One last hurrah with the girlfriends before baby girl! Having all of my friends from different parts of life all together and meet is so special to me!

At 36 weeks pregnant I am so grateful that girlfriends flew in from New York and Dallas to celebrate at our baby girl’s shower at Tiny Boxwoods in Austin. We got so lucky with an 80* degree and sunny day in March, which was perfect for an indoor and outdoor soiree. I consider my girlfriends to be like family and it meant so much to have this intimate sit-down brunch in our new hometown of Austin, I will always be inspired and grateful for these strong women that I have met in all chapters of my life. My baby girl will have the best women as role models, it makes me happy to be surrounded (since life has taken us to different places, not physically) by such amazing people!

French Garden + Art Themed Baby Shower

Hosting a spring time baby shower, what could be better for welcoming a baby girl into the world. The florals, the pastel colors, and all things girly for this shower. I wanted to have wild flowers as the common thread throughout the baby shower. There were wild flowers on my dress, used in the center pieces, and as the subject of the mini art class during the baby shower. Taking inspiration from the French garden venue, I knew I wanted to have some of the baby shower outdoors as well as a seated family style brunch with friends. The weather could not have been better for a March outdoor event. The sun was shining and it came together beautifully.

For my outfit I knew I wanted to feel like I was colorful, bright, and radiating joy. The butterfly gold earrings really made my whole look feel like a garden dream. They were such a nice touch. My floral dress is from Modesens Borgo De Nor, but currently is sold out. I also loved these for a short dress option and a long ruffle dress option. My mini heels were from Steve Madden, I knew I wanted to be comfortable but also wear a cute pair of heels (the things we do for fashion) so these fit perfectly with my dress while not taking away from the colors and I had the benefit of actually being able to stand on my feet during the shower!

Mini Art Lesson + Paint Activity with Local Austin Painter

I grew up painting with my grandmother and have always been an art lover. If you follow me on Instagram then you may remember that I hand painted each individual card to send out to guests (they are under my Highlights on my profile @cailaquinn if you would like to check them out)

When I was thinking of ways to make this baby shower unique, I felt like taking home a canvas painting would be a small personal touch to remember this beautiful spring shower. I started looking for an artist to teach a mini art class at the baby shower by searching hashtags on Instagram – and that is when I discovered CoCo Zentner Art and fell in love with her timeless pastel canvas pieces. I reached out in hopes she’d be open to teaching mini lessons for a baby shower. Lucky for me, she was the KINDEST human on the face of the earth and was super excited about sharing her love of art with my friends. With her, she brought the canvases, easels, aprons, acrylic paint pre-mixed in pastel colors on pallets, and well as a wonderful kind smile that invited my girlfriends to try something new.

The baby shower started at 11:30 and Coco taught 15-20 minute long mini paint lessons until 12:45 when it was time to be seated for brunch. Then the art pieces had time to dry before we all went back outside to mingle at 1:30pm and the shower ending at 2:30pm.

Want to get in touch with the artist, Coco? Here’s her website!

French Garden Baby Shower Details

If you are local to Austin, or planning an event here any time soon here are the list of vendors I used for this baby shower. I absolutely loved working with all of these individuals – and loved how special they made this moment feel for me and my friends!

Florist: Stems ATX

Venue: Tiny Boxwoods Austin

Art Lessons: CoCo Zentner Painting

Musicians: Beth James Band

Balloons: Pop & Drop 

Photographer: Ailin Rachael Hyde

Videography: Keelyn Costello Media

Live Music + Austin’s Beth James Band

Austin is known as the live music capital of the world and I wanted to bring that acoustic quality to the baby shower. I love supporting local artists, found Beth James Band on Instagram, and was entranced by their voices! The vibes they brought to this shower were amazing and truly did tie the event together. Plus, it kind of made me feel like I was living in a movie with background noise playing at a party lol! Little did I come to find out later, they are a happily married couple with cover songs that just make you pause and feel their love! Highly recommend hiring them for your next event, wedding, or baby shower too!

Photography Credit: Ailin Rachael Hyde