn’t getting my hopes up that we would receive this from one of our guests. Thankfully for us, we had some of the most generous friends and family in the world and we did receive our iRobot Roomba as a wedding gift. Jeremy (the hunky husband) was like a little kid at Christmas! He could hardly wait to see it in action and I must admit, I was really excited as well. Watch below to see it in action for yourself!

After owning a Roomba for over a year, I can promise you this is a product you want to have in your home! It saves so much time and it is one less chore you have to determine who gets to complete each week after you get married! Here are my top 5 reasons you should include a Roomba on your wedding registry!

It vacuums for you. 

iRobot Roomba Vacuum Cleaner

Do I need to say more? How many hours have you spent pushing and pulling a heavy vacuum cleaner? I always hated having to maneuver it around big pieces of furniture and then wanting to cry when I chipped the paint off the side of my coffee table because I rammed the vacuum cleaner into it! I also like to run it right after I cook or bake. It is perfect for coming in after you to pick up crumbs!

You can program it to run any day at any time.

iRobot Roomba

This is such a cool feature and really comes in handy. You can program the Roomba to run at a time that is convenient for you. If you don’t want to hear it running or worry that it will get in your way, just have it run while you are at work or shopping for groceries. You will love coming home to a freshly vacuumed home!

Easily keep the Roomba away from certain items in your home. 

iRobot Roomba Virtual Wall

You can purchase iRobot’s Virtual Wall Barrier to keep the Roomba from going in certain rooms or to keep it from going near certain items you want to protect. For example, we have our Virtual Wall Barrier next to our bar cart. This is also really helpful at Christmas time when you don’t want the Roomba going near your Christmas tree or presents.

iRobot Virtual Wall

Certain models are specifically designed for long hair and pet hair.

Roomba

The Roomba’s tangle free technology is perfect for pet owners or if you are like me and have long hair! A few of our friends with pets have purchased the Roomba and they say it is a lifesaver when it comes to pet hair!

It charges itself!

Roomba Vacuum Cleaner Wedding Registry

Its navigation system will take it back to the docking station when it is done vacuuming and will automatically start charging. I really love this feature because I don’t have to do anything. I can schedule it to run, let it do its thing, and know that it will go back to the charger and be ready for our next cleaning appointment.

With multiple models and price points to choose from, you can easily find the Roomba that is right for you! If you are looking for the basics, The iRobot Roomba 614 might be the best choice for you. This is lower in price and doesn’t have all the bells and whistles, but it definitely gets the job done! Or, let’s say you want the works! The iRobot Roomba 980 might be more up your alley. While it is higher in price, it comes with all the bells and whistles and then some. If neither option appeals to you, there are plenty in the middle to choose from. We decided to add the iRobot Roomba 860 to our wedding registry. This particular model had the tangle free technology that prevents hair and debris clogs, it is programmable for seven days a week, and we really liked the 3-stage cleaning system on this one. Whichever iRobot Roomba you choose, it will save you time, frustration, and will always leave you with beautifully vacuumed floors! 

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Wedding Gift Idea: A Year Of Firsts Wine Basket

Wedding Wine Basket - A Year Of Firsts

I love weddings! I seriously still cry every time I think about our wedding day. It was just so happy and even more than I dreamed and prayed it would be. My husband and I were blessed with the sweetest family and friends in the whole world. Not only did they give up their weekend to celebrate our wedding and marriage with us, but they gave us some of the most generous and thoughtful wedding gifts! I still have every single wedding card we received saved in a wedding memory box so that I can reminisce on the sweet wisdom and encouragement in each of those cards.

Wedding GIft Wine Basket

I have always loved shopping for wedding gifts for other people. I want to make sure I am giving them something that they will truly love! I usually stick to the wedding registry when selecting a wedding gift. However, one of my bridesmaids and her husband gave us something that was not on our registry and it was absolutely brilliant! They gave us a wine crate full of wine bottles and each wine bottle was labeled for a different “first” that we would celebrate together as husband and wife. It was absolutely beautiful. Aside from the fact that we were given a basket of WINE, each bottle had a different celebration for us to look forward to! First night married, first fight, first holiday, first dinner party, first anniversary, first baby, and first dental school graduation! The last one was very specific to us! We have joyfully celebrated with every bottle except two; first baby and first dental school graduation. Those will be enjoyed in our future!

Wedding Wine Basket

I loved this gift so much that I decided to make it for a baby shower I hosted. Now don’t freak out. This gift is for Mommy Milestones. Firsts for the mommy and daddy to celebrate with AFTER the baby is born. This was a big hit with the mommy and daddy-to-be!

Mommy Milestone Tropical Themed Baby Shower Gift

This past weekend, two of our sweet friends were married in Fredericksburg, Texas. For those who may not know, Fredericksburg is known for their beautiful vineyards. Our friends also happen to love wine, so I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to create another wine basket of firsts for the beautiful bride and groom! I found this lovely shop on Etsy called Lush Label and they create adorable custom wine labels with poems that match each of the firsts! I also used them for my Mommy Milestone Wine Basket I mentioned earlier. The shop owners are lovely to work with and their poems and labels are adorable!

Creating The Wine Basket

Wedding Gift Wine Basket

I have found that the easiest way to get the original wine labels off of the wine bottles is to put them in a bowl of room temperature water. I let them soak for about 30 minutes and then remove the label. I just use a wet paper towel and soap to pull any extra sticky stuff off of the bottle. Unless you are taking the label around the cork off, make sure the top of the bottle does not get wet! Dry the wine bottles and apply the new label. In my opinion, I think it is easiest to apply the side of the label first and then work your way to the other side. This will help prevent wrinkles! I chose a basket instead of a wine crate this time because I felt like it fit this country-wedding theme. This is also a basket that they can use in their home. I stuffed the bottom with plastic grocery bags so that my wine bottles would sit higher in the basket. I covered the plastic bags with this beautiful cream-colored sweater knit throw from Target.

