Organising a Baby Shower
Traditionally, baby showers are organised by the mother, sister, or best friend of the mum-to-be. As the new mum, you would be the guest of honour and should be left just to enjoy the party. Often friends or relatives will help with the organisation to take the load off one or two people.
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A healthy baby in the 25th week of pregnancy is approximately 33 centimetres tall and weighs around 800 grams.
A healthy baby in the 25th week of pregnancy is approximately 33 centimetres tall and weighs around 800 grams.
The best time to hold a baby shower
The baby shower is traditionally celebrated on or after the 25th week of pregnancy. This is about two-thirds of the way through the pregnancy which gives plenty of time before the birth.
However, you should set aside a lot of time for the preparations because there is a lot to organise. If you need help on how to organise a baby shower, download our baby shower organiser checklist. Give yourself about 2 months for the baby shower planning and preparations.
Choosing a baby shower location
Where you hold the baby shower will depend on many factors – for example, if the party is meant to be a surprise. If the mum-to-be knows about the party, then the easiest place to hold it would be at her home as she would not have to travel or transport the presents back with her. When planning a party at the mum-to-be’s home, it is important to remember not to stress her too much as stress can adversely affect pregnancy.
It is best to prepare as much as possible in advance at home, i.e. the baby shower food and decorations as well as everything you need for the baby shower games. Come the day, all that will need doing is setting up and final touches. When setting up, send the mum-to-be out for a nice walk so she can enjoy a surprise when she sees the final baby shower decorations.
If the mum-to-be’s house is not big enough to host a party, then a nearby friend’s house will be the next best thing. Alternatively, you can host the baby shower in a local café.
Set the budget before you start the planning as it will set the framework of the party.
Set the budget before you start the planning as it will set the framework of the party.
Baby shower budget
Before you start any party preparations, you need to set a budget for the party. Your budget will determine how big the party will be, whether you can rent a venue and the quality of the decorations. You may decide to give the baby shower as your gift to the mum-to-be to increase the budget. A way of keeping the costs down would be to ask everyone to contribute some food to the party. If everyone agrees, then you could share the costs of the party amongst the guests. It is a good idea to start talking about this with the other guests as soon as possible.
Baby shower invitations
Once you have a guest list for the party, include details such as home address or e-mail address. If you send out e-mail invitations, then leave a space on our list to mark down who is coming.
While e-mails are a practical way to send out baby shower invitations, they don’t quite have the personal touch of a homemade card. There are many design options for homemade cards. If you want a baby-themed card, you could cut out some baby socks or a baby bodysuit using coloured paper and then simply decorate it with coloured pens and write your message on the back. If you really want to be fancy, you could send out actual baby suits with your message written using textile markers! A bonus is the mum-to-be will have a collection of nicely decorated and useful bodysuits to remind her of her baby shower.
Include the following information in your invitations:
- Date and location of the event
- The duration of the baby shower
- The theme of the event (summer party, girly pink etc.)
- Request a RSVP and give a cancelation date
- Link to the gift list
- List of items to bring
- Contact information of the organiser
What to wear
A baby shower is not a format event, so there is no dress code. But as it is a special celebration, it is nice to dress up accordingly. Light fabrics, bright colours and some cute accessories would be perfect. If you already know the gender of the baby or the colour theme of the party, you can use these colours as a guide. The mum-to-be should feel festive and, of course, comfortable. Luckily, there are beautiful maternity fashion items suitable for all occasions.
A homemade wreath of colourful wildflowers decorates the guest of honour at the baby shower and makes even a simple outfit look festive.
A homemade wreath of colourful wildflowers decorates the guest of honour at the baby shower and makes even a simple outfit look festive.
More baby shower ideas
The easiest way to organise a baby shower is to decide on a theme and then base everything around that theme. If the decorations, food, and games are well synchronised, it will add a professional feel to the party. We have lots more information and inspiration on decorations, party food and great baby shower games.
Guest book
While it’s not essential to have a guest book, it will help preserve some great memories. You can design the guest book to suit the number of guests and as baby showers tend to be smaller with around 6 to 15 guests, making a small cute one works well.
A guest book for fingerprints is a cute idea. Simply draw a little bear or rabbit holding some balloon strings on an A5 or A4 sheet (depending on the number of guests). Then the guests add their fingerprints to ‘draw’ on the balloons. Use an ink pad or some watercolours for the fingerprints. With a nice frame, this would look fantastic on the nursery wall.
Alternatively, you can buy a small, white baby bodysuit and let the guests decorate it with their congratulations, messages, and names. The bodysuit guest book would also look lovely framed on the wall. If you choose a larger bodysuit size, the baby can even wear the ‘guestbook’ later.
Giveaways
It is traditional to give the party guests a small present to take home. Small sweets and a little gift are the perfect icing-on-the-cake after a fantastic party.
A great way to parcel up the gifts is to use empty baby food jars. After a good wash out and thorough drying, fill the jars with pink and white chocolate chips and decorate them with bows and pretty labels. Nail polish is another great gift idea: You could match the colours of the party theme or the gender of the baby.
Create memories
After such a fun event, you will want to remember your baby shower for many years to come. Luckily, everyone has a smartphone with them, so there are sure to be lots of great snapshots from the party. You could also set up a photo booth in the corner with lots of props to encourage guests to take photos. For example, you could add some balloons and encourage guests to take a ‘pregnancy picture’ of themselves. Or you could add some sunglasses, feather boas, and various hats so your guests can get creative and take some fun photos. With an instant camera, you can give your guests the best snapshots to take home.
Tip: Create a chat group to organise the baby shower. Here you can easily coordinate and distribute tasks. After the organising phase, you can add the mum-to-be to the group and use it to share your photos of the party. A photo book with a collection of the best memories of the baby shower also makes a great gift.
Image sources:
iStock.com/Zinkevych
iStock.com/jacoblund
iStock.com/Melpomenem