My Daughter's Red Egg & Ginger Party

A garden-style take on a traditional event.

In Chinese custom, a baby is celebrated after birth, not typically before. Reason being that surviving pregnancy and childbirth was a big deal, especially if he or she survived the first 100 days of life. A Red Egg and Ginger party is like a "presentation" party of the baby and a coming-out party for the mother who also has been recovering.

Red = good fortune

Egg = new start / birth

Ginger = strong family

I'm always proud to engage in Chinese traditions, especially if it exposes others to my heritage! It was surreal to throw this event for my very own child after attending several growing up.

Photography by Stuart Mar

Of course when gathering inspiration for this party, Pinterest and Google searches were filled with run-of-the-mill red and gold soirées. I rarely use red in my arrangements since it's such a stark color. Incorporating it tastefully into the color palette was my goal. I decided to go with shades of pink and magenta with pops of rich red (very different than the orange-y red you see in a lot of roses). My mom had purchased this dress for my daughter weeks back, so I used it as inspiration for the color palette!

(Dress from Janie & Jack)

Unfortunately I didn't get enough pictures of my centerpieces because I was too rushed making 10 of them whilst caring for my daughter (always a regret not spending time photographing in my studio!). Some rough iPhone photos will have to do!

Ingredients List:

Pink Dahlias
Red Ranunculi
Pink Lisianthuses
Magenta Cosmos
Blush variegated Hydrangea
Red Celosia
Purple Mums
Hot Pink Sweet Pea
Purple Globe Amaranth (photo courtesy of Google since I didn't take one)

All these flowers were from various vendors at the LA Flower Market. Most were from Sunrise Wholesale.

My bathroom studio where I try to keep flowers happy in cooler temps.

I used hydrangea, globe amaranth, and ranunculi for the cake. I love the effortless look of the hydrangea, however that probably wasn't the best decision on a hot day.

I did a few additional pieces for the cake and welcome tables which were more Ikebana style. I secretly love Ikebana and found the perfect opportunity to pare down ingredients with these ornate Chinese vases. See below my rushed iPhone photography again: