How To Plan A Baby Shower | The Foolproof Babyshower Planning checklist For The Host
Inside: Step by step checklist to planning a baby shower. From venue to food and outfit to decors, plan a baby shower that will leave your guests amazed.
Your best friend is expecting and you are going to become an aunt soon. You have taken the matter into your hand and decided to plan the most memorable baby shower. Yet you are clueless on where to start as this is your first time.
You have come to the right place.
When one of my close college mates and my current work buddy got pregnant, I was really confused because I had never hosted a baby shower up until then.
I was forced to plan everything within a short span of time and manage baby shower planning singlehandedly.
Here is the 15 step process that I followed which made my friends go aww in delight. It was simple yet personal and gave everyone the best experience and memories that wouldn’t fade. I have also included some money-saving tips here and there that can help you if you are short on budget.
#1. Plan The Date And Time
The very first step to planning any event is to find a convenient time that would fit both the host and guests. Open up the big news to your friend that you are throwing her an amazing baby shower and consult the date and timings when she will be available.
Month-wise, anywhere in between her 6th and early 8th month will be perfect for a pregnant woman to stay comfortable and enjoy the party.
In order to make the budget plan work for you, plan things two months in advance. This will help you order things beforehand and save some money out of that.
Saving tip: Fix the date and make sure you don’t change it unless there is some emergency.
#2. Prepare The Guest List
Now you have to make the guest list and find out the RSVP status.
Depending upon the venue, you have to plan the total number of guests. An intimate yet rocking baby shower will have 15 to 20 guests in general. This way it will be easy to manage the guests at the party and arrange food and refreshments.
Have 5 to 10 additional people on the list. Upon the RSVP confirmation, you can add people from this to the guest list.
Make sure you receive the confirmation within two to three weeks to plan everything ahead of time. You can use websites like RSVPify to send invitations and manage RSVP.
#3. Find A Theme
Having a theme helps you to stay organized when it comes to designing the venue.
Come up with a list of favorite things of your friend that you are aware of. Pick a theme where you can easily DIY or buy from local stores.
Going gender neutral is also going to help you save money as you are not going to limit your options. New-gen women love gender-neutral themes as it doesn’t tag the child with one particular color.
One of the money-saving themes that would never let you down is flowers. They are pleasant, inexpensive, and create a colorful background for some gram-worthy photos.
It is not necessary to have a theme too if you are basically creative. You can pick all sorts of decorations that would suit your friend’s liking and go with them.
#4. Picking A Venue
Here comes the most important step. You can plan it in any party hall, restaurant, or at your home.
70% of the baby showers either happen in the living rooms of one of the friends or in the backyard.
You can pick either of these options. If you feel like your home can handle this amount of guests and is located in a well-connected place, then choose it.
Backyard parties are more fun when there is an enjoyable livelihood and clean surroundings. Clear up the space, move the clutter and make the venue ready.
If both of these options are not suitable, then you can pick a nearby park. Speak with the respective officials and get a permit.
Or you can partner with any other friend of yours and organize this at their place.
#5. Gifts
You obviously cannot spare this from your list and have to get something for your friend or her baby. Get them something that they are going to use when they become parents.
You can buy a gift anywhere between $50 to $100 depending upon what you buy.
To gift something personal and effective, go for baby items like diaper essentials, cute onesies, cloth diaper kits, wipes dispensers, etc.
You can up it a notch by getting personalized towels or hand towels with your friend’s initials on them. (If they have decided on a name, use that).
Prefer offline shops like Dollar store or Costco where you can find anything among mother and baby categories.
Money-saving tip: Get this adorable changing table organizer that will be within your budget. You can buy some diapers, nappies, rash solutions, sanitizer and rattles, and fluffy toys, arrange them inside this, wrap it with a dollar store bow and present.
#6. Decor
It’s important to decide how you are going to decorate the venue so that you can plan and buy the materials needed. You don’t have to go minimalistic to cut corners unless you want that as your theme.
If the venue is going to be the living room of your home or your friends, start with deciding the color that will match your wall color and flooring.
Anything that’s handmade is going to add a personal touch to the party. For the backdrop, you can buy a white sheet and hand paint it with colors using stencils or brushes.
For wall decors, you can buy chart papers, ribbons, balloons, flowers and DIY them on your own. You can use objects available at your home as well.
Check out this page to get cheap decor ideas for any themed baby showers.
To create a perfect ambiance, you can keep some potpourri in a corner.