Wedding Wine Basket - A Year Of Firsts

I draped the blanket over the edge of the basket and placed the wine bottles in the basket! This gift is perfect for any wine lover in your life and helps make many first memories so special!

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Wine Themed Bachelorette Weekend in Fredericksburg Texas

Bachelorette Weekend at Barons Creek Vineyard in Fredericksburg Texas

I may be biased, but I had the best bachelorette weekend in the history of bachelorette weekends! Over a year later and I still just swoon thinking about how amazing my bridesmaids were and still are! They planned the perfect wine themed bachelorette party and turned it into a full weekend in the beautiful Texas Hill Country!

I had a total of 9 bridesmaids. Some people are still shocked at that number, but all of these ladies are my forever friends and I could not imagine doing life without them! Some of my lovely ladies live out of state and have tiny perfect pumpkins of their own, so they were not able to attend my bachelorette weekend, but they still made sure I felt their love from far away!

Bridal Party Fort Worth Texas Wedding
My beautiful bridesmaids! Photography: The Click

I have been in my fair share of weddings and I know how expensive and time consuming they can be. Weddings are so much fun, but they are also a lot of work and money for everyone involved. I told my girls that I would be thrilled with a staycation in our lovely town of Fort Worth, Texas. I just wanted time with my girls. However, one of my bridesmaids had other plans. A few of my other girls had already volunteered to host my showers, so she said she would handle the bachelorette weekend.

She did some research and asked if I would like to go to Fredricksburg, Texas for the weekend. I told her I would love that, but I didn’t want all of my girls having to spend a fortune! She told me that she had already worked it out with the girls and as part of my wedding gift, she would pay for the house for everyone! Part of my gift?! That is like two gifts! I was so excited! A weekend getaway with your besties in beautiful Fredricksburg? Yes, please! I was so excited, I could hardly wait! Here is how my beautiful bridesmaids planned the perfect bachelorette weekend in Fredricksburg, Texas.

 Bachelorette Weekend at The Colored Door Properties in Fredericksburg Texas

The Bachelorette Weekend House

Colored Door Properties Fredericksburg Texas - The Aqua Door

Colored Door Properties The Aqua Door Fredericksburg

We started the weekend with a road trip to Fredricksburg from Fort Worth. It was so relaxing just driving through the beautiful country with your best friends. It was a great way to start the weekend. When we arrived at the house we were all blown away! We rented the Aqua Door Guest House from The Colored Door Properties in Fredricksburg, Texas

Fredericksburg Texas - Colored Door Properties

If you are not familiar with The Colored Door Properties, please get to know these lovely houses and their owners immediately! They have a total of four guest houses: The Aqua Door, The Sapphire Door, The Coral Door, and The Emerald Door. I have only stayed at the Aqua Door, but I have swooned over photos from the other houses and they are all lovely! They each sleep a large number of people making them the perfect houses for a girls’ trip! These owners have seriously thought of everything! We could not get over how perfect everything was!

The Aqua Door - The Colored Door Properties in Fredericksburg Texas
I realize this photo is blurry, but it is just too cute not to share!

Fredericksburg Texas Rental Home The Colored Door Properties

The Aqua Door is only five blocks from Main Street, the main shopping street in Fredricksburg! So clearly this is a huge plus! The bedrooms are all different themes with beautiful bedding and two of the rooms are divided by a beautiful sliding aqua barn door! The bathrooms have plenty of mirrors and counter space, so we were all able to easily get ready together. The kitchen is huge and has everything you need to cook a giant meal together.

The Colored Door Properties Rental Home in Fredericksburg Texas

Colored Door Properties - The Aqua Door

The Aqua Door Colored Door Properties Fredericksburg Texas

Bachelorette Weekend in Fredericksburg Texas - The Colored Door Properties

The Colored Door Properties Fredericksburg Texas

There is a giant chalkboard wall in the kitchen where the owners wrote a special message to us for the weekend. They also had a sound system in the kitchen to play music while you cook. We had so much fun cooking and dancing in that beautiful kitchen! The backyard is absolutely stunning! There is a fire pit with chairs, string lights, a hot tub, and a bar! They even had yard games to play. We had so much fun sitting around that campfire each night and talking late into the evening. This house was made for a bachelorette weekend!

Bachelorette Weekend in Fredericksburg Texas
This adorable swing is one of the bedrooms!

The Colored Door Properties

The Aqua Door Fredericksburg Texas Home
The backyard is stunning!

Wine Tastings and Tours

Barons Creek Vineyards - Bachellorette Weekend in Fredericksburg

My girls hired Off The Vine Wine Tours to pick us up at the Aqua Door and drive us to Barons Creek Vineyards for a private tour and tasting! Y’all. This was LOVELY! Our driver from Off The Vine Wine Tours was amazing. He came straight to our guest house and was just a call away when we were ready to leave our wine tasting. It was so nice to have a driver for the day so that all of us could just enjoy the wine tastings and not worry about driving home. 

Off The Vine Wine Tours Fredericksburg Texas

Barons Creek Vineyards is stunning! Just stunning! Their property is stunning! Did you catch that? STUNNING! There are private villas at the back of the property that you can rent and they have a beautiful space for weddings and private events. Don’t even get me started on their wine! We all left with a bottle to take home. They also have a beautiful gift shop with so many goodies! Our tour guide was absolutely lovely.

Bachelorette Weekend in Fredericksburg Texas - Barons Creek Vineyards

I would highly recommend making a reservation for your tour and tasting! They book up very quickly and you definitely don’t want to miss out on experiencing their beautiful scenery and delicious wine! 

Bachelorette Party in Fredericksburg Texas - Barons Creek Vineyards

You can enjoy their delicious selections of wine in their tasting room for $18 per person or you can schedule a private tasting and tour in one of their four rooms. These prices range from $21 to $25 per person depending on the room. Check out their website for more information on their tasting rooms and pricing. 

