A Floral High Tea Baby Shower

2020 marked a year of change for me. My son started primary school in Kindy and the plan had been to focus on the business full time. But then 2020 as we know never went to plan for anybody.

As the world began to shut down around us, our own little world was expanding with the news that we were expecting a second baby in October.

The pregnancy was a blessing for us, with my work impacted by the Covid crisis I could focus internally on my family. 2020 and 2021 became a two year period of maternity leave for me. Lockdown was a time to nurture my growing belly, stay healthy and spend some unexpected extra time with my son helping him to learn the basics of reading and writing as school became a home-learning experience.

As the situation began to calm down here in Australia an opportunity arose to gather with some friends and family for a baby shower in late September just ahead of the expected arrival of our little one.

We chose Petal met Sugar as our venue to celebrate. A small cafe on the edge of the city next to the Domain we could have our own long table outside for 10 in line with the current restrictions at the time.

After months of separation from friends it was particularly special to be able to meet together to share a beautiful afternoon tea together.

Petal met Sugar is the collaboration between pastry chef Elsa and florist Ange - two friends whose skills and passion aligned perfectly to create the concept of a patisserie and flower shop in one. It was a favourite cafe of mine to visit ever since it first opened not long after the birth of my son Aiden. I would often bring Aiden here and it was a favourite place for him also, as part of the high tea we included his favourite cake which is the lychee oolong cake with the little meringues on top. It was nice to be able to include our son at the baby shower in amongst the girls.

Some of the floral prettiness on display at this floral high tea baby shower

Some of the savoury food served at the baby shower

For the Floral High Tea the tables were set with placecards that were hand-painted and cut by myself here at ELK Prints.

Guests were also given two cards to fill out.

One was a list of ‘predictions’ for the newborn that included the usual questions about height and weight but also questions about what personality characteristics our little one would inherit.

The other card was an advice card. As this would be our second child it was specifically tailored to that with the heading of “Tips for Two” - as an only child I grew up unfamiliar with sibling relationships so the advice offered was very valuable.

The high tea treats displayed in a Perspex box shelf

To celebrate we adorned the table with vases of flowers selected and arranged by Ange at Petal met Sugar that took inspiration from the invitation and baby announcement card I sent out to guests.

I really love this palette of beautiful pinks, lemons and peach tones. The whole table was wonderful with its array of prettiness and floral abundance.

As our guests already knew we were expecting a baby girl we didn’t do any gender reveal at the baby shower. However as we had already decided quite clearly on a name for our daughter we did decide to surprise everyone by revealing to our family and friends our choice of name for our daughter - Aurelia. We loved the sound and flow of this name and also that the meaning of this name was beautiful - it is Latin for “golden”. We also gave her a Chinese name of Yun Mei - 昀美 - meaning Beautiful Sunshine.

An image of me holding up the name card for Aurelia

This was a beautiful way to include our unborn daughter into the celebrations and also to see the reactions from friends and family over our choice of name - everyone certainly seemed to love it.

Alongside the delicious petit-four cakes from the High Tea set we also served a slice of celebration cake. Layers of lemons sponge with elderflower buttercream was a refreshing and fragrant treat that added to the special celebratory vibes.

The elderflower and lemon sponge cake with a plate of high tea sweet treats.

It was a perfect day and after the long lockdown period of isolation much needed. We are revived by our friends and family, enriched by love and conversation and delighted by sweet treats and beautiful flowers.

Sadly Petal met Sugar is no longer open to visit. It closed in 2021 as the owners have decided to focus on their own growing families and spend time with their respective little ones too. We will miss it greatly but it is also fitting that these two Mamas are also putting family first.