Tropical baby shower

This page contains affiliate links. When you purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission at no cost to you. These are items we used for creating décor for this tropical baby shower, and would use again for making event decorations.

A tropical baby shower is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the arrival of a new member of the family with your friends, family, and community. I was so excited to see how the décor turned out and I love how it feels like we went on a tropical vacation without leaving North Carolina.

Here are some tips on how you can make your next baby shower unique, fun and memorable:

Choose colors that reflect your style.
Add texture and pattern in unexpected places.
Use nature as inspiration for décor ideas.
Create a mood board of decorating ideas so everyone can see what everyone else is doing!

For the last few months, my husband and I have been working on DIY projects to bring this boho tropical baby shower to life. My younger sister and her fiancé are expecting their first child this August, and we wanted to make the shower a memorable event. Emily Katherine Events had planned our April 2019 wedding, and working with Emily again for the baby shower was so great. She always looks for ways to make events unique to the couple or family, and the planning process and day of went so smoothly. Special thanks to Gabe Romero for capturing the memories of the day in pictures.

My future nephew’s nursery has a boho vibe with lots of tropical foliage and animals added in, so we wanted to carry that feeling through the shower as well. The color scheme was a mixture of gender-neutral greens and yellows, standing out against textural elements like wicker and rattan. To complete my vision of this tropical baby shower, I used palm leaf plates (they’re biodegradable!) as well as compostable flatware sets that included bamboo napkins (affiliate link). This combination of materials adds a touch of glamour while keeping things eco-friendly! I put together this mood board in Canva to help keep a clear vision as we created décor elements and purchased items for the shower. I love how Canva makes it so easy to create a look for any occasion!

The Museum of Life and Science in Durham, North Carolina was a lush backdrop for the party. Real tropical plants surrounded the tent that provided great shade from the bright Sunday afternoon sun. The museum also provided an animal encounter for the shower, where guests could meet and learn about animals like chinchillas and ball pythons.
When guests arrived, they were invited to sign a copy of Where the Wild Things Are. They also were given game packets with activities for the day, including customized gift bingo cards, all fastened with monkey-shaped paper clips.

When you invite your friends and family to celebrate with you, you want to create the most magical experience for your guests. While most of the shower plans were a surprise, the parents-to-be had requested that we include a diaper raffle. Guests traded boxes of diapers for tickets, and there were several drawings for prizes like gift baskets and gourmet treats. Between the raffle and the shouts of “Bingo!” as gifts were opened and announced, it was a lively atmosphere throughout the afternoon. Guests mingled and chatted, and danced to the playlist curated by the parents-to-be, and the time flew by!

As the shower was held in the early afternoon, the menu for the day included some of the couple’s favorite finger foods, like NC BBQ sliders, macaroni and cheese bites, and a cheese display, catered by Catering Works. Catering Works also provided drinks including a selection of fizzy punches that were perfect for the summer day. La Recette Patisserie created an assortment of beautiful and delicious desserts. The centerpiece dessert was a two-tier funfetti and marble cake, perfectly decorated to match the tropical theme. We added some of our larger DIY centerpieces with the stuffed animals to the dessert table, and they were a huge hit.

When originally planning the baby shower, I had envisioned a balloon arch or other balloon display for a major décor element. This was the first event most of our friends and family had been to in a while because of quarantine, so I wanted it to be spectacular. The museum is a working zoo, however, so we needed to pivot to an animal-safe idea instead. After some consideration, we decided on a photo backdrop full of tropical florals! We built this eight foot greenery backdrop with laser cut animals and welcome sign, and couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.

Rentals from Greenhouse Picker Sisters like this charming Watering Hole cooler for drinks and the peacock chairs for the parents’ table added just the boho accents needed for the party. Simple tan and white linens from American Party Rentals gave all the guest seating and accent tables a breezy beach feel.

The day of the event was so much fun! Our guests loved seeing all of the decorations and DIY projects we had done for the party. Abby and Oscar’s friends and family had so much fun with the party games, and many memories were captured in photographs. The day went off without a hitch with Emily’s help and everyone had a great time!