Barons Creek Vineyards Bachelorette Party in Fredericksburg Texas

Barons Creek Vineyards is perfect for a romantic weekend away, a girls’ weekend, or the perfect wedding venue! I highly recommend adding this to your itinerary during your next visit to Fredericksburg! Wishing you could taste their wine now? You can! Well, almost! You can order their wine online and enjoy the taste of Barons Creek Vineyards in your home! 

Barons Creek Vineyards

Shopping

Bachelorette Weekend in Fredericksburg Texas

After our morning of tours and tastings, we did a little shopping on Main Street in Fredericksburg. The shops and restaurants are all so lovely! There are so many specialty shops and antique shops going up and down Main Street. We all found something lovely to take home from our weekend away. We only made it down one side of the street before we had to go back to get ready for our dinner reservations. Don’t worry, we went back the next day to finish our weekend with a full day of shopping!

Glitter Themed Night On The Town

Glitter Themed Bachelorette Weekend in Fredericksburg Texas
Glitter themed dinner at Vaudeville!

When my girls were asking what I wanted from the weekend, I told them that I wanted a classy weekend with a glitter-themed night out. I wanted all of us to wear sequin dresses. I know this sounds silly, but I wanted to do something a little differently than the normal black and white dresses. Being the wonderful friends that they are, they did not disappoint! Everyone looked absolutely stunning! We had dinner on Main at this beutiful restaurant AND store called Vaudville.

Vaudeville Restaurant Fredericksburg Texas

Bachelorette Dinner at Vaudeville in Fredericksburg

The lower level is a delicious bistro, the second level is a showroom, and the third level is their formal restaurant. It was absolutely perfect. We had a delicious dinner and enjoyed several glasses of wine. The atmosphere was stunning and we shopped in their showroom after dinner and walked away with some lovely finds!

Wine Glass Painting

DIY Paint Your Own Wine Glasses Craft - Bachelorette Party Ideas

After our beautiful dinner, we went back to the house to paint wine glasses! My girls really stuck to this theme! It was so much fun! They even brought a giant plastic tablecloth to cover the dining room table! We listened to 90’s music, painted our wine glasses, and enjoyed some wine while talking late into the evening.

Bachelorette Weekend Fredericksburg Texas
Don’t worry! We brought a protective tablecloth for the table!

I honestly could not have asked for a better bachelorette weekend. It was peaceful, relaxing, and so much fun. We laughed until we cried, tried some delicious wine and food, and shopped all day. This was truly the perfect bachelorette weekend. So now, I must end this post with a tribute to my beautiful host! My beautiful bridesmaid and one of my very best friends made this weekend possible. She thought of absolutely everything to make this the perfect bachelorette weekend! I’m raising a glass in my virtual toast, to the classiest host. Cheers to you, Sasha! I love you! 

Colored Door Properties Fredericksburg Texas Home

Did you have the perfect bachelorette weekend? Or maybe you hosted a beautiful weekend? I would love to hear your tips and ideas. If you have a blog post, please leave me a comment below so that I can check it out!

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5 Ways to Incorporate Your Wedding Day into Your Home Décor

How To Incorporate Your Wedding Day Decor Into Your Home Decor | The Sassy Southern

This post may contain affiliate links, but all opinions are my own. Please read my disclosure policy for more information. 

You spend so much time, money, and energy planning your perfect wedding day. When the day finally arrives, it is over in a flash! Thankfully, you have your wedding, photos, video, and memories, but what do you do with all of the small decor details that you worked so hard to perfect? As I was planning my wedding, I knew that I would want to keep certain things from the day as a way to always remember the big moments as well as the smaller moments. Here are 5 ways I incorporated my wedding day into my home décor!

Unity Ceremony
Unity Ceremony Idea for a Christian Wedding - Home Decor

We had mixed emotions about doing a unity ceremony at our wedding. We knew we wanted to do something, but we couldn’t find something that fit us as a couple. We were familiar with some of the popular ideas like the unity candle, the sand ceremony, and the tree planting ceremony, but none of those screamed us! We had selected Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 as our wedding verse and wanted to make sure our pastor incorporated this into our ceremony. As I was looking for unity ceremony ideas on Etsy, I found this beautiful wooden board with three cords and our wedding verse! One cord symbolizes the groom, one cord symbolizes the bride, and the cord in the center symbolizes Christ. As a couple, you braid the three chords together during your ceremony to symbolize your commitment to making Christ the center of your marriage. We instantly fell in love with this idea! Not only was the concept absolutely perfect for our wedding and our relationship, but the board is absolutely beautiful! We were able to customize the look and it is now part of our home décor above our kitchen cabinets. It is something we see every day and is a constant reminder of our vows and the importance of keeping Christ at the center of our marriage.

Home Decor

Toasting Flutes

Wedding Decor and Home Decor

Most venues provide toasting flutes for the bride and groom on the wedding day, but I wanted to have flutes that we could use to celebrate many more firsts and celebrations in our marriage. We chose a pair of gold flutes by Lenox. They matched our wedding, but they also matched our wedding china and home décor. Not only did they look absolutely stunning in our photos and in our wedding video, but they bring me so much joy every time we use them! We just celebrated our 1-year wedding anniversary and it was so much fun toasting with the same flutes we toasted with on our wedding day. Cheers to so many more years! Have you shopped for your perfect wedding toasting flutes

Wedding Day Toasting Flutes in Home Decor

Wedding Favor

Home and Wedding Day Decor

Wedding favors are a beautiful way to thank all of your guests for celebrating with you on your perfect day. But how on earth do you select the same favor for 250 people with completely different taste? The first year of our dating relationship, I was working for an event planner. At one of the events we planned, they had the Original Butt Sketch as one of the vendors. If you aren’t familiar with this concept, the artist poses you in an oh so classy stance and sketches you in under three minutes. Why is it called a butt sketch? The artist sketches you from behind! While the name might not scream classy wedding favor, it really is such a beautiful keepsake. My boyfriend (now hunky husband) and I absolutely LOVED our first sketch and I told him that night that if we got married, we would have them at our wedding. Fast-forward six years and that is exactly what we did! Instead of a traditional wedding favor, we had The Original Butt Sketch at our wedding as wedding favors for all of our guests. This was also really special for us because we had our first sketch from when were dating framed and on an easel for our guests to see as they were having their sketches done. We now have our first sketch framed above my bedside table and our wedding sketch framed above my husband’s bedside table. This was such a beautiful way for us to bring our wedding into our home décor for many years to come!

