Before we even knew the baby’s gender, my sister Abby had one request: a Bridgerton-themed baby shower! As a lover of the show’s lavish costumes and dreamy set design, I was absolutely thrilled to plan an affair worthy of the ton. When it was revealed that Abby and Cory were expecting a baby girl, the whispers of society turned to full-blown excitement—surely this little lady would be the diamond of the season! With a most ambitious mama on the lookout for the perfect future suitor, guests were cordially invited to step into high society. From afternoon tea to mingling with the ton’s most eligible bachelors and debutantes, everyone had a role to play in celebrating the arrival of sweet baby Emory—the sparkling jewel soon to make her debut!

Invitation

The invitation was inspired by the Lady Whistledown’s Society Papers and of course photoshopped Cory and Abby as the Duke and Duchess of Hastings into the Netflix show coverpage.

Afternoon Tea

We included an assortment of pastries from Sucrose (scones, macarons, fruit tarts, tea cookies, almond heart cakes), sandwiches (cucumber, croissant chicken salad, egg salad), Nothing Bundt Cakes Bundtinis, and fruit (pineapple, grapes, strawberries, kiwi, oranges, pears). We folded the napkins like roses 🙂

The Tea J

Charity was the “Tea” J, and used her fancy tea maker to brew up batches of tea to serve the guests. I got several loose leaf varieties from London Tea Room and Scottsdale, AZ. We had a “Very Berry” pink ice tea/lemonade in my large glass dispenser and Aldi pink sparkling lemonade.

Layla also served up tea from her Beauty and the Beast tea cart!

Tea time!

Layla’s reaction to tasting tea for the first time was hilarious!

The Cake

I made vanilla cupcakes and a devil’s food chocolate cake with strawberry mousse filling, all decorated with pink buttercream roses. I hand drew the “Sweet Baby Emory Ray” design and then converted it to an STL to 3D print on my Ender 6 SE (utilizing a combo of Adobe Capture, TinkerCAD, and Cura). I also featured this design in wall hangings and the favors.

Layla even served up

Festivities

We had a plethora of Bridgerton and Lady Whistledown inspired games and activities throughout the shower. Most of the games encouraged guests to get up and mingle with other guests. Even the gentlemen got involved in many of the games.

The Illustrious Debutante’s Arrival

The shower started with a grand entrance by Abby descending down the staircase with “Flawless My Dear” playing and a dramatic drop of a white feather fan! Of course, Cory picked up the fan for her!

Dance Card Icebreaker

With “Thank you next” playing as guests entered, they were handed “Dance Cards” to hang from their hand. Guests filled in their cards with answers from 10 different guests. To keep things light, we used the following question: “What’s the most useless talent you have?” The first person to fill out their dance card won a prize (macaron candles).

Madlib written by Lady Wistledown

The Mama’s Matchmaking Madlib instructions were setup on a table with the jar of words for guests to fill out. We ended up handing out the words at the tables to get more participation since most people were seated for the afternoon tea. I wrote the Madlib with emphasis on baby Emory’s talents and her mama’s matchmaking schemes. I read the Madlib after gift opening when everyone was gathered around.

I Spy Scandal Scavenger Hunt

Instructions were setup on a table and cards were also handed out to the guests. Guests hunted for several scandalous items found in the “garden” with extra points if Abby was included in the pictures. The person that found all the items first won a bouquet of liquor (way to go Hailey!).

Telephone Gossip Game

Inspired by the quote “We shall do what women do, we shall talk”, we had a telephone gossip game ongoing throughout the shower since we know “What Women Do Best”. My sister Angel started off the gossip by whispering this scandalous story about the expectant mother in the first person’s ear: “Our diamond was seen in the garden with the Duke and Viscount in a most heated conversation. There is nothing like an excursion into nature to lift the spirits and loosen the tongue.” Dance cards were handed out at the beginning and had sequential numbers on back that indicated the order for passing along the gossip. We checked in throughout the party to see how the gossip was spreading and had the final person tell the gossip at the end. It evolved into a diamond being hidden in a corner – how scandalous!

The Dowry

We also collected donations for the baby’s dowry via cash donations, diaper fund, or baby books. We had a raffle for a tea-themed gift basket to encourage participation (one ticket per book or $5 donation).

Dressup and Bridgerton Quiz

We had a cubby setup with regency/fancy attire for guests to adorn fascinators, hats, gloves, beads, etc. The Bridgerton’s have such fun personalities so we setup a QR code to a quiz on a table to see which Bridgerton are you. I got Eloise 🙂

Fained Swoon

There were many fained swoons throughout the afternoon. The best was by Abby in our group photo!

Cake Cutting / Gifts

After guests finished afternoon tea and finished the mingling games, Abby & Cory cut the cake (wedding style) and then opened gifts. I made a “The Diamond of the Season” onesie for baby Emory 🙂

The Duel

After the announcement of all the game winners, Scott challenged Cory to a duel since he had dallied with Abby in the gardens (and she had gotten pregnant!). For the guns, I Rub ‘N Buffed several Nerf guns to antique them and extended the lengths (with 3D printed barrels). Both Scott and Cory selected a “second” to pick their gun from the gun case (an old trumpet case I had). They stood back-to-back, then strode 10 steps, and presented.

Without prompting, Abby on queue like the show, stopped the duel (and actually dramatically fell unintentionally by stepping in a hole). The rules I’d come up with for the duel were 1) Whoever gets hit, is the loser and takes a shot. 2) If both miss, both take a shot.  3) If Abby attempts to interfere/stop the duel to save Cory, then Scott takes a shot. Thus, Duke Cory was the winner!

Cory and Scott ended up both taking shots together! Many of the other guests (mainly the gentlemen) also dueled it out!

A Grand Finish with Champagne Fountain and Promenade

With “A Grand Finish” playing, we popped sparking wine/lemonade and filled the champagne fountain.

We had all the couples promenade through sparklers.

Other Activity Ideas

We ended up not being able to do the following activities we had brainstormed:

• Pall Mall (Croquet) – We set this up but it was so hot and there were so many other activities, we didn’t get much participation. We would have liked to include a competition for the Black Mallet of Death (as featured in Bridgerton Book 2 – “The Viscount Who Loved Me”).
• Simon Says – With “Call Me Simon” playing, play this game with the kids (or adults!)
• Crafting setup upstairs for kids to make fascinators or masks with feathers, flowers, beads, etc.
• Marbles – Gregory is shown playing with marbles on the floor (we could have done this with the kids)
• Boxing – Abby did this at their gender reveal so we opted not to do a boxing match

Decorations

The Bridgerton show has lots of wisteria (white and purple), roses, and tulips (symbolize passion) so these were the inspiration for the decor. Each room had a slightly different color scheme (blue, pink, and purple with white, gold, or silver accents). The show starts with the Bridgerton’s wearing light blue and the Duke maroon/pink and then they shifts to purple once they are married. I followed a similar transition with the rooms, with purple being the final patio area to signify Emory being a blend of Abby & Cory. In each room, we mixed and matched china and teapots, including china from our Grandma Schatz (featured above the mantle). Thanks Kathy for letting us borrow all your amazing antiques, including all the sterling silver teapots and servers!

“Blue” Dining Room

“Pink” Rooms

“Purple” Patio

Favors

I made a thank you card with the Sweet Baby Emory Ray design and put this with tea bags in clear favor bags.