Your complete baby shower planning guide

Baby Shower Planning Guide:

Contents:

• Baby Shower Host

• Baby Shower Venue

• Baby Shower Type

• Baby Shower Guests

• Baby Shower Invitations

• Baby Shower Catering/food

• Baby Shower Decorations

• Baby Shower Games

• Baby Shower Gifts

• Baby Shower Favours

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Baby Shower Host:

The very first thing to decide is who to host the baby shower. Usually a best friend, mum, or sister is the host. Decide amongst the group who would like to host the baby shower. Others can have special jobs to help, that could include creating games, decorations, helping cook, or picking up cakes or other items for the shower.

 

Baby Shower Venue:

Baby Shower Venue options include:

• The host’s house

• The mum-to-Be’s house

• A café, restaurant or venue

• A park or outdoor area

 

Each of these have their pros and cons:

• The host’s house is a great one because there is no cost involved, you can be as loud as you want and stay as long as you want. You can set everything up exactly as you like and everyone can have a relaxed time. The downside is you need to set everything up and pack everything up yourself, as well as purchase/hire all the decorations and décor yourself.

• The mum-to-be’s house: This is great because all of the gifts are already there. The mum-to-be doesn’t need to worry about packing a car, carrying heavy items, or unpacking anything. Of course the downside is that everything needs to be set up and packed up at her house.

• A venue: this is a great one because everything is done for you. You can have everything catered for, decorations and décor supplied, and have waiters bringing food and drinks. Of course the downside is the cost involved.

• A park or outdoor venue: This is a great option too. No one needs to worry about cleaning their house immaculately before the shower, and you can have the caterer come straight to the venue, or bring your own food to share. Plus everyone loves being outside. The downsides are that this is a very weather dependent option. A backup option needs to be decided in case of poor weather, and you may also need to hire chairs, tables and other items or bring them from home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baby Shower Type:

Many baby showers are held as an afternoon tea or lunch just for the female friends and relatives of the mother to be. But these days, there are many different options that are becoming more popular. Here are some great ones:

 

High Tea Baby Shower:

There are many restaurants and cafes that are offering high tea, you can have a high tea baby shower catered for at your house, or you can make your own high tea. High tea usually involves both sweet and savoury foods served to each guest, champaign, and, of course, tea! This is a great option if you are looking for something a bit special, and a bit more fancy than what you would normally do.

 

Baby-Q Baby Shower:

This is a more modern take on the baby shower, in which the mum and dad to be have a barbeque at their house for all their friends, including men and women. It is a great option if you are looking for something more laid back, and perhaps also if the parents to be want to avoid some of the more traditional baby shower games and activities. It is a great way to involve a wider group of people, and to keep everything more relaxed.

 

Baby Shower Invitations:

You might like to just invite everyone via facebook, messenger, text message or in person. You might also like to send out a traditional paper invitation. There are so many cute one available on Etsy and online!

 

Baby Shower Food:

You might like to have your baby shower catered for, but here are some great ideas for those who wish to self-cater:

Colour themed foods:

If you know the gender of the baby, you can make pink or blue coloured foods. Otherwise you can do a combination of pink, blue and any combination of gorgeous greens, greys and yellows.

Here are some fun foods that you can have as part of a colour theme:

• Cup cakes

• Doughnuts

• Cookies

• Lollypops

• Lolly bar:

• Lolly bars have been so popular at baby showers recently, and they make a perfect baby shower favour. Fill some large jars with different types of lollies and have small paper bags for everyone to fill with their favourite sweets.

• Mini foods:

• Mini sandwiches:

• Cucumber and cream cheese

• Smoked salmon and mayonnaise

• Egg, lettuce and mayonnaise

• Cheese and tomato

• Mini Quiches

• Mini pizza pinwheels

• Mini sliders

• Fruit platters

• Slices:

• Lemon slice

• Jelly Slice

• Peppermint Crips Slice

• Cheesecake slice

• Cheese platters (with some pregnancy-friendly cheese!)

• Devilled eggs

• Fruit platters

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Baby Shower Decorations:

Baby shower decorations have become a big deal lately! Depending on the style, and style of your mum-to-be, check out the following baby shower decoration ideas:

Balloon garland – balloon garlands are all the rage in baby shower decorations! If you want to go all out and have a big deal, a baby shower balloon garland is a great idea!

 

Onesie clothes line – make a little clothes line with string and hang on the wall. Get some tiny pegs and hang little baby clothing on the clothes line. You could even ask guests to bring a little item of clothing to hang up!

 

Flowers – flower centrepieces can be lovely on tables for guests to sit, or on the food table at a baby shower. We love the look of some native greenery and flowers.

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Bunting – it isn’t a baby shower without bunting! You can DIY your own bunting or buy some to fit with your colour theme. Hang the bunting at the tables, on the walls, or anywhere else you want to decorate for your baby shower!

 

Backdrop – these days everyone wants an Instagram worthy photo of every event. If you’re going all out, think about getting a backdrop to go with your other decorations. Make sure everyone takes gorgeous photos at the baby shower!

 

Baby Shower Drinks:

You may like to bring out the champaign and sangria at your baby shower. This is a lovely idea, but also make sure you think about some ideas for the mum-to-be, who won’t be drinking on the day.

Here are some non-alcoholic ideas:

• Mocktails

• Fruit Punch

• Non-alcoholic champaign

• Soft drink

• Spiders

• Thick shakes

 

Baby Shower Cake:

This is the centrepiece of any baby shower! If you are a great baker and cake decorator, you can make this yourself! Otherwise, have a professional cake maker bake and decorate your baby shower cake. On trend baby shower cakes are large, coloured in blue or pink, and are full of baby themed decorations. For something even more fun, you can add rainbow colours to the inside of the cake, mix pink and blue coloured pieces of cake, or make the inside of your cake a gender reveal!