Our Butt Sketch Artist sketching us on our wedding day!

Wedding Bouquet

Wedding Day Flowers

This is definitely not a new idea, but it is a classic one! Dry your wedding bouquet and have it displayed in a vase in your home! I know there are mixed reviews on this idea, but I personally love having my bouquet displayed in my home! Every time I look at it, I’m reminded of that beautiful day. And let’s be honest, you (or your parents) spent a pretty penny on those lovely flowers, so let’s make them last, shall we? Since we left for our honeymoon the morning after our wedding, my mom took my bouquet home and hung my flowers upside down to dry out. One of my bridesmaids did the same with her wedding bouquet, but she put her flowers in a basket above her kitchen cabinet! However you decided to display your wedding flowers, drying your wedding boquet is a great way to keep part of your perfect day with you after the wedding day.

Home and Wedding Decor

Photography

Wedding Day Photography

Well, of course, you have wedding photos in your home. That is the whole point, right? The classic shots are a beautiful reminder of your perfect day, but what about some of the other 900 photos from your day that you don’t necessarily want on the wall in your foyer, but you would love to see on a regular basis? To start, I highly recommend having a professional wedding album displaying each part of your day. We have ours displayed on our coffee table and it is a great conversation piece when you have guests over. We also had photos framed of each of us getting ready the day of the wedding. I have my husband’s photo next to my bathroom sink and he has my photo framed next to his bathroom sink. Every morning as we get ready for our day, we are reminded of the day we started our lives as husband and wife. While this is something small, it puts a smile on my face each morning.

Home Decor

Your wedding day will always be a day to remember, but it is really the beginning of your beautiful new life. How did you incorporate your wedding day into your home décor?

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5 Reasons You Should Book Your Honeymoon at a Sandals Resort

Like every girl, I not only wanted a dream wedding, but I also wanted a dream honeymoon. While some stay traditional and have the groom plan the entire honeymoon as a surprise, my groom-to-be knew me very well and decided to let me be a part of the planning; I was oh so thankful for that decision. We found a travel company at one of the bridal fairs we attended and had them help us narrow down our search. We knew we wanted somewhere tropical, not in the United States, and somewhere neither of us had been before. We finally decided to go to the Sandals Royal Bahamian in Nassau, Bahamas! I had, of course, heard of Sandals resorts before, but I wasn’t sure if they would really live up to their hype. But oh goodness gracious did they ever! Here are 5 reasons you should book your trip to the Sandals Royal Bahamian TODAY!

Everything is All-Inclusive
Yes, there are tons of all-inclusive resorts out there, but not like Sandals. They have thought of things to include that I didn’t even know I wanted until it was presented! You will never be hungry or thirsty and there are so many exciting adventures and activities that are included in your stay.

The Food and the Drinks
I’ve been to other resorts where the food is really only great in one restaurant and just so so everywhere else. At Sandals, all of the food is delicious! The Sandals Royal Bahamian has 10 restaurants and 8 bars. Two of the bars are swim-up bars in two of the pools. The drinks are all delicious and the bartenders are always willing to create new concoctions for you to try! Out of the 10 restaurants, there is only one where you have to make a reservation. There really is a cuisine for everyone and it is all just so delicious! One night, we had dinner at 5 PM and then went to a different restaurant at 9 PM for a second dinner. I’m not even embarrassed to tell you that. They also stock your room daily with sodas, water bottles, and juices. You also have a full bar with vodka, rum, tequila, and gin. It is ALL included in your all-inclusive fee! There is also daily room service that is delicious!

You feel like Kings and Queens
The second you step foot in the Sandals lounge at the airport, you immediately feel like royalty. They escort you to their private bus and drive you to the resort. Once you arrive, they immediately offer you a cold towel and a drink. They have you sit in their beautiful hotel lobby and help you check-in on an iPad. While you are checking in, they take your bags and have them delivered to your room. The staff then gives you a tour of the resort as they walk you to your room. That is just the beginning. Every staff member we encountered was FABULOUS! They wait on you constantly and will stop what they are doing to do mini photo shoots with you. The resort is absolutely spotless, but we hardly ever saw people cleaning! They are very sneaky.
The resort also doesn’t overbook. We never had a problem getting a table, finding a cabana or pool chair, or having plenty of space in the pool.

The Private Island
The Royal Bahamian has a private island that is only a 5-minute boat ride from the resort. You can take a boat every hour starting at 9 AM with the last boat coming back at 6 PM. They had a restaurant, pool and swim-up bar on the island. They also had a spa on the island! You can check out snorkeling equipment at the resort and take it to the island to snorkel. It was so secluded and romantic. It felt like an absolute dream! There were hammocks in the water, comfy beds and cabanas on the beach, and private cabanas overlooking the ocean. We were just walking the island and stumbled upon this cabana. We camped out here for about 3 hours. It was absolute paradise.

