by: Michael Kabel
The chilly temperatures of winter often put a clamp on friendly get-togethers. It's a natural instinct to "hunker down" indoors when it's cold out, and not venture outside the warmth of home except on special occasions.
But what about the wintertime baby shower? After the holiday season, the winter baby shower is a fantastic way to keep friends and family in touch, despite the hectic schedule of your day-to-day lives. Baby showers are in fact fairly rare occurrences in most lives (even the most frequent guest probably attends only two or three a year, and only for a handful of years) – and so they're worth making special.
For the baby shower falling between January and April, the winter theme is an awesome motif that any guest can appreciate, as it commemorates the sense of security and warmth the new mother feels with her friends and family around her.
The décor is cool, shimmering, and crisp.
A wintertime décor is filled with icy-crisp color palettes and shimmering hues, to give the sense of an icy landscape that's nonetheless coolly elegant. Decorating the baby shower venue is simple enough, once the colors are selected. The table dressings, napkins, guest favors, and background streamers can all alternate your chosen colors.
Accent your shower venue by including tree branches standing in clear glass bowls, shimmering metallic streamers and banners, and white flowers to accentuate the winter scheme. Orchids and other hothouse blooms are also a nice touch, and will remind guests of the sense of growth and bloom that's the reason for the occasion.
Glass takes the place of ice for a stunning, theatrical presentation.
Another sleek and stylish means of conveying winter is to use frosted and crystal glass to evoke the idea of icy climes. Heavy cut glassware, frosted glasses and plates, frosted glass candle baby shower favors, and colored glassware all contribute to a wintry setting.
The winter baby shower meal is an old-fashioned feast with a new twist.
The winter baby shower dinner includes lots of fill-you-up, good homestyle cooking - exactly the kind of thing Mom would make to keep you warm on chilly days, but with a modern culinary spin.
You might serve a pot roast or meatloaf but seasoned with the latest gourmet spices and herbs. Or, imagine crisp organic vegetables steaming in bowls of piping hot soup and whole-wheat pasta. The vegetable course consists of steamed green vegetables, while after the meal there’s lots of fresh gourmet coffee.
Instead of coffee, you might also choose to serve iced cakes, sherbet, or even ice cream. But again the warm food echoes the warmth of the occasion, while you're surrounded by the cooler elements represented by your motif.
Depending on the venue and how many guests you have coming, the meal can be as large or as simple as you prefer.
Give guests something to remember on snowy evenings.