Welcome to Jellymoon 2025
Photographs by Shana Jade.
Spread the Jelly was built on storytelling. We know, we know—everyone (and their mother, lol) says that. But what we really mean is peer-to-peer storytelling: women speaking directly to one another. The spectrum of the female experience is wide, and the number of times we’ve heard “I wish I’d known…” could be comical if it weren’t so telling. Only recently has it felt like the Great Vein of Womanhood—not just motherhood—has actually been tapped. The good, the bad, the sticky.
That’s the space we’ve tried to fill. We love a strong essay or feature (obviously), but at the center of everything is human connection. We want to bring women together. Life transitions—motherhood included but not limited to it—look different for everyone, and yet the thing we hear on repeat is the same: community matters. Having people who validate you and genuinely listen makes all the difference.
That’s how Jellymoon came to life, born from the same need for connection that’s guided us since day one. Jellymoon felt special because the intentions were clear: talk about the sticky—hopes, dreams, fears, worries. Put it all on the table. And once one person shared, everyone else felt comfortable being honest without judgment. Creating space for that kind of conversation is something we want to keep doing: on the site, in our Instagram comments, on Substack, and now, finally, in person.
A huge thank you to our co-hosts, Coterie, for helping bring this to life. And deep gratitude to Ritual, Bugaboo, and Bobbie for every detail (from caviar service to green smoothies to sleepy-girl mocktails) that made the weekend feel thoughtful and celebratory. Dream partners in every sense of the word. Here’s a look back at our very first Jellymoon. To many, many more.
Day One
For our first-ever Jellymoon, we packed our bags for Palm Heights in Grand Cayman. The spot felt right for a few reasons, mainly because of Gabriella Khalil, the hotel’s designer, who we featured in a Getting Sticky earlier this year. (Still obsessed with her unbothered approach to furniture: “If something gets a stain, it gets a stain.”)
We invited a mix of badass women: Kirsty Godso, Jen Ceballos, Brooke Devard, and Julia Lang, plus a few Getting Sticky alums like Dr. La Thoma, Chase Cohl, Diarrha N’Diaye-Mbaye, Erica Chidi, and Jordan Santos.
Our first activation was the Seen Library book-giving event, hosted by its founder, Jordan Santos. The books were curated with ~the sticky stuff~ in mind—stories that get to the messy, ever-changing core of motherhood. We talked about identity shifts, motherhood, and everything in between, completely unfiltered. We used our conversation starter cards (more on that soon) to skip the small talk and dive right into it. Then came dinner, a Ritual sleepy girl cocktail, and finally, the main event: eight hours of uninterrupted sleep.
Day Two
Woke up to green juices topped with vitamin D drops (thank you, Bobbie) and jumped straight into an early-AM rooftop workout with Kirsty Godso. Intense, but very good. We squeezed in some beach downtime before the next thing on our itinerary which was a living-room chat with Erica Chidi. Erica is a doula and one of our favorite humans (her newsletter, Soft Boundaries, is a must-read). She was also the first person to introduce us to the concept of biological empathy—the idea that you don’t need to be the birthing person to hold space for motherhood. Not to get on our soapbox, but naming it makes the whole “it takes a village” thing feel a little more real.
Our outdoor dinner was hosted by Coterie; mocktails and cocktails in signature Coterie blue were served, as was the surprise dessert. Something we really doubled down on was ensuring the seating charts were different for each meal and activation; it can be disengaging (and unintentionally clique-y!) when you sit next to the same select people every day. So musical chairs, it was! It was a treat to really bond with a new person at each moment of the event. We traded place cards for silk blue eye masks embroidered with each guest’s name, too.
The dinner was long and lots of signature drinks were had by the time we called it a night. Instead of chocolates on our pillows, we had a gift for the little ones courtesy of Coterie: a stuffie and the new baby-approved Coterie body wash, lotion, and bum balm, and a five-minute journal.
Day Three
Morning workouts, two days in a row, not delayed or cancelled by daycare drop-off or breakfast tantrums!? A real treat. This one was led by Dr. La Thoma and focused on stretching and breathing exercises, perfect for pregnant and postpartum women. Everyone got their choice of spa treatment, courtesy of our lovely pals at Coterie, which we wish we could relive over and over (and over) again.
And then: caviar in our rooms, served on fancy silver trays. The delivery was from Bugaboo, who also organized the evening’s festivities: PIZZA AND A MOVIE NIGHT. We ate slices and watched Baby Boom by the pool. If you haven’t seen Baby Boom, starring Diane Keaton and chronicling the chaos and humor of working motherhood, pause reading this article and stream it immediately. There is no required viewing to be part of the STJ community but if there was…
Our last note about the film, we promise, but luxury in motherhood = watching a film that’s not animated, celebrated at a Disney park, or comes with a sing-along that was fun the first time but grating by the 900th.
Day Four
The last day came too soon, but the sadness was softened by a morning delivery of coffee, breakfast pastries, and vitamins from Ritual. After packing up (and sneaking in a few more precious moments on the beach), we looked around and felt proud of what we’d built. Of course, the experience was a luxurious one. It’s pure bliss to get a massage under any circumstance, let alone while carrying a child or battling the sleep deprivation and chronic exhaustion of new motherhood. But what excites us most is that, hypothetically, the best parts of this trip can be replicated anywhere: simply by gathering women together over coffee and conversation.
As we’re reflecting on this past year (how is 2025 nearly over?!), Jellymoon was one of our biggest wins. We were able to gather a wildly impressive group of women, partnered with brands we admire so much, and really created the experience that we wish we’d had while we were pregnant. Not even the luxury and the pampering, to be honest, but the opportunity to talk to other women who have been through or are going through it.
And as we look back on that, we’ve been thinking about the massive growth we’ve seen in such a short amount of time. When we set out to build Spread the Jelly, we had a lot of naysayers in our ear: “Media is risky,” “the space is saturated,” “there’s already too much content.” It frustrated us because we found the opposite to be true. There were so few stories that truly centered the experience of the mother. The last year has proven that the naysayers were wrong.
Our essays and interviews are important because these stories are paramount to real change. They make us feel less alone, yes, but they can also spark action. Policies won’t shift in our favor unless we start speaking very loudly about them.
We’re so excited for the year ahead, and we want to thank everyone who’s helped us get here: brands who have supported us, talent who have interviewed with us, writers who’ve contributed their beautiful work, and of course, our readers. Thank you for every read, share, like, and comment!
