My younger sister, Maddy, the middle sister of us three sisters is due any day with the first baby on my side! (We have 8 nieces and nephews on Ben’s side!) We had originally planned for her shower at the beginning of May, but as Covid-19 hit the date got pushed back and then pushed back again to the end of the month and we had to figure how to safely throw a shower during Coronavirus.

So of course first we had to come up with a theme! Maddy loves has Mickey Mouse, in most of her pictures as a kid she’s wearing something Mickey. And for her wedding she basically got a Mickey kitchen between what my sister and I bought her. 🙂 So for her baby shower it only seemed fitting to go with one of Mickey’s catchphrases, “Oh boy!” I had a lot of fun designing the invitation and then everything for the shower kind of matched that.

We had sent out the invitations for the original shower at the beginning of May and so my mom and youngest sister sent out a letter to each guest. The letter explained that we would be having a “Drive Thru Baby Shower” and what they should expect. You can download the Rescheduled Shower Letter if you’re rescheduling a shower or thinking about planning a drive thru shower. This letter is for a baby shower, but it could easily be adapted for a bridal shower.

My youngest sister, Kristina and her husband Phil have a beautiful house in Pittsburgh and their wrap around porch was perfect for the setup. (I spy my dog-nephew, Finn!) We set everything up on the porch in case it rained, but as you’ll see we also set up space in their back yard with tables and chairs that were socially distanced.

My mom wanted a sign that we could use for the baby shower, but that she could also use again to put in Maddy’s yard when the baby is born so I designed this!

On a side note, I love Vista Print! I started ordering from them around 10 years ago when I started my photography. Then I ordered a ton of stuff for our wedding 8 years ago and have ordered so much more for other weddings, showers and my business. They do an amazing job! Their printing color always matches my screen and if something is wrong (which has happened only once or twice) they fix it right away. I ordered invitations, stickers, thank you notes and this sign all from Vista Print. 

My Aunt Karen made this Mickey Mouse paper chain, it’s just so cute!

My mom did hand soap as the favor (you could also do hand sanitizer), pretty fitting if you throw a shower during Coronavirus. lol Maddy’s husband, Steve’s mom and sister made these adorable baby boy popcorn and flower favors!

I also printed out cards for guests to guess the name, date of birth, weight, length, etc. I bought enough pens so that people didn’t have to reuse pens.

Finn liked to welcome everyone that came to the shower.

Before the shower started we got pictures with family. We had all been in extra cautious quarantining mode for the weeks leading up to the shower so we knew it was safe to be around each other.

Me with my sissys!

We included my Aunt Karen and mom 🙂

And this is Maddy’s mother-in-law and sister-in-law.

Now on to a little bit more of the logistics of the shower. If you read the letter that we had sent people, we told them to briefly visit or to say “Hi” from their cars between a certain time and that food would be served in to-go containers.  My mom bought a whole bunch of to-go containers so that guests wouldn’t be leaning over the food while they filled their plates. We had desserts in one container, fruit in another container and the main food in another container. Only the main food needed to be served when guests arrived and my Aunt Karen or mom did that.

We wrapped the plasticware upside down in the napkins so that when someone went to grab a set they touched the handles, not the top of the plasticware that you eat off of. And drinks were all in bottles or cans. Don’t worry, we had plastic bags for everyone to put all that stuff in if they chose not to stay and eat.

As you can see we even took the food to the cars.

I don’t have a picture of the whole back yard, but here’s an example of how chairs were spaced out around the yard. We also had two tables with a couple chairs around them.

Ahhh!!! I hadn’t seen my best friend, Chelsy, since Christmas!! It was so hard not to give her a big hug!!

And when pictures were taken it was like this. They look kind of awkward, but at least we got to capture who came to visit. (This is Maddy’s best friend, Brianna. You might recognize her, I shot Brianna’s wedding a couple of years ago!)

Maddy also stood at a distance with her mask on and opened gifts from those who wanted to see her open their gift.

My Grr (grandma) hasn’t left her house since before quarantine took place, we weren’t even sure if she was going to come to the shower. But she came at the very end when the shower was basically over. It was the perfect time for someone who has to be extra cautious to visit and be able to attend her granddaughter’s baby shower.

I couldn’t help myself, I wanted Maddy to open Ben and my gift! All Mickey Mouse of course!

I love that Maddy has a mask on, but you can still totally see her excitement!

I started doing this for my best friends’ kids, I make them a quilt. I have a quilt that someone gave to my mom at my baby shower that I grew up with. And I’m a strong enough woman to admit that whenever I have a migraine or an especially bad day I still pull it out because it’s what comforts me. So when I make one of the quilts I say they are to be used and loved well, not preserved on a shelf or rocking chair. My sisters have watched me make these quilts for my friends and jokingly asked will they get one when they have a kid, which of course they would! So Maddy got her first quilt 🙂 And of course it’s Mickey themed!

I also always hand sew either the first name initial (if I know it) or last name initial in a heart on the back of the quilt. Since the baby’s last name is DeAngelis I did the letter D and how fitting is it that I got to use the Disney font for the Disney D!

One other side note, none of this quilt could have happened if it weren’t for Ben. I design the initial quilt with the fabric I want to use. Then Ben figures out all the measurements, all the fabric is washed in allergy-free and scent-free detergent, he cuts the fabric and pieces and irons all the fabric as I sew. That’s really all I do is the initial design and sewing. He does the rest. We became quite the pair while working on this quilt.

Chelsy’s mom gave my mom a grandma gift! Such a good idea, I’ve never thought to do that! Grandmas have the kiddos over too and need bibs, sippy cups and so much more.

Once “visiting hours” were over we all took off our masks and Maddy opened all of the gifts.

So that’s how to throw a shower during Coronavirus! We all thought the drive thru idea worked out really well and Maddy felt like she was still able to have a baby shower and not miss out on that tradition.