The Activities and Excursions
When you arrive, you are advised to meet with the concierge to schedule your tours for the week. There is a schedule in your room for that week’s activities and tours. All of this is included in your stay! Quick Tip: Make sure you plan out your week the first day you arrive so that you don’t miss out on any of the activities. While only one of their restaurants, Kimonos, requires reservations, you will want to reserve your spot as soon as possible! It is very popular and their spots fill up fast! We took a snorkeling cruise, went on a shopping trip and tour of the city, and a rum tasting at John Watling’s Distillery. This was honestly the best Pina Collada I have ever tasted! They have paddle boats, sailboats, water trikes and kayaks that you can check out for the day. They even have a giant chess board on the property! Sandals also ropes off their area of the beach and water to ensure that guests of the resort are the only ones on that part of the beach. If you are interested in excursions outside of Sandals, there is a travel agency at the resort that will help you book additional excursions during your stay. They have truly thought of everything!

If you are looking for a relaxing and exotic getaway, I highly recommend the Royal Bahamian. That was our first Sandals experience, but we are excited to go to Sandals Ochi in Jamaica this summer for our first wedding anniversary! I hope you enjoy your vacation as much as we did! Check back for highlights from that trip soon!

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How to Host the Best Tropical Themed Baby Shower

This post may contain affiliate links, but all opinions are my own. Please read my disclosure policy for more information. 

When the sweet mommy-to-be first said that she wanted a Tropical themed baby shower, I knew I was out of my element. Aside from a Hawaiian luau before my high-school graduation, I had not come close to attempting a tropical themed party! She decided she wanted the focus to be flamingos and pineapples, so I at least could narrow down the focus of my decor! It also helped that her shower was in April and every store buyer had decided that they also loved pineapples and flamingos. I started searching Pinterest for inspiration, as we all do at some point during the day, and I started to get an idea of what I wanted to do. Here are my top tips for hosting a tropical baby shower!

The biggest focal point of the baby shower decor was definitely the tropical balloon arch! This was so much fun to make and was a huge hit! Find everything you need and how to make the balloon arch here!

Tropical Themed Baby Shower

The Centerpiece! I wanted to make décor for the shower that would also act as a gift. The diaper cake was actually very easy to make and it looked wonderful as the centerpiece for the sign-in table! It was also stuffed with 96 diapers and topped with an adorable stuffed flamingo. Learn how to make this diaper cake here!

DIY Tropical Diaper Cake

I absolutely LOVE the custom door wreaths for the hospital door to welcome visitors to meet the sweet new baby! They look great at the shower and even better on the hospital door! They are also super easy to make. Check out my how to build a tropical themed diaper wreath here!

Tropical Themed Hospital Door Hanger

One of the other hostesses was handling the food and I knew it would be absolutely delicious and adorable! I wanted the plates, napkins, cups, and straws to really make a statement and fit our adorable theme. I really hit the jackpot with Etsy, Amazon, and Target!

Napkins: I found these adorable pineapple napkins on Amazon for $12 for as package of 20! The pink Flamingo napkins came from the Target dollar section and the green and pink flamingo napkins came from Papyrus.

Plates: I purchased the pink plates from Hobby Lobby and found the adorable palm plates from SPSweet Creations on Etsy!

Pineapples and Flamingos Party Decor

Cups and Straws: I am still obsessing over these flamingo stork straws! They are just too perfect! I found these at Paper Trail on Etsy! I bought the pineapple cups from TipTopSupply4U on Etsy!

Pineapple Party Cups

The mommy-to-be got her very own gold pineapple tumbler! I found this at Target and for all of my essential oil lovers, the inside is stainless steel, so you can add your favorite oils to your beverage! I thought this really put the whole tropical theme over the top!

Pineapple Baby Shower Decor

I wanted to really pull in the tropical theme with the serving platters with tropical palm leaves. Amazon has a pack of artificial palm leaves for only 11.99! 

Party Shower Food

I wanted pineapples incorporated in as many areas as possible! I found some beautiful pineapple vases, but they were crazy expensive! So instead, I cut out a pineapple and spray painted it gold! It really did look lovely with these tropical flowers! I wish I could tell you that I was able to use the pineapple after I cut it out, but it was more like pineapple pulp when I was finished with it. Maybe it will be edible the next time I try to make a vase.

Pineapple Flower Vase

I taped palm leaves to the strings of these 36” balloons to help tie in the Tropical theme. Iove these balloons, but they can be SO expensive! Even after you purchase the balloon, you still have to pay for the helium and most party places charge $15 per balloon! That is just insane! I found a pack of 10 on Amazon for only $13.99! I took them to Kroger’s floral department and the inflated them with helium for only $5 each! I was thrilled! They really make the perfect statement piece!

Flamingos and Pineapples Baby Shower

One of my favorite things about Etsy is how you can customize so many things! I messaged the shop that designed the shower invitations and asked if they could make this guess the date sign to match the invitations and they, of course, were happy create a custom listing! I had it printed at a FedEx Office and purchased a frame at Michaels. This example is an 11×14. I also bought a pineapple stamp from Hobby Lobby and had the guests stamp and initial the day they thought the mommy-to-be would go into labor. This was a great activity and looked great with the décor! Then, the mommy-to-be can display it in the baby’s nursery or use the frame for a different picture.

Baby Shower Guess The Date Print

I love the idea of a guestbook, but if we are being totally honest, most guest books just end up on a bookshelf collecting dust. I found this sweet children’s book on Amazon about Flamingos and decided this would be the perfect guest book. Each guest wrote the baby a sweet note in the book and it looked fantastic on the sign-in table!

Baby Shower Guest Book Idea

One of our closest friends gave us a wine basket for our wedding gift. Each wine bottle represented a milestone we would reach together in our first year of marriage. We are STILL enjoying this beautiful gift. I saw the same idea on Etsy from Lush Label, but for Mommy Milestones. It looked amazing on the gift table and it was a huge hit with the mommy and daddy-to-be. See the full supply list here!

