Joyce Pring’s Pandemic Friendly Drive-By Baby Shower Is The Cutest Thing Ever

We got the deets on Joyce Pring’s virtual baby shower turned surprise drive-by baby shower!

In the time of Zoom birthday parties and baby showers, getting creative about celebrating can be tricky. After all, there’s only so much you can do online. But how can one still make a celebration special AND keep it COVID-19 protocol friendly? Joyce Pring’s friends’ solution? A drive by baby shower for Joyce and her husband, actor Juancho Triviño. We had a chat with Joyce Pring about her baby shower, how her closest friends planned the party and what it’s like to expect a baby during a pandemic…

A new normal

For moms-to-be, the pandemic has thrown a major curveball. Whether it’s dealing with unexpected changes to hospital policies, having to do one’s prenatal appointments and birthing classes via Zoom — it can be tough, especially when you’re already fraught with worry about having your first baby. “We had to do our birthing classes via Zoom, ” Joyce explains. “It was an eight hour call, if you can imagine that. It was crazy. ” But instead of feeling defeated and exhausted about being pregnant during a pandemic, Joyce and her husband sees it as a challenge and an opportunity to rise from a difficult situation.

“When you’re carrying a bundle of joy inside your tummy, all that fear and worry turns into courage. You’re constantly thinking about how to protect your baby and how you need to be that person who’s courageous for your baby,” she says. And as first time parents, both Joyce and Juancho are just plain excited about having a baby. “We don’t have any experience so we’ve been doing all the research. The best we can do is prepare and read all the books. But we know it will be different once he actually gets here and start taking care of our baby,” Juancho chimes in.

While the couple have yet to decide on the name for the baby boy — they say they’ll wait ’til he comes — what they’re certain of is how they want to raise their son. “We want him to grow up loving God, loving his family and serving and being respectful, kind, compassionate and empathetic to the community that he belongs in. I want for us to support him in all his hopes and dreams. I want him to be empathetic and compassionate — I think that’s really important,” Joyce says.

The drive by baby shower

The pandemic has undoubtedly forced us to dig deep and get creative. We’ve learned how to adapt celebrations and make it social distancing friendly. The drive-by baby shower is a trend that recently emerged (no) thanks to the pandemic, where friends and family drive by one’s house and shout out their greetings, honk their horns and play music. For Joyce, the drive-by shower was completely unexpected. In fact, she had planned to throw the party herself over Zoom! Her friends were quick to veto the idea, convincing her to just block off the date and see what happens.

“Two of our best friends, Faith and Rhona, came over during the day and told me to stay upstairs. I thought they were preparing the Zoom party! Then our ninang Cathy and my stylist Dana came over. They all planned it and put it all together. When we got out of the house and saw the set up and saw everybody in their cars, we were just so surprised!” Joyce shares.

Everyone near and dear to Joyce and Juancho’s heart drove by — some even braving the traffic and distance. “Seeing our family and closest friends and seeing their cars decorated, it was really such a great idea. I loved that they put so much heart into it and we just felt so loved,” she says.

Above all, she appreciates how creative her best friend, Faith was and how COVID-19 friendly the whole set-up was. Nobody was allowed to stay, everyone just dropped their gifts, said hello and took a photo with Joyce and Juancho. Everyone involved was tested, and everything was set up outside to minimize contact.

The set up

With her Ninang Cathy Ebuen from Events Embassy at the helm of coordinating and designing the baby shower, Joyce claims that the drive-by baby shower was bound to be beautiful. The styling itself was done by Michael Ruiz, who chose warm, neutral colors with a boho theme, similar to Joyce and Juancho’s wedding. To keep with the theme, Balloonery by Liz crafted a gorgeous balloon backdrop in earthy colors, that appeared as if it were spilling out of the couple’s balcony.

Despite the uncertainty that the pandemic brings, there’s no doubt that this special drive-by baby shower played a huge part in reassuring Joyce and Juancho — and their baby boy — just how beloved they are. And during these isolating times, the gift of family and friends is exactly what we need.

Check out Joyce’s full list of suppliers here:

Suppliers:
Events Embassy: @eventsembassymnl @parteesbyeventsembassy 
Michael Ruiz Events Styling: @michaelruizeventstyling
Balloons: @balloonery.by.liz 
Cake: @honeyglazecakes 
Photo: @visualsbyalaz 
Video: @notioninmotion

Giveaways:
Baby Bench – @benchtm
The Face Shop – @thefaceshopph
Gatorade – @gatorade
Pepsi – @pepsiph
Jollibee – @jollibee
Grab vouchers – @grab_ph