Throw an Amazing Baby Shower

By Amber Ortega on November 19th, 2008

A baby shower is a great way to show a friend or family member how much you care about them and are excited about their newest edition.

Planning the baby shower can be a very fun project, if you stay organized! Without any organization, like any event, a baby shower can become stressful or not turn out how you had planned.

Here are some tips to help throw a fun, memorable baby shower:

Start with a theme. Is there a theme that the parents-to-be are planning for the nursery? If there isn’t, or you want to go in another direction, this is a great place to start and the foundation for the entire party! You are do a simple ABC theme, Twinkle Twinkle, Animals or most anything else you can think of. If you need help with a theme, try BabyCenter for a list of some ideas.
Decide on a location. A baby shower can be held in a number of places, most often at a friend or family member’s home. If you don’t have a home available, other ideas are restaurants, a clubhouse, a hotel or even a park.
Gather your guest list and send invitations. Sit down with the mother-to-be and decide on a guest list. The amount of people you plan on inviting can make a big difference in the location. Be sure to have an RSVP on your invitations to ensure you know how many people are planning on coming. A great way to send out invitations without spending any money is using an email service like evite. Services like these are great because you can email everyone, saving on time and postage, along with having everyone RSVP online, giving you accurate numbers on who to expect!
Decorations. This is where your theme will really start to come into play! There are some many things you can do for decorations, including the common streamers, banners and signs. Go wild with your theme…..take it to the extreme! Decorations can be as affordable or extravagant as you would like. Personally, I had a cute bug theme for my daughter, we used butterflies, flowers and dragonflies. Butterflies were made with ribbon and hung all over the walls and tables. We bought pretty flowers to decorate tables and used later as gifts. If you need help with ideas, there are quite a few websites available, try baby-shower.com for some creative and affordable ideas!
Food and drinks. A baby shower does not need to have a large menu, although it could. Many baby shower menus include a number of hand-held finger foods and cake. If you are on a budget, a great way is to ask everyone to bring a dish. A potluck-style shower is a great way to get a variety of foods without spending a lot of money. Your theme can also be incorporated into the menu. We served sandwiches that were shaped like butterflies and cut fruit with small cookie-cutters into various shapes and made fruit wands on wooden skewers. If you are looking for theme-based menus, try Amazing Baby Shower Ideas.
Game time! Games are a fun part of most every baby shower. There are many games you can play, including the “baby game”, where you can not say the word baby or you lose a pin, curler or whatever else is being used. “How big is Mommy” is another fun game, allowing guests to look at the pregnant mommy and using a string, guess how large she is. It is funny when you are checking for a winner and seeing how much people are off, some cutting way too short and others making the string twice and big as the mom is around. Printable baby games are also fun, including Baby BINGO, Guess the Nursery Rhyme and many more. If you like the printable route, try Baby Shower Games A-Z.com. Small gifts from a dollar store-type place is a great way to award the winners of each game.

If you are organized and ensure you have taken care of all of the items above, you should have an amazing baby shower that the mommy-to-be will never forget!