Chicago Baby Shower | Wilmette Harbor Club

Mar 19

Our Chicago Baby Shower at the Wilmette Harbor Club

A warm day in Chicago in early March is reason enough to celebrate. Add in the pending arrival of our new baby, and you have a party! Our Chicago Baby Shower at the Wilmette Harbor Club was the perfect way to celebrate our new addition.

The theme for our shower was air and water - something for me and something for my husband. The Wilmette Harbor Club sits right on Lake Michigan and has a special place in my heart. My Dad has been a member since he was 20 years old, and I spent a lot of time with him there as I was growing up. I used to race Flying Scot sailboats together when I was in high school and college. My family just loves being on the water, boating has always been important to us. I dearly miss being near the lake. My husband Brian is an aerospace engineer. So planes are also a big part of our lives. Marrying these two themes together was where the design inspiration came from.

Playing with the idea of soaring over land and sea we utilized a bright, gender-neutral color palette. Brian and I have decided we don’t want to know the sex of our baby, so a gender-neutral shower was a must. I love that gender-neutral is becoming more commonplace with baby showers, it opens up the design to so many fun and creative options! Showers can be so much more than blue, pink, or gray.

Wilmette Harbor Club has a great view of Lake Michigan, and all the natural light creates a bright and airy feeling. The design allowed the natural elements of the space to shine. There were clusters of balloons that looked like puffy clouds, cute paper planes scattered around the tables, some simple florals, and fun patterned linens to keep things whimsical.

We opted for a variety of seating options, so people could mix and mingle. We didn’t want people to be assigned one space and stay there. It allowed for the conversation to flow which meant that Brian and I could chat with all our guests. This was especially important since we live out of town and don’t see our guests very often.

As always, we choose food that both Brian and I enjoy and told our story. We actually worked with the same caterer who did our wedding, so they were able to pull in some of our favorite appetizers from our wedding day. We did a tasting menu which I find is a fun way to approach an event like this. It allows guests to sample and try lots of different things, and there is always something for everyone! It also makes accommodating your guests with dietary restrictions much easier. The vegan burritos were actually a crowd favorite.

In addition to a full menu of food, we created some fun mocktails for everyone to enjoy. The 'create your own' Moscow Mule mocktail was a huge hit! For a little something sweet, we had cookies and ice cream, passion fruit mousse in chocolate cups, and the pie in a jar. Again, everything was tasting size, so sampling was encouraged.

We are so incredibly excited about the birth of our first child, but it is hard living away from both of our extended families. There will be so many milestones they watch with us via video chat or pictures, so having this time together was extra special. We are so incredibly grateful for everyone who came out to celebrate our baby!