Baby Shower
My baby shower
dessert table set up.
Time to celebrate the future new arrival of little baby! Ok now some baby showers you go to can be pretty lame…no offense! So I will give you some tips and ideas to make it a memorable party:)
Maybe you feel uncomfortable having a shower by basically asking people to buy stuff for you. But please don’t. We are all woman, we should support each other. And raising a baby is hard frickin work! It takes a village. You will have a lot of varied price ranges of items on your registry so people can just contribute whatever they can, no pressure. Bridal showers on the other hand I get annoyed about - most people are already moved in by the time they get engaged so you don’t need things for your home. SO most people are just asking for money which is frustrating because weddings are already expensive as it is. Baby showers are a different story. This is a whole new endeavour- one for which many people don’t have any supplies lying around especially with your first baby. Once the baby comes, it will be more difficult especially at the beginning to see all your friends and family. So this is a nice time to be able see everyone and celebrate before baby comes and things become quite chaotic. People sometimes opt to do a baby shower post baby to not jinx anything which works too! But those immediate newborn supplies you will have to get on your own.
So enjoy this time to celebrate with your close friends, your husbands friends wives/girlfriends and family!
Customarily, someone plans and throws the shower for you -> mother, mother-in law, sister, friend etc. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have any say or mention things you would like at the party. While still being grateful of course! Or you could not care at all and in that case let the party planner take care of it all. Also provide a list of the guests you would like at your party - your family may not know all your friends or coworkers from different avenues and you want to make sure they don't forget anyone you may want to include.
First choice is to decide if you will have a traditional only women shower or mixed gender party. Honestly, men don’t really care about baby items, themes etc., so sometimes it is nice to keep it just girls so you can have fun with the themes, decor and activities without worrying about appeasing the men - they will most likely be bored. Or if you do want mixed party - maybe you just want to keep it very casual, not with baby themes or games. Just a bbq where people bring baby presents instead of booze. Whatever your style! If you decide with the girls themed party, a way the boys can celebrate together is to do a diaper party. The guys can go to a bar or restaurant or someone hosts a bbq and everyone brings diaper packs instead of beer. Easy!
I will be discussing the more traditional baby shower with some modern twists to make the party fun, enjoyable and make for some girly bonding.
Another thing to think about if you want other babies or kids at the party. Generally I feel it’s nice to welcome your guests children especially since it makes it easier for them to bring them along instead of finding them care. As well you are celebrating a baby coming. But some people like to keep it a mature, relatively quiet adult party or maybe the setting is at restaurant so they don’t want kids running around. For my sister’s shower, I did not have my kids there, but more so because my mother and I were running around getting everything ready and during the party organizing games etc., so I just didn’t feel I had time to even watch them. If you have a bigger family it’s a bit easier since everyone will pitch in to keep an eye on them. Leave it to the host to explain if anyone asks about bringing their kids and make it clear on the invite you are just putting their name with no option of bringing guest. Babies I feel should never be vetoed out of a shower since we are welcoming a baby to come and babies are relatively quiet and stay with their moms. I do understand that toddlers and kids are another story - so up to your discretion.
For the baby shower outfit, it is always nice to have light colors, florals (if season appropriate) and wear something that shows off your belly a bit. Don’t try to hide it ! Everyone is going to want to see and touch it (warning!) and it is a time to celebrate your pregnancy and arrival of baby.
Another idea to put on the invitation which I really liked was instead of buying a card, buy a book for baby and write a note inside. I had it on my invitation, but it wasn’t clear (on the registry not the invite) so only a few guests did it. But it is such a nice idea since cards get thrown out anyways, you can find cheap baby books or a classic kids book anywhere and it’s a memory of the shower. By the end of it you will have a nice collection of stories for your child. It’s not fun for you to read the same stories all the time.
One last tidbit is to have a designated person to write down who gave what when opening presents if you do decide to open presents at the party - or even later when you open at the end of the party. It will be easier to send thank you cards and make them more personable. Some guests even go above and beyond and write down what they bought in the card.
Will continue on in the next post with the main factors to plan in baby shower…
Baby Shower dessert table
for my sister and floral crown making station