Celebrating Baby to Be Miliana!

Mahsa and Johnathan “Big Hank” Hankins are about to be new parents. Their little girl, Miliana, will be the first Raider’s Baby to be born here in the Las Vegas valley. My couple wanted to celebrate together with a co-ed shower that would allow all of their family and friends to come together in their new home state.

Planning a baby shower is always special, but when the little one is the subject of so much fanfare, and with COVID 19 still being a significant concern, I knew that I needed to design something beautiful and sweet, that also showed the proper amount of respect to the times that we are living in.

Mahsa and Hank love sweets, and the first thing my mamma-to-be asked about was a cake. Knowing that they loved all things sugary and sweet, I started with a sorbet and sherbet color palette. We kept the overall design from feeling too precious and overly girly by mixing in the pale pinks that Mahsa loved with greens and yellows that kept Big Hank and his friends comfortable. We wanted to celebrate the little girl coming into the world, with a grown up flare that would keep the adults in the room happy and excited.

Once we knew what we wanted the event to feel like, we needed to find a venue. Mahsa really wanted her guests to feel at home, despite their house not being quite through the building process. I suggested they take a look at Lotus House, an emerging venue that I have partnered with, and they immediately fell in love with the grounds and the interior. With pristine white walls, slate grey flooring, and a beautiful built-in bar, Lotus House was modern, comfortable, and luxurious. Set on 1.5 acres of land, this venue gave us more than enough space to set up big, beautiful furnishings and massive balloon installations while also allowing guests to celebrate in a socially distanced manner.

Javier Valentino took a turn at something new and created the most over-the-top balloon installations. We wanted to set the stage from the moment that guests entered the venue with floor to ceiling tunnel that opened up into the space. Clusters of massive balloons came trailing down the floating staircase as a greeting, hugging a ring dressed in baby’s breath, roses, and additional balloons.

As always, the pretty is important, but the process has to make sense. We could not pretend to live in a world where Covid-19 does not exist, and we took the proper precautions to ensure that we were able to gather safely. While guests all arrived wearing their own masks, we temperature-checked everyone at the door before they entered. Then, they were given hand sanitizer and spray, plus additional branded masks with Baby Miliana’s name embossed upon the top in gold foil.

Our friends from By Dzign provided us with pink velvet sofas and love seats, high gloss white tables, and ghost chairs. We had both traditional cocktails and mommy-approved mocktails from Events with a Twist, and catering was provided by Cut & Taste. For the confections, we worked with Mahsa and Hank’s favorite bakery, Need for Sweets, and the music was provided by Sound Fusion.

Many thanks to Blush Baby Photo Studios for the photos and Rising Suns Studio LLC for the video coverage.

For some, it may feel strange to have hosted an event in a time like this, but life is here to be celebrated! Pandemic, economics, social change…We as people want to be together. We crave each other, and we need each other. Baby Miliana and her parents deeply deserved this party, and I was tickled pink to deliver it for them!

Always…a

CREDITS:

Las Vegas Weddings & Event Planner Andrea Eppolito. Hosted at Lotus House. Photos by Blush Baby Studio. Floral and Balloons by Javier Valentino. Rentals by By Dzign. Catering by Cut & Taste Las Vegas. Beverages by Events with a Twist. Cake by Need for Sweets. DJ by Sound Fusion.