For photo props, check out these wonderful gender-neutral photo props that come with 15 pieces and are also pocket-friendly.
#7. Invitation
E-invites save time, money, and resources. There are plenty of free, online templates available on Canva that you can use to create the invitation.
Instead of buying designs or printing cards, use your designing skills and create a design with the help of online editing applications.
There are websites like Paperless posts where you can find a lot of customizable templates to send.
#8. Cakes And Desserts
Considering that the mommy-to-be is also going to eat all this, it’s best to prepare the desserts at home. Every group will have a baker enthusiast or someone who can manage to make and bake sugar goods. Use them wisely.
Get their help and hand over the responsibility to them instead of buying from pastry shops.
Some prefer to serve cookies or cupcakes along with the cake. You can help the main baker here to bake these extras.
If you are ordering pastries from a home baker, place your order one month in advance and let them know color, flavor requirements, and overall theme.
Remember that fresh handmade goods can fetch you plenty of compliments and are also good on the tummy.
Before you start the baking plans, check with the mom-to-be on safe and unsafe ingredients.
#9. Food & Refreshments
It’s etiquette to welcome the guests by offering them a drink. If you want to avoid spending too much money on alcohol, you can offer them teas, lemonades, orange juices, or fruit punches.
If you are planning to serve wine, you will need 5 to 6 bottles of wine for a guest of 20. You can return unopened bottles at the store.
Serving a full meal is a huge responsibility and going to consume your whole day if you are hosting at home.
So, you can go for light refreshments after choosing an ideal time where the guests would arrive at the party after having a meal.
You can split this among your friends too. Some items that you can serve are sandwiches, fruit salads, and waffles.
Go the extra mile and have a live counter for waffles or pancakes.
#10. Games And Activities
Trust me this is what is going to make the party more fun and memorable. Plan an activity keeping the age group of friends in mind.
You don’t have to spend money or resources to entertain the crowd. Following are some of the activities that you can try.
- Guess the baby item hidden in the bag.
- Mommy quizzes (you can get the questions online)
- Change the diaper with closed eyes
- Guess the baby pictures of celebrities
- Match the pair of socks lying among other clothes in a basket.
You can find other games too that wouldn’t require any new items to buy to spice up your party!
#11. Outfit
Theme outfits or a new dress sounds exciting! You can find an outfit that will match the theme of the party if you have one.
We all have that one dress lying in the top rack that we haven’t worn in ages yet still looks good. Get it, wash it and style it.
But as you are going to work and manage things at the party venue, find something cozy and comfortable that will let you move easily.
You can dress casually too if it’s going to be a small occasion that happens at home.
#12. Pamper The Mom-To-Be
Create a designated station for her to pamper her and satiate her cravings. It’s going to make your friend feel special and elated. It shouldn’t necessarily have food items.
You can even add a particular scent or smell she liked during her pregnancy. Collect them and display them in order with notes ‘smell me’, ‘feel me’, ‘have me’.
#13. Some Personal Touches
People love to see pictures of other babies of the mom-to-be, their family and childhood pictures, etc. This is a nice way to make guests feel connected to the parents and initiate incredible conversations around those pictures.
You can get the soft copies of the pictures, edit them online with their favorite song as the backdrop and play it in the event.
Get ready to go teary-eyed watching your friends reacting to each picture.
#14. Say Yes To Co-Hosting!
Yes! Say this when one of your friends is offering to help you financially or with chores. When it’s shared, you can organize in a much better way and your expenses are going to reduce too.
You can create departments and split that among yourselves.
#15. Get Ready For The Action
You have planned everything and the guests have arrived! Now it’s your time to welcome everyone and make them feel comfortable and mingle with each other.
Take the role of a graceful host, welcome them by their name and show them around. Help them with some wine or a welcome drink and show their seat.
Once the mommy-to-be has arrived, open your speech by welcoming everyone and thanking them for arriving. You can also say a few warm words about your friend, the bonding you share and how you are looking forward to welcome her baby aboard.
As per baby shower etiquettes, you don’t have to conduct the gift opening session. Leave it to the mom!
Finally,
This is a day that’s entirely about your friend and her unborn baby. It’s not those extravaganzas that are going to make her enjoy every moment. But it’s those efforts you put to pull the whole party together giving everyone a great time.
Keep stress way and plan in a relaxed manner and get ready to enjoy with your friends.
You don’t need a hefty budget to pull this off. Follow the above simple measures and shower your friend with love. Don’t forget to click pictures!
