Baby Shower Planning Tips

If you didn’t already know, I am super excited to be having my first baby! I’ve shared my announcement with you all and received the most amount of love I’ve ever experienced since starting my blog over six years ago. This journey is going to be a new one for me and I can’t wait to have you along. I don’t even know how to put pen to paper and organise the many hundreds of blog posts I want to write and create. But today I’m starting with my top baby shower planning tips. Enjoy!

Where To Start

So, you’re having a baby – congratulations! It’s not all fun and games, most days are gorgeous but it’s ok to say that you won’t love every single day. But, hey, that’s life!

With all the excitement comes the many appointments, meetings, and things to do – being pregnant puts you in high demand.

The fun bits include shopping for baby bits, feeling the first flutters of movements and planning your baby shower.

Baby showers used to be just an American thing and lots of people are against them and each to their own. But, I think what the hell!? Life events like this should be celebrated with cake, presents and games. Your baby could bring your family and friends together. And, you know what they say: it takes a village.

So, organise your village and get your baby shower planning started.

The Date

You’ll know the rough due date of your baby, so I would recommend setting the date of your baby shower to around a month or six weeks before that.

It’ll be a nice last hurrah to get everyone together before you become too uncomfortable or want to shut yourself away and prepare for the little one.

I’m having mine around 3/4 weeks before my due date and on the weekend when I’ve finished work for maternity leave. I thought that this would be a nice way to say goodbye to civilization before I go into full hibernation mode!

The Location

Depending on the size of your party and your level of sanity, you probably WON’T want to host a gaggle of friends in your home just for you to clean it up again once they’ve left.

Location, for me, is fairly important. It needs to be central enough so that all of my far flung friends can join me but close enough to home so that I’m not stuck in the car feeling uncomfortable for ages.

I live in Windsor which is effortlessly picturesque and luckily, we have lots of big bars and pubs and private rooms to hire out for a long afternoon of laughter and fun.

I’d recommend picking somewhere fairly close to home that isn’t going to blow your budget. Somewhere with a private room or snug is ideal because you’ll need some privacy to play games and have fun.

If, like me, your party includes lots of small children, try to get a location with a big TV or a space for colouring in or playing, like a dancefloor. Your life is about to be taken over by your own baby, make the most of some adult-only time while you can!

Decorations

So, you’ve got your date and your location – now you need to decide whether you need to decorate the space you’ve hired, how and why.

My space is large and private but it’s basic.

My vision (thanks to plenty of Pinterest boards) is all white balloons, cookies, flower walls and nuetral vibes.

With the help of places like Etsy and Not On The High Street, it’s quite easy to get your hands on things like nuetral backdrops, cake toppers, decorative straws and more.

I’d love to hire a company to come in and put a white flower wall up with a cheeky baby slogan or pun in the middle – I’m currently in the middle of researching local party decor brands local to Windsor.

If your budget isn’t massive (and let’s face it, we want to save all of those pennies for when the baby arrives) you can always shop at places like the Range and Matalan for bunting, banners and bits.

My Top Etsy Picks

Etsy is my go-to for all kinds of shopping – right now it’s personalised Christmas bits but in the past, it’s been my heaven for hen party gifts and making birthdays special.

I love supporting small businesses and giving back where I can and Etsy allows me to do that in just a few transactions.

These adorable and easy to assemble boxes are perfect for a baby shower. They’re an instant hit, a great photo backdrop and they won’t break the bank or contribute too much to your carbon footprint. AKAWEDDING smash it with this kind of decoration, I can’t get enough of them!

No matter your baby shower location, it’s important to let your guests know where to go to celebrate your beautiful bundle of joy.

A sign like this is at the top of my list for my own baby shower. MyHappyPlacePrint let you personalise your print from everything to style, font and size. Luckily, this sign is my vibe!

I love the idea of having a sign like this welcoming my guests into my shower, it’s informal but effective. Some may say that baby showers are becoming as out there as weddings but I don’t care!

Balloon arches are the next biggest thing and I am 100% behind them. My hens knew how much I wanted one for my party and they delivered – injuries and all.

A balloon arch (whether themed or not) is a great way to take photos and keep the fun of the party away from the decorations. This Winnie The Pooh one is super cute, I love that it’s subtle and the arch includes lots of different colours.

We’re having a neutral shower and whites, greys and beiges can be hard to keep themed in any baby shower location. Adding a pop of muted colour like this can make all the difference!

Ok, so it’s bougie and totally unnecessary but who cares!? A donut wall is a great way to get people together and have a laugh – and with sellers like MajazneticStore, you don’t have to break open the piggy bank!

Baby showers can be quite long-winded affairs, your guests will expect to be fed in some way. That may be with posh nibbles, a sit-down meal or cakes, scones, and patisseries.

Either way, this is a great photo opportunity and a cool way to help people relax and chat with your nearest and dearest.

Food Glorious Food

As I said above, your lovely guests wont be happy if they go home from your shower with an empty stomach. Playing games, chasing little ones around, and chatting all things baby is hungry work so make sure you’ve got plenty of sustenance for your lovely guest list.

If you’ve secured a location with a kitchen attached, they may be able to provide some catering – and really, some sandwiches and finger food is more than enough!

Maybe you want to get catering in and go full charcuterie board – I love that idea, personally.

Instagram is a great way to find local foodie small businesses to support. You’d be surprised how many new bakery brands have been created from COVID. You could easily find companies who will deliver afternoon tea in boxes, charcuterie boards for huge numbers of guests and personalised cupcakes for everyone.

Potentially you’ve got amazing family members who are a dab hand in the kitchen or would love to contribute with their famous sandwiches and sweet treats. My one piece of advice for this (and for motherhood) is: never turn down help!

Games

You might need to break the ice between some of your guests or help to get people involved in your baby’s life and the best way to do that is with some silly games.

Even though I hate audience participation, I love a cheesy game of pin the dummy on the baby or something like that! Any excuse to be silly and have fun is all I need!

You can go classy with your games, you can have adult-only games or you can just go for it and get everyone involved.

Here are my top baby shower games for all:

• Mr & Mrs – but instead, it’s Mummy & Daddy
• Baby sweepstake – have your guests guess things like your baby’s gender, weight, eye and hair colour for a cash prize
• Guess the bump size
• Guess the baby – have your guests bring baby photos of themselves and get everyone to guess who is who. Throw in some randoms like the mummy to be’s childhood crush as a kid or babies from TV shows to put them off!
• Baby nappy race – get some dollies and nappies and assemble into teams. Blindfold each person when it’s their turn and have them put a nappy on the dolly
• Who knows Mummy best – a quick quiz on facts about the mummy to be
• Baby bump or beer belly – you can get these images offline and have people guess if the belly is a bump or a beer belly!

My Final Tips

Whether your party is a chilled one, a formal affair or an excuse to get all the families together, my top tip is: make sure you take plenty of photos.

This could you be your last opportunity to glam with your bump, so get your phones out and document the day for your baby book as much as possible.

I am a lover of candid, natural photos so have one of your shyer guests to lurk and take great candid snaps!

Make sure you enjoy your shower – don’t stress about the finer details and people annoying you. Take it all in and remember how loved you and your baby already are!

LoveRosiee
xxx
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