Mommy Milestone Tropical Themed Baby Shower Gift

The mommy-to-be found these delicious sand dollar cookies online and thought they would make the perfect favors! I found this recipe from Mamma Miss and they turned out great! I wrapped two in cellophane and tied it with a bow and these adorable favor tags from Peekaboo Chew Prints! I also had these printed at FedEx Office on a heavy cardstock.

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Tropical Themed Balloon Arch for a Baby Girl Shower by The Sassy Southern

Tropical Balloon Arch

This post may contain affiliate links, but all opinions are my own. Please read my disclosure policy for more information. 

When I started planning the overall design for a tropical themed baby shower I was co-hosting, I really wanted a big focal point that guests saw the second they walked through the door. As I was searching Pinterest for inspiration, as we all do at some point during the day, I saw a pin from 100 Layer Cake-Let! They shared a balloon arch that they created for a flamingo themed birthday party. I was instantly obsessed. I saw that they used a balloon arch tutorial from The House That Lars Built. I watched the tutorial twice and felt that I could totally make this happen. I showed it to my husband and let him know that I need him to be my engineer for this project. Being the sweetest husband in the world, he jumped on board.

Since the party was held at the mommy-to-be’s home, I needed to make sure we weren’t going to destroy her wall! Painting her dining room wall was the last project she needed to handle. Since we didn’t really know what we were doing, we built the arch the night before and just prayed that it would stay! After about 2 1/2 hours of the hubs patiently standing on a ladder while listing to my directions, we finished our balloon arch. For our first, try, we were pretty happy with the results! The supply recommendations from The House That Lars Built was super helpful. Here are the materials that we used:

Baby Shower Balloon Arch

Hangman Products PCR5 Poster & Craft Tape, 5′, Roll, White – We bought this from Amazon for just $7.16. It is amazing! This was all that we used to stick the balloons and the balloon strip to the wall. Not only did it stay up for the shower, it stayed up for 7 DAYS and didn’t take any paint off of the wall! I also have more than half of the roll left to use on my next project.

Glue Dots Craft Roll, Contains 200 ( .5 Inch) Adhesive Craft Dots – We bought these from Amazon as on add-on to my larger order. However, you can find these at Walmart. We paid $3.60 for this as an Amazon add-on. These came in handy for sticking the smaller balloons on top of the larger balloons. We also used these to stick help the plants stay on the balloons.

Balloon Arch Decorating Strip 50ft – I honestly don’t know how we would have done this without the balloon arch decorating strip! It is extremely easy to work with and made designing the shape and final design extremely easy. 

Balloons – I wanted very specific colors, so I ordered most of my balloons from Amazon. However, I did buy white and pink balloons from Hobby Lobby. I purchased the coral and peach colored balloons from Amazon.

Silk Palm Leaves – Amazon has a lot of great options! If you catch Hobby Lobby on their 50% off floral week, you can find some palm leaves at a reasonable price. 

36” Giant Latex Balloons in Pink & White – I LOVE the giant 36” balloons but they are so expensive! I found a pack of 10 for only $13.99 on Amazon! I didn’t need 20 36” balloons for this baby shower, but I knew I would use them for future parties and events. I used one of these at the bottom of the arch on each side to have a nice base.

Electric Balloon Pump – Knowing that he would have the very special job of blowing up the balloons, my husband requested this particular piece of equipment and it was BEYOND worth it. He was able to inflate 100 balloons in 40 minutes. He could still breath and his hands weren’t even tired. This was a fantastic investment.

Tropical Balloon Arch
Learn how to make your own balloon arch from The House That Lars Built here!

This balloon arch was a huge hit at the baby shower and really tied the whole room together! It took us 3 hours and 10 minutes to inflate the balloons and put up the arch. We spent around $70 on supplies and we still have 18 of the 36” balloons, the electric balloon pump, balloon arch decorating strip, AND the craft tape and glue dots left over. These will come in handy for the next balloon arch!

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DIY Tropical Themed Hospital Door Hanger

This post may contain affiliate links, but all opinions are my own. Please read my disclosure policy for more information. 

The hospital door hanger is one of my favorite things to incorporate into the décor for a baby shower. It looks great at the shower, but it looks even better on the hospital door when sweet baby finally arrives! For this example, I used a Tropical theme for my inspiration so that it also matched the baby shower décor. Here is what you need to get started!

DIY Hospital Door Hanger

Artificial Flowers. I bought my flowers from Hobby Lobby and Michaels. Hobby Lobby puts all floral 50% off every other week and Michaels is always having sales on different flowers. If you can catch them right before a new season, this is a great time for deals on flowers.

Foam Floral Ring. I purchased mine from Hobby Lobby for $4.99 and then used my 40% off coupon. I did later see them online at Dollar Tree for $1. However, you are required to buy a minimum of 4 and you will have to pay for shipping. If you know you will eventually use 4, this is definitely the way to go! Amazon is always a really great go-to if you just want it shipped to your door! 

Low-Temp Hot Glue Gun. You can find one at any craft store for under $5.

Ribbon. I purchased my ribbon from Hobby Lobby, but you can find ribbon at any craft store.

Wooden Craft Boards. I purchased a package of 4 from Hobby Lobby for $4.99. I knew I would use them eventually and it gave me extras in case I messed up and I definitely did. You will hear about that in step 1.

Adhesive Letters. For this project, I used these beautiful gold chipboard letter stickers from Hobby Lobby. They are very easy to apply and look fantastic against the pink paint. If you already have an Amazon order going, they have some great options for adhesive letters

Wooden Initial. I purchased this adorable pineapple initial from Build-A-Cross. They have SO many options and their customer service is phenomenal! They also work with the Ministry Freedom Challenge, a Faith-Based Drug and Alcohol Discipleship Program. I love knowing that they are giving back to their community with the help of proceeds from their products. If you are looking for a very specific wooden monogram or design, this is the place for you! If you just need a simple letter initial, Amazon has plenty of options! 