 

Baby Shower Games:

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My waters broke:

This is a fun one! Split the guests up into teams of 2 – 4 people. Each team gets a water balloon filled with water. Fill them until they are really full, so they break easily. Have the guests run a relay while holding the water balloon between their legs. If any guests drop their balloons they scream “my waters broke” and they are out. The last team to break their water balloon is the winner.

 

Which guest in the baby photos:

Collect a baby photo of each guest prior to the event. Print them all on a poster and have the guests or the mum to be guess which photo is of which guest.

 

Guess the baby food:

Buy a few packs of baby food and remove the labels. Have the guests taste the baby foods and guess the flavours.

 

Swaddle the doll races

Collect some baby dolls and some swaddling wraps. Have the guests race to see who can correctly swaddle the baby the fastest!

 

The price is right:

See our printable baby shower games and checklist for a template.

Look up the prices of the essential baby items on the list. Print one sheet per guest. Have guests guess how much each item is worth. You can then read out the list of how much each item is, just like the gameshow. The guest with the closest guesses is the winner!

 

Who knows mummy and daddy the best:

See our printable baby shower games and checklist for a template.

Print one of the printable game sheets per guest, plus an extra to be the answer sheet. On the sheet is a list of questions about the mum-to-be. Before the baby shower day, ask the mum-to-be all the questions from the sheet and write down her answers. Have each guest guess the answers to see who knows the most about the mum-to-be.

 

Celebrity baby name game:

See our printable baby shower games and checklist for a template.

Lots of celebrities call their children wild and unusual names! Included in our printable set is a list of unusual celebrity baby names. Print one copy for each guest, and you may also print the answer key. Have the guests guess who the parents are of each unusually named child. Have a prize for the winner!

Name that baby song:

See our printable baby shower games and checklist for a template.

Make a playlist with all the songs containing “baby” in the name. Play through the songs and have each of the guests name the song as quickly as they can.

 

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Scategories:

See our printable baby shower games and checklist for a template.

Print one of our printable game sheets for each guest. Choose a letter of the alphabet and have everyone try to come up with an item starting with that letter for each of the categories.

Baby shower gift bingo:

See our printable baby shower games and checklist for a template.

Print one baby shower gift bingo sheet for each guest. Each guest writes down a list of items they think will be in the gifts. While the mum-to-be opens her gifts, guests mark off each time they guess correctly. The first guest to guess five correctly is the winner.

Guess the baby’s details:

See our printable baby shower games and checklist for a template.

Print one sheet per guest, and have guests guess the details of the baby, such as birth date, weight, length, and name. Collect them all and give them to the mum-to-be. After baby is born, see who guessed correctly!

 

Look after a baby doll:

Have mum change a nappy, bath a baby, swaddle a baby, make a bottle, take a baby’s temperature. For some added fun, add a blindfold!

 

Baby charades:

Take turns to play charades and act out things related to babies and baby care.

Here are some fun ideas:

• Change a nappy

• Feed a baby a bottle

• Breastfeed a baby

• Bath a baby

• Take a baby’s temperature

• Put a baby to sleep

 

Write notes of encouragement on nappies

Buy a pack of disposable nappies and a texta. Ask guests to write encouraging words on the nappy. Then when the new parents are changing nappies after their baby arrives, they will read the kind words of all their baby shower guests.

 

Write advice to the new parents:

Buy a jar or pin board and some sticky notes. Ask all the guests to write down a piece of advice for the new parents. You can ask them to write serious advice, or just something fun.

 

Baby name suggestions

Ask everyone to write down a suggestion of a baby name. You can add some fun to this by asking guests to write one serious name and one funny or wild name.

 

Baby Shower Favours:

These days baby shower favours are becoming more and more common. These are a small gift given to the baby shower guests before they leave. Here are some fun ideas for favours:

 

• Lolly favours:

• Lolly bar – have a lolly bar and give guests small bags to fill with lollies of their choice

• Lolly bottles – fill baby bottles with lollies as a fun baby-themed favour

• Cookies – you can get these coloured for your baby shower theme or for the baby’s gender. Personalised or baby themed cookies are a lovely touch!

• Mini bottles of champaign

• Mini Soaps, lip balms, or bath bombs

• Mini succulents or seeds

• Personalised cards, bags, or labels for favours – these are super cute! You can purchase these on places like Etsy or print your own. Use them with any of the baby shower favours

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Baby Shower Gifts:

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Gifts are one of the main events at a baby shower! We all love to sit around the mum to be and watch her open all her wonderful gifts.

Gift Registry:

Some modern mums-to-be like to create a registry of everything they need for baby, and guests can choose something from the registry to ensure they get everything they need without double ups. There are many options online for this, or you can just do it via texts, messaging or groups.

 

Baby shower gift must haves:

Here are a few important items that you MUST have for a baby shower:

Baby clothing:

Adorable little onesies, baby singlets, socks, hats, jumpers, etc. are all wonderful baby shower gifts. Ensure you buy a few sizes and not just tiny ones. Babies grow out of tiny clothing very quickly, and new mums need plenty of clothing in bigger sizes too.

 

Baby skincare:

Babies need sensitive skincare items. Regular soap can dry babies’ delicate skin, and new parents also need lotion, baby massage oil, and cream for nappy rash.

 

Nappies:

Nappies are a must have, and new parents need to buy a lot of them. Consider whether the mum-to-be would like to use Modern Cloth Nappies, or if she would like eco-friendly disposable nappies. Respect her wishes and principles.

 

Care items for mum:

New mums also need plenty of care for themselves. Essential items for new mums include breastfeeding care items; such as nