On Saturday, October 10, 2009, I attended my co-ed baby shower for our twin daughters. The festive lavender and pink carriage themed event was thrown by two of my very close friends who I consider my sisters, Arlene (my sorority sister, college roommate at SU and mother of twin boys and a daughter) and Shaunee (a Ph.D. who I grew up with in Ossining, NY, and met when we were teenage summer camp counselors who has younger twin sisters). My younger sister Tamiko (who just gave birth to her daughter on Labor Day and has a two year old son) was also involved in the planning along with my wonderful husband Shawn (who woke up bright and early the day of the shower to do lots of running around). Their attention to detail and to keeping me out of the loop (difficult with me being a very curious and detail oriented Event Planner) was outstanding.
Although I knew the date of the event in advance, I did not know about the details of the shower. I was more than pleasantly surprised when I walked into the event room at the Woodbridge YMCA in NJ. It was absolutely beautiful and the décor was perfect. My loved ones really focused on my personality, and planned an event that I would not have enjoyed any more if I had planned it myself.
The shower was attended by about 40 adults and roughly 15 children which also included my Mom, older sister Raquel, nephews Anthony and Jay, cousins and aunts, my Goddaughter Nichole and my dear Auntie Gloria (my Dad’s older sister) who was one of the day’s best surprises. There were also my husband’s friends, my close friends, line sisters (Jennifer, Jeannette, Meka, Denise, Naima and Laura) who helped with decorating and set up, and sorors of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., former colleagues including Jacleen, Shon, and one of my great marketing mentors Stephanie, and of course, Candice and Priscilla of The Finishing Touch, Wedding and Event Planning who were there to celebrate this special occasion with me.
The room was decorated with pink and lavender balloons, carriage helium balloons, a beautiful diaper cake topped with two pink carriages and a traditional white wicker baby shower chair which were both from Fiesta Party Center in Jersey City, NJ. The centerpieces were pretty pink and lavender flowers set in glass vases with crystals, and there were bowls of pink and lavender custom printed M&M candies with sayings including “Shawn’s Girls” and “Soroya’s Blessing” which were such a special and delightful touch on each table. I had also created a vision board for my daughters which was displayed at the shower, along with a scrap book on my pregnancy with silly captions, and framed pictures of Shawn and I. Of course we threw in pictures of our Cockapoo puppy Irie as well, who is a special part of our family.
The beautiful and delicious pink and lavender two layered Dominican Cake was decorated with carriages and pink and lavender bows. It was made by Gladis Bakery in Jersey City, NJ and the top layer had a fresh pineapple filling, while the larger bottom layer was filled with caramel. Click here to see the cake on Gladis’s site where it has been added as the first twin baby shower cake. Gladis specializes in unique event cakes and will create your confection to match any theme.
Shower guests were encouraged to bring diapers for a chance to win a door prize which was a gift certificate. Games included the purse game, where one guest surprisingly actually had a picture of twins with her, a competition to see who could finish the juice in their bottle the fastest (Priscilla was a good sport and participated), and guessing games where attendees had to figure out how many cotton balls, Q Tips, etc. were in various baby bottles. Fun prizes were awarded, and everyone had a good time. Attendees also wrote special advice cards, and were video recorded leaving us loving and supportive messages that we will treasure forever.
The food was a huge hit with everyone in attendance, and was catered from Sisters of Soul in Linden, NJ. My husband worked with their manager Taikwon to create a menu that consisted of trays of both grilled and fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, collard greens, potato salad, yellow rice and candied yams. My Auntie Angie also made a delicious potato salad, and a fresh vegetable salad was available.
One of the special highlights of the day was when a professional face painter, who was hired through the YMCA, showed up to surprise the children at the party. The kids gathered to have their faces, arms and hands decorated with hearts, flowers, and any design they desired. The children had a great time and left with special painted decorations and big smiles.
Guests also left with fun favors including pink carriage photo frames with custom labels that read “thanks for strolling by.” There were also custom carriage shaped butter cookies trimmed with pink and lavender icing and sparkles from the bakery at Wegmans, with custom made “recipe for parenting twins” tags which were created by my friend Lorena, and bags of Hershey kisses tied with carriage ties that were a nice surprise from my line sister Jeannette.
My cousin Andrew Mark, who is a professional photographer, was there to capture it all. Click here to check out his creative style. He is fun to work with, and loves taking pictures of all of the details and special memories of any occasion. He is responsible for the lovely pictures posted here, and was a big part of making the day a success.
Thank you to all of our loved ones who traveled from near and far for showering us with love, support , encouragement, well wishes and gifts. We received goodies ranging from a much needed double stroller, gift cards, great items from our registries, and tons of beautiful and adorable matching outfits for our girls. Thanks also to my Dad for everything!
This was one of the most special days of our lives, and a truly memorable event. Our daughters have already received such a warm welcome, and they will always know about the excitement that has been generated for their arrival. Thank you also to those who could not attend, but who have sent us their love. We really appreciate it. I can’t wait to share more after our little angels make their big debut.
Lots of Love and Gratitude,
Soroya and Shawn