Paint Brushes. I like to use the foam paint brushes. Michaels carries a set of multiple sizes in their dollar section bins at the front of the store. I purchased this set of 25 foam paint brushes for $5. Or you can just stock up on a large pack of foam paint brushes from Amazon. 

Paint. I used bottles of acrylic paint from Hobby Lobby.

Fishing Wire. I will be totally honest here. I might have borrowed mine from my brother and just never gave it back. Sorry, Face. (I call my brother Face.) Add some fishing wire to your Amazon order! It will come in handy for so many craft projects! 

Wire Cutter.

Scissors.

Step 1: Paint Your Wooden Boards and Initial

I found this adorable pineapple initial from Build-A-Cross. They have SO many options and designs. I would highly recommend checking out their site. Before I ordered the initial, I measured the length of my foam ring to make sure I selected the right size. Paint the initial and the boards you will use to display the name, weight, length, date, and time. I would recommend testing the paint colors you are going to use on the back of one of the boards to make sure they don’t clash with any of the flowers. I had this issue for this example and had to start over with a new board. While you wait for the boards and the initial to dry, move on to step 2!

Step 2: Place your flowers!

Tropical Hospital Door Hanger

DIY Floral Hospital Door Hanger

Have your hot glue gun on and ready to go. Using the wire cutter, cut the flowers from the stems leaving just enough stem to push into the foam ring. I prefer using several large flowers with smaller flowers as fillers. As you place the flowers, you can easily pull the flowers out and place them in a different spot to finalize the design. I incorporated leaves from the stems throughout to give pops of green. This also went with the tropical theme. If you notice any of the flowers not staying in place, just put a little dab of the hot glue in the hole and then stick the flower back in and hold in place for 10 seconds. Once you have all flowers and leaves in place, hold the wreath upside down just to make sure none of the flowers fall out.

Step 3: Date, Time, Weight, and Length

Now that your wooden boards are dry, add the adhesive letters for the time, date, weight, and length. You can also change this to pounds and inches if you prefer. You, of course, won’t know any of this information while you are making the door hanger, so make sure you leave enough room for mommy and daddy to add this information at the hospital. If they have already picked a name, you can add that to the first board. For this example, the mommy and daddy had not decided on the name, so I provided them with a full set of the adhesive stickers to add the name later.

Step 4: Put It All Together!

Tropical Themed Hospital Door Hanger

Now that all of your pieces are done, it is time to put it all together. Take the wooden initial and use fishing wire to attach it to the inside of the ring. I wrapped one piece of fishing wire around the top of the pineapple and looped in around the top part of the wreath. I tied four knots in the fishing wire to make sure it stayed. Repeat this step on your initial at the bottom of the wreath. Once the wooden initial is secure, cut two pieces of ribbon to attach at the bottom of the wreath. These pieces need to be the same length. Using the hot glue gun, attach both pieces of ribbon to the back of the wreath. Before you glue the ribbon, measure the length between the two pieces to make sure you are leaving enough space for the length of the wooden boards. Once both pieces of ribbon are secured on the back of the wreath, glue the wooden board pieces on the ribbon. If there is any additional ribbon hanging below the last board, trim that off with scissors. Cut one more piece of ribbon to use for the top part of the wreath. This will help you store the wreath leading up to the shower and can help it hang from the door hanger if needed. Just make sure you cut enough to make a full bow. For this example, the door hanger allowed us to hang the wreath without the ribbon at the top.

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Mommy Milestones | Wine Bottle Baby Shower Gift

How To Make a Mommy Milestone Wine Crate Basket

This post may contain affiliate links, but all opinions are my own. Please read my disclosure policy for more information. 

I know what you are thinking, wine bottles for a baby shower gift? How cruel is that? Who gives a gift to the mommy-to-be that she would love to enjoy now, but can’t have for months? But don’t worry, this is one gift that the mommy-to-be won’t mind waiting for! I first saw this when one of my bridesmaids and her husband gave this to my husband and me for our wedding gift. They gave us 10 different wine bottles all labeled for different “firsts” for our marriage. One was for our first holiday, another for our first dinner party, and one for our first anniversary. It was so creative and it really is the gift that keeps on giving! We still have three bottles left to enjoy! I loved this idea so much, that I decided to make this part of the gift for the Tropical themed baby shower I was co-hosting. As I started putting it together, I realized that this would look great as part of the shower décor! This was really fun and it was super easy to make. Here is what you need to get started:

Wooden crate. I bought the wooden crate pictured from Michaels and painted it white. The price of the crate was $10, but I was able to use a 20% off coupon from Michaels. Amazon also has some great wooden crate options as well! 

6 Bottles of Wine. Any bottle of wine will work! I chose a mixture of reds and whites.

Wine Labels from Lush Label. I found these adorable wine labels with poems on Etsy for Mommy Milestones. The poems are sweet and funny and are themed around first experiences after the baby is born. The labels pictured came from Lush Label on Etsy and included six labels: First Mommy Meltdown, Mommy’s First Full Night Sleep, First Mom & Dad Date Night, Mommy Fits in Her Favorite Pants, The First Shopping Temper Tantrum, and Mommy’s First Girls’ Night Out! This shop has multiple designs and themes and they are so easy to apply to your favorite bottles of wine! You can also add these to whiskey bottles for a groomsman gift or champagne bottles for “popping” the question to your bridesmaids!

Flowers. I bought my flowers from Hobby Lobby and Michaels. Hobby Lobby puts all floral 50% off every other week and Michaels is always having sales on different flowers. If you can catch them right before a new season, this is a great time for deals on flowers.

Hot Glue Gun. You can purchase one from Amazon or any craft store. 

Crinkle Paper Basket Filler. I happened to make this wine crate around Easter, so I found the Easter grass at Target! However, if you are making this any other time of year, Amazon has SO many color options for crinkle paper. 

Step 1: Applying the wine labels!

