Haywood Hall House + Gardens | Baby Shower Welcoming Baby Denton

Haywood Hall House and Gardens was the perfect backdrop for Danny and Shay’s baby shower in Raleigh last weekend. On this special occasion, we kicked things off with maternity pictures for Danny and Shay. Shay had all of my respect for doing this at 36 weeks in heels and in all of this heat, but she handled it with so much grace.

After a few minutes, we headed inside where guests were leaving baby predictions as they entered, grabbing drinks, and catching up. Then, the family gathered to pray and eat.

Oak City Bubbly and Beverage Co. was there to keep everyone hydrated.

After everyone had eaten, it was time for the games to begin. Who doesn’t love a good baby shower game? First up was the baby food challenge.

I think it’s safe to say that both Danny and Shay have outgrown the taste for baby food :)

I think, at this point, we just decided it was a tie…

Next up was the popular baby shower game: the baby drinking game. The only rule was that there was no water allowed. Beverages ranged from beer to rosé. Competition was fierce and there may have been a couple of dads who cheated (yep, they got caught taking sips early), but in the end, there was a winner by a landslide!

And finally, it was time to guess the size of the bump. It was so funny to see how different everyone’s guesses were, but there were a shocking number of people who came within inches! I’m still not sure who was officially the winner, but I think everyone could agree that Danny had an unfair advantage.

They say it takes a village to raise a child. Baby Denton has that in spades. This family was a dream to work with! Everyone was so friendly and excited to see each other. The love and excitement was flowing all throughout the day. When Shay’s mom commissioned me to photograph this baby shower, she mentioned that it was one of the things that was important to Shay. It may not occur to everyone to have a professional photographer capture events like this, but I love when families make it a priority. Having a photographer at your baby shower allows you to have portraits taken with grandparents, cousins, and friends that you may not have seen in awhile. As Danny and Shay prepare to relocate to Texas, these images are ones that they can share with all of their guests and keep as a reminder of this chapter of their lives together.