How To Plan A Baby Shower
Planning a baby shower, or attending one, is a perfect way of spending time with a mother-to-be before the little one’s arrival.
What better way than a baby shower to welcome new life into a friend and family group and to support the mother-to-be. If you’ve been chosen as chief planner, then read on! We’ve put together a few handy hints and tips from baby shower gifts ideas, baby shower game ideas and just about everything in between to make sure the special day goes as smoothly (and looks as good) as possible.
The Location
At the moment, this will most likely be a virtual gathering so picking the location won’t be a problem (phew!). However, it’s still nice to make things look special even when at home so read on for some decoration ideas!
In normal times, a baby shower is a great chance to try out a new, interesting location such as that lunch spot you’ve been looking for an excuse to try or why not splurge a little on a venue with a wow-factor. There are plenty of offers available for afternoon tea, brunch or even spa packages in beautiful, interesting locations up and down the country. If you’ve got an avid cook in the group you could opt for a meal in someone’s home, spread the cost with a small donation for food from everyone invited. A pow-wow around the kitchen table, with good food (and wine for those without a baby on board) is a perfect, relaxed way to spend an afternoon or evening.
Baby Shower Themes and Decoration Ideas
Once the location is chosen, it’s time to decide on a theme. If you know the gender of the baby, you could perhaps tailor the theme and colours to suit. If the gender is unknown, a more neutral theme is perfect – opt for greys, creams, yellows, corals and whites for a stunning, neutral look.
It is important to choose the theme early on as it will help guide your decisions with other elements of the day such as invitations, decorations and the cakes.
Baby shower decorations can really help set the scene – make sure you stick to the underlying theme, so everything runs consistently throughout. Key decorations to think about are balloons, banners, bunting, tableware and photos of the mum-to-be from years gone by.
Check out some of our suggestions for baby shower decorations below.
Baby Shower Invitations
When it comes to the guest list for the baby shower, you will have to work closely with the mum-to-be to make sure everyone she would like to be there is on the invite list. Once you’ve got the list, and you’ve set a date – it’s time to create the invites…
You should aim to send the invites out around six weeks before the shower – this will give the guests plenty of time to reserve the date and shop for gifts for the newborn. If you don’t receive a response, then make sure you chase the guests – you don’t want them to miss out on the big event.
Baby Shower Games
There are many great baby shower games that are designed to get everyone involved and most importantly give the mum-to-be a day to remember.
One baby shower game guaranteed to get a laugh involves a little bit of pre-planning. Get your guests to dust down their photo albums before the party and provide you with their cutest (or better still, funniest) baby photo. Pass them around for a game of who’s who. Another great game is The Nursery Rhyme Quiz – simply type out a list of nursery-rhyme snippets (make enough copies for all your guests) and ask everyone to fill in the blanks. The person who completes the most correctly wins. These games can all be done virtually too which is perfect if everyone can’t be in the same place.
For more ideas, see our Five Fun Baby Shower Games blog post.
If full on baby shower games and scenarios aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, then treat the gathering as just that – friends and family getting together to spend quality, un-interrupted time with someone dear to them. You could put a crafting focus on the baby shower and get to try out something new. With tutors available for everything from modern calligraphy to giant needle knitting out there it’s easy to find an activity that will entertain everyone. We’ve been to a baby shower where everyone sat around (post food) making pom-poms that were turned into a decoration for the baby’s room. If you haven’t made pom-poms in a while take it from us, it’s more fun than it sounds.
Baby Shower Favour Ideas
As the shower comes to an end and everyone begins to leave, it’s nice to give a parting gift to thank your guests for attending. It doesn’t have to be anything extravagant, just something small as a nice favour. Baby shower favours could include bubble bath, bath bombs, scented soaps or even just some sweet treats. All these favours are great crowd pleasers and are sure to end the day on a high.
Most importantly, wherever you hold the event and however many people attend, be sure to create a baby shower that your nearest and dearest will be excited to attend and give the mum-to-be a well-earned day she’ll remember for a long time.
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