Baby Shower Gift Mommy Milestones

The first thing you need to do is get the original wine label off of the wine bottle. The easiest way to do this is to fill your sink with room temperature water and place the bottles in the water. I let mine stay in the water for about 30 minutes and then peel the labels off. If any of the adhesive from the label stays on the bottle, just use a wet paper towel and rub the adhesive off of the bottle. If you don’t have a sink stopper, a large mixing bowl or beverage tin will work as well! Once the labels are off and you have dried the wine bottle completely, place the labels on the wine bottles. I found that it was easiest to apply the labels from left to right. This helped me keep the label from having bubbles once it was applied.

Step 2: Decorating the wine crate!

Mommy Milestone Tropical Themed Baby Shower Gift

Once your wine bottles are ready to go, it is time to start decorating your wine crate! This particular wine crate was for a Tropical themed baby shower, but you can easily change the look to fit your theme. Use the glue gun to secure the flowers on leaves on the front of the crate. Once the glue has dried, fill the crate with the decorative grass and arrange your wine bottles. This looks great on the gift table or as a centerpiece for the baby shower. Your mommy-to-be will love you for this gift!

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How To Make A Tropical Themed Diaper Cake

Tropical Themed Diaper Cake DIY

This post may contain affiliate links, but all opinions are my own. Please read my disclosure policy for more information. 

One of my favorite things to do when planning a baby shower is to incorporate décor that the mommy-to-be can use later. One of my go-to staples is the diaper cake! It looks fantastic as a centerpiece and it is so easy to incorporate into any theme. You can buy pre-made diaper cakes on sites like Etsy, but making it yourself will save you a lot of money and you can really customize it to the theme of the shower. Trust me, if I can make this, you can too!

Tropical Themed Diaper Cake Supplies

Here are the supplies you will need to get started:

Fabric. I found mine at Hobby Lobby, but Jo-Anne’s also has a lovely selection. Don’t forget to use your 40% off coupon for Hobby Lobby or any of Joann’s weekly coupons!

T-pinsI purchased mine from Target, but you can find these anywhere!

Diapers (I used 88 size 1 diapers). On top of getting 5% off of your purchase with your Red Card, Target will price match. So if you find a better deal on diapers, just let them know! You also never know what deal Cartwheel has, so make sure you check that!

Ribbon. I bought mine from Hobby Lobby because, well, I love it there.

Flowers. I bought my flowers from Hobby Lobby and Michaels. Hobby Lobby puts all floral 50% off every other week and Michaels is always having sales on different flowers. If you can catch them right before a new season, this is a great time for deals on flowers.

Stuffed FlamingoThe flamingo for this diaper cake came from Amazon.

Rubber BandsI purchased an assorted pack from Target.

Hot Glue GunI bought mine from Hobby Lobby, but you can find one at any craft store. Or, if you would like it delivered to your door, Amazon is a fantastic choice. 

Scissors.

Now that you have your supplies, let’s get started!

Step 1: Assembling the cake!

How To Make a Diaper Cake

Roll each diaper like a fruit roll-up and wrap a small rubber band around the top and a small rubber band around the bottom. Take a medium sized rubber band and wrap it around 3-4 diapers. Repeat this step. Take the rubber band wrapped around one set of diapers and wrap it around one of the diapers in the first set. This will connect the two sets without stretching one rubber band too thin. I made this mistake during my first attempt and was popped in the hand while diapers fell to the ground. Good GRAVY! 

See examples 1 and 2 above on how to connect the diapers. You will take the rubber band wrapped around example b and put it over one of the diapers in example a to connect the two. From here, it is very easy to move the diapers around to make the round shape for the diaper cake.

Continue this until the first layer of your cake is formed. I used a round cake stand to help me make sure the bottom layer was round, but an actual cake pan would help hold the diapers in until you have all of them wrapped with rubber bands. Once the bottom layer is formed, start making the middle and top layers. Or, top layer if you are sticking with only two tiers. For the example pictured, I used 48 diapers for the bottom layer, 25 for the middle layer, and 15 for the top layer.

Step 2: Frost Your Cake!

How to Make a Diaper Cake

This part was the hardest part for me. I tried this two different ways. For the first try, I measured the length and circumference of each layer of cake. I cut the fabric a bit longer for the length to make sure it would go over the top of the cake and under the bottom to cover the full side of the cake. I used the t-pins to secure the fabric to the diapers. This worked pretty well, but I didn’t leave enough fabric to cover the full top of the layer, so it looked a little sloppy. I tried to cover it with flowers, but I didn’t like how that looked either. I also LOVED the flamingo ribbon, but I thought it made it look way too busy.

Tropical Themed Diaper Cake DIY

I just didn’t like the way that looked at all. So I started over.

It just looked unfished. So I tried a different approach. This time, I measured the layer from one side to the other to make sure the fabric would completely drape over the entire layer. For all of my bakers out there, this would be the same way you would cover a cake with fondant. This made the top of the cake look absolutely perfect! I used the t-pins to secure the fabric underneath the cake. However, the sides of the cake weren’t as smooth because the fabric was bunching more due to the roundness of the cake. In the end, I decided I liked this approach the best.

Step 3: Apply the Finishing Touches

DIY Tropical Diaper Cake

I started the décor process by adding ribbon to the bottom of each layer. I really love how the hot pink really pops on the lovely greens. I measured the circumference of each layer and cut the ribbon just a bit longer. I used the hot glue gun to secure the ribbon to the cake. You don’t need to glue the entire ribbon, just each end of the ribbon. For a cleaner look, fold each end of the ribbon so that the frayed ends don’t show. Once you add the ribbon, place the flowers on the cake. You can hot glue the flowers to the fabric or just stick them in the cake. Once your flowers are settled, top with your adorable flamingo!

Diaper Cake Tropical Baby Shower Centerpiece

It really was the perfect centerpiece for this tropical themed baby shower!

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