Real Party: A Coco Chanel Pink and Black Baby Shower

“A girl must be two things: classy and fabulous.” — Coco Chanel

These are the famous words of beloved couture fashion designer Coco Chanel, whose signature look of style and luxury continues to inspire. Danielle is the brains behind event design company Belleza e Luce and she jumped at the chance to plan a Chanel inspired baby shower for her sister. As Danielle specializes in innovative invitations, this baby shower invite followed Coco’s words of wisdom: “In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.” with a gorgeous pink and black designed Ms. Chanel would have been proud of.

“Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman.” — Coco Chanel

Guests were asked to dress in black and white – with pearls encouraged, of course!  “It was a request, but I also knew my guest list where most of our family and friends wear black at weddings and other events, so this was not something too out of the ordinary or drastic of a request.” And many guests got into the spirit. They were also asked to bring their gifts wrapped in black and white and most of them acquiesced. Some even got especially creative with their gift wrapping! “The event took place at the lovely Branches in their waterfall garden, and were fortunate to have a beautifully sunny and warm October day!  It was so warm in fact that only half hour into the party, we needed to bring in large umbrellas for shading to provide comfort and some heat relief to the guests.”

“Where should one use perfume?” a young woman asked. “Wherever one wants to be kissed.” — Coco Chanel

As the guests entered the garden, they saw that Danielle had created a shower with a color palette of black, white, and light pink for everything from plates, menus, the cake, and centerpieces. The escort card table was designed to resemble Chanel perfume bottle labels. The tables were draped in black satin pin tuck linens with pink pink tuck napkins.  “We choose a pocket-fold for the napkins to display the layered menus.”  Empty bottles with Chanel-inspired perfume labels displayed the table number.

The centerpieces were crafted using Sweet Akito roses to form a lovely pink ball atop a black urn.  “In lieu of traditional favors, my mother and I decided to make a contribution to the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit at Monmouth Medical Center, the hospital where Faith will be born.  At each place setting, a small card informing guests of our decision was attached to a March of Dimes awareness bracelet.  It was touching to hear how many of our guests appreciated this gesture.”

“If you were born without wings, do nothing to prevent them from growing. ” — Coco Chanel

Custom designed bookplates with an area for guests to write a personal message sat on a bistro table with the latest ultrasound photo of baby Faith.  “I was completely amazed that with 71 guests attending the shower, Faith did not receive one duplicate book for her library!”

An area was created to display the hors d’oeuvres consisting of fruit, vegetables and crudite, and antipasta including fresh mozzarella, eggplant, artichoke hearts, and roasted peppers.

“Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.” — Coco Chanel

The exquisite chocolate cake with mousse filling was made by Elyse of By Little Hands, the same fabulous woman who created Cibella’s Jolly Holiday cake.  I sent her the inspiration board I created for the shower, and left it in her hands!  It was delicious!  She will also be creating the cake for Luca’s upcoming party with a flavor I am super excited about (I am going to leave that surprise, for now!)

“The shower was a wonderful success and loved by everyone, but most importantly my sister.  At the start of the shower, I toasted the soon-to-be mom, wishing her well, a healthy daughter, and of course, a quick delivery!  Welcome to motherhood, Melissa – I know you are going to be a wonderful mommy!”

*** Faith Leah was welcomed into the world healthy weighing 9lbs and measuring 20 inches. Congratulations to mommy Melissa and Auntie Danielle! ***

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