I've never been a big fan of baby showers. Just the idea of a whole group of ladies getting together to play silly games (chocolate squished in a diaper anyone? Who even came up with that?), and the whole 'ooh - ahhs' over the baby related gifts which many find mandatory to open during the actual event, always felt a little awkward to me. I guess not having gone through pregnancy previously, it was never an invite I looked forward to receiving.  

When we found out we were having a baby, my views on this, well on a lot of things changed. Falling pregnant is sometimes a hard and bumpy road and getting to that point is a highly emotional and relationship-testing triumph that should be celebrated. So if a baby shower is the way you want to celebrate, who am I to judge? Bring on the finger food and confetti!!!

Personally, having gone through this journey with an incredibly attentive partner by my side, I could not see myself celebrating this new life form without the man who helped create her... so we decided to ditch the baby shower idea and go with a co-ed baby-q instead.

We decided to have a casual Sunday bbq to which we invited our closest friends (including partners and kids) as a nice way to catch up before our lives turn upside down and we run our schedules around a baby human. I didn't want a registry, it wasn't about gifts (although our guests still generously showered us with them), it was just about spending time together, and although it was a hot one not ideal for a backyard event, it was a special day we will cherish and remember.

Busy with client work, I ran a little behind with our invites but from the first draft I knew I wanted to completely hand letter the design, even if it did turn out a bit rough. I started with quick sketches on paper, using a variety of styles, before redrawing them on a dot grid page to try and get the straight edges on both sides (process sketches below):

Once it was inked and digitised, I chose to have them printed with white ink on buffalo board to stray away from it looking too baby-ish and also keep the casual vibe of the day. 

The finished print:

Sometimes it's good not to dwell too much on the imperfections... you might actually really like the end result!!

xoxo