Safari Themed Baby Shower

I’m still on a high from our baby shower this past weekend! I went with a safari themed baby shower to celebrate our little wild one’s upcoming arrival, which was very on brand since we now live in Kenya and Kenya is known for their amazing safaris!

Safari Baby Shower Decor

I wasn’t responsible for the decor (obviously lol) but my mom was kind enough to share the links for the decorations! We mostly had animal inflatables to lead people to the upstairs portion of the venue where the shower was held, animal balloons, a balloon arch with some palm leaves, bamboo plates, as well as palm printed plates. Having a venue that was bright and already cutely decorated made it much easier to just buy a few decor items to bring out the theme rather than having to completely overhaul the space. Although I didn’t work with them directly I’d highly recommend The Presence Atelier in Orange, NJ as a venue for any event!

My Safari Baby Shower Outfit

I was very torn between wearing a long loose fitting dress (I bought one from here in a green print weeks ago) and something more form fitting, but the weather ultimately guided me to wearing a dress that would keep me the warmest, so I wore this leopard print shirred dress by Ingrid & Isabel. I’ve talked before how I didn’t spend a lot of money on maternity clothes, but that’s before I realized that my stomach was going to double in size during the third trimester and I’d need more room! I accessorized the dress with my new Chanel double flap bag (my PhD completion gift) and my two-tone Louboutin Decollete heels that I bought in Paris (that are slightly more comfortable since being stretched), and felt completely bougie and great lol!

I wanted big hair so I visited my Brooklyn stylist Nyasia for a braided half ponytail looking using my trusty KinkyCurlyYaki hair. This hair has been serving me well for years now! We used the full lace wig in the back, and the clip ins in the front to create the ponytail. Stitch braids made the style look more afrocentric, which was perfect for the safari! And you’ve likely already seen my nails – they were probably my favorite part of my whole look!

Baby Shower Games

My sister in law was responsible for games and the onesthat she picked were actually super fun and not boring or old fashioned (which is tough at a shower)! One game asked you to match different animals with the name for what a baby is called in that species – for example, did you know that a baby mouse is called a pinkie? Maybe 90s babies who watched Pinkie and the Brain would have known that, but I didn’t put two and two together! Another game was a what’s in your phone game, which someone racked up serious points on thanks to having numerous friends in their phone with names starting with X,Y, or Z.

This wasn’t a game per se, but my sister in law also framed one of our ultrasound photos and had guests write down words of prayer or advice for the baby around the photo. Such an amazing personalized touch that will definitely be going up in the nursery!

Gifts, so Many Gifts!

I thought we had a lot of gifts at home because many from my registry (which I’ll share soon) had been mailed to my parent’s house, but still, there were SO many gifts from at the baby shower! We did open some of them, which is usually my least favorite part of baby and bridal showers, but then I oohed and awed over cute baby clothes and all was well!

All our gifts from the shower fit into the trunk of the 2019 Mazda CX-5 Signature AWD, which we were able to test drive for the week. We were first introduced to Mazda in depth last year, and actually purchased a used CX-5 as our very first car, so it was great to be in a vehicle we’re familiar with, albeit a newer model! The easy trunk and foldable back row created plenty of space for the gifts and for me to rest my feet!

I thoroughly enjoyed my baby shower and am super grateful for all the people who helped put it together and make it a great success, especially my mom, my bestie, and my sisters in law!