Your relative, best friend, or co-worker is coming upon their final stages of pregnancy, and you’ve stepped up to host their baby shower. Chances are you’re searching the Internet for the best ideas, tips, and tricks. Well, you’ve come to the right place! This is your step-by-step guide on how to host a baby shower everyone will remember.
4 Important Things You Should Know Before Hosting a Baby Shower
Nothing can make party planning more stressful than dealing with the unexpected. Keep the following in mind before you plan to host a baby shower.
Scheduling
Most baby showers are planned toward the end of the second trimester, or the beginning of the third. Make sure you, the mom-to-be, and prospective guests will be available to party around that time. This will also give out-of-towners an opportunity to block the time off to attend.
Expectations
Unless you are hosting a surprise baby shower, it is important to understand the expectations of the mom-to-be. Does she want a particular theme, certain foods and beverages, or a certain location? Including what mama wants will result in a shower she truly desires.
Budget
Even with all the freebies and deals you can find, hosting a baby shower will cost money. As you’ll see below, there will be lots of expenses to take into consideration from decorations and party favors to food and beverages. Planning a budget ahead of time will keep you from overspending.
Solicit Help
The tasks that go into putting on a good baby shower can be a lot for one person to handle. Consider getting a few friends on board to help share the responsibility and make the load lighter.
How to Host a Successful Baby Shower
To help you put on a baby shower for the books, we will look at 5 of the most important aspects of hosting a memorable party for the mom-to-be.
The Baby Shower Invitations
Believe it or not, but the party starts with the invitations. You can wow guests well before the party begins all while enticing them to make sure they don’t miss the special gathering. There are a variety of invitation styles to choose from general to personalized and paper to digital.
Choose what works best for your prospective guests. Speaking of guests, be sure to send invitations three to four weeks before the baby shower is set to take place. This will give guests time to plan ahead. Also make sure the mom-to-be has her registry set up so the information can be included in the invitation. Other important information to consider including in the invitations are:
- The date and time.
- Location.
- Contact information (of the host).
- RSVP request.
Baby Shower Refreshments
Next to wowing potential guests with the invitations is giving the ones who actually make it to the party something else to talk about – and that’s the food. The refreshments offered at the baby shower is another essential part of the planning and typically depends on the time of day the party will be held.
In recent times, things have changed a lot; so, consider the following ideas:
- Breakfast or Brunch Baby Shower
- Baby Shower Buffet
- Baby Shower Finger Foods
- Baby Shower Potluck (great substitute for food catering)
- Baby Shower Dessert Party
- Baby Shower BBQ
- Mom-to-Be Favorite Foods
- Baby Shower Tea Party
Regardless of what you choose, don’t forget to take into consideration the new mom’s diet restrictions and/or food allergies (if applicable).
Baby Shower Theme and Decorations
This is said to be the funnest part of planning for a baby shower host. Some would argue that less is more, but again, the possibilities are endless. If the mom-to-be has found out the gender, you could always take the traditional “It’s a Girl!” or “It’s a Boy!” route. Or, you can incorporate one (or more) of the following ideas:
- Culture-inspired
- Match the season (or weather)
- Personalized (with ultrasound and/or parents-to-be photos)
- Balloons
- Paper lanterns
- Tassels
- Diaper cake(s)
You can also use the party decorations to help create fun memories. Use picture frames as a way to show off the new baby and have guests use a permanent marker to sign it. The same can be done on tassels, diapers, or paper lanterns.
Baby Shower Games and Prizes
If you’re worried about keeping guests occupied and entertained, baby shower games and prizes are sure to do the trick. Because of its long-standing tradition, guests pretty much anticipate the games. While the traditional games may be most hosts go-to, there are more modern-day games that will get just as many – if not more – laughs.
To easily incorporate games into the party, use them as ice breakers, after-meal entertainment, and party enders. Having them spread out will keep guests from getting bored and help with transitioning to another party activity. There are many games to choose from: bingo, word search/scramble, trivia, guessing, and the like.
When it comes to prizes, keep them short and sweet. Utilize the dollar isle at Target or even the dollar stores. Purchasing things in bulk and breaking them down will make prizes stretch further as well.
Baby Shower Favors
Although the guests don’t come to the baby shower expecting to get showered themselves, it is still a kind gesture to send your guests home with a little gift. The trick is to send them home with a useful shower favor, instead of one that will get thrown in the trash. Useful baby shower favors don’t have to be elaborate or expensive either.
If you have a medium to large crowd, consider using treat bags with cookies, popcorn, or a trail mix as a lot of these can be made without breaking the bank. For smaller crowds consider gifts such as:
- Sugar scrubs
- Lip balms
- Cookie ingredients in a jar
- Gift cards
Now that you know how to host a memorable baby shower, check out how to write the perfect baby shower invitation (or announcement).