How to Throw a Mother Blessing
When a mom to be welcomes a new baby, a baby shower is typically thrown to help her start off with what she needs to begin her journey into motherhood. You play silly games, open presents and celebrate in bliss of what’s to come. It’s a beautiful thing and serves such an amazing purpose.
When baby number two rolls around - I HIGHLY encourage you to ditch the baby shower and have a Mother’s Blessing. (And for baby shower number one, I 10/10 recommend taking some of these sweet concepts and working them into your day!)
Now, I’ll warn you - when you google Mother Blessing (or Blessingway as it’s commonly called) you will find a variety of ways to celebrate that may not be right for you. Mother Blessings derive from Navajo tradition and are very earthy. In my research, I found certain parts of the celebration teetered on the line of not centering around Jesus - so I took the parts I loved and modified the rest to fit our mother to be.
Before planning the Mother Blessing, I asked our mama to be, Bridget, what she wanted to get out the event. She told me she wanted to feel loved, celebrated with the women she’s close to and “do the candle thing”.
That was all I needed to jump into action and begin planning. The first step of planning something like this is to do the research behind it if you’ve never done one before - as I dove in I learned that mother blessings are not only super uplifting and supportive of the mom, but they’re also an emotionally healing event. Mothers can heal from loss of a child or loved one, birth traumas and anxiety around birth, fears, or whatever strongholds the have in their lives that can be prayed in to. This fact alone changes the tone of the entire event.
No longer is it a surface level gathering where everyone smiles through their struggles - but rather an intentional gathering that fills everyone up with a sense of purpose and realness.
Attention to detail also matters! Catering to create an experience that is unique to the mama that’s being celebrated takes the entire event up a notch. Below I’m going to break down some of the elements that we landed on in hopes that it helps you plan you own uplifting celebration for a special mother in your life!
Our Mother Blessing Included:
A sentimental location: You can hold these indoors or outdoors - we landed on indoors to ensure weather wouldn’t be an issue and were able to utilize an event space that is nestled into the herbal shop that is owned by our mama to be’s sister - making it extremely special to them both.
Picnic tables: Bridget loved when she had a picnic on the beach for her birthday a few years ago, so it was a no brainer to turn the space we were given into an indoor picnic. The tables and pillows were loaned out to us from a local picnic company and we ordered the table clothes and decor to jazz the space up - I’ve linked all of the decor in my amazon storefront.
Food: We created a charcuterie table with a taco bar. There were a lot of dietary restrictions, so the entire table was Gluten Free and that the sugary options on the table were mostly derived from natural sugars. The table was loaded with Bridget’s favorites like stuffed peppers with bacon, cinnamon rolls, deviled eggs fruits, veggies and a taco bar.
Drinks: Bridget loves tea. It’s something she grew up on with her family and it holds special memories - so weeks before the party Danielle and I went thrifting and got the most beautiful tea cups to place on everyone’s table setting and Bridget’s sister (there herbalist) supplied the most delicious tea blends for the women at the party to enjoy. I threw in raw milk, raw cream and honey from the farm to add a farm fresh feel for everyone customizing their tea and for our non tea drinkers we had spindrift and Olipop available!
Memory Station: Including a table with memories was an important detail for our party. Above the table, we included pictures of family, birth announcements, previous pregnancies, and friends on the wall nestled in between birth affirmation cards (linked). The table was covered with a rainbow blanket that Bridget mentioned she loved so much in passing one day, and on top of the table we had a basket for her letters to be dropped into. It was a special corner and I’m so glad we included it for her. It really set the tone for going deeper than surface level during the Mother Blessing.
Letters: We asked everyone coming to write a very special letter to Bridget since words of affirmation are her love language. Each woman took their time prior to the party to handcraft a memory that Bridget will get to cherish forever. Having the hand written letters to take home and read also created a way for the party to keep going for Bridget, even after the celebration was over. Everyone dropped their letters into the basket I use on the farm to collect eggs or goods from the garden that was on the memories table - it made for a cute farm fresh piece!
Flower Crown: These crowns (also known as wreaths) represent love, fertility, and celebration - so it was a no brainer when we included this as a part of our celebration. We had the flowers hand crafted for Bridget’s crown (which is very delicate to handle, FYI) and then we ordered a matching crown for her daughter (linked) to wear as well from amazon that was nowhere near as delicate!
Candles: The candles were such a special feature - and the only request from Bridget - so they of course made the cut. We had the candles lined down the table setting, that were handmade by Bridget’s sister, for everyone at the event to be able to take one home. When Bridget goes into labor, each woman at the party will receive a text message letting them know to light their candles and Bridget’s candle will be lit and with her as she brings her sweet rainbow baby Earth side knowing that the women who lifted her up, empowered and encouraged her on this day are doing the very same and are actively praying over her and her baby in real time.
Encouragement: As everyone ate and enjoyed their food, we went around one by one and shared encouragement, advice, sweet memories, prayers, hope, support, and whatever they chose to share as a way to lift Bridget up and make this event so incredibly special. The things that were shared during this time are the very thoughts that Bridget will hold onto as she lights her candle, and it was truly so special.
Healing: After everyone lifted Bridget up with their words, she was given the floor to share her fears, anxieties, traumas - whatever she wanted to and afterwards we had a friend cover the entire room in prayer speaking truths over all of the lies that were standing in her way of anything shy of a redemptive, healing birth experience. It was truly beautiful.
Pampering: After we shared our thoughts and feelings, we moved onto our next station of pampering, the foot washing station. We left this station open to anyone who wanted to participate! For the foot washing station, we had flowers, oil and salt present for the women to use. The women were also encouraged to pray over Bridget, massage her shoulders, and love on her leaving her feeling pampered and supported.
After the pampering station, we all broke into our own conversations around the room and let the event fizzle out one by one as everyone left to head home with their candles in hand and restoration in their hearts.
It was one of the mot powerful and intentional events I’ve ever been a part of. If you have a mom to be that you think would love being lifted up by supportive and encouraging women in her life, I highly recommend throwing her a Mother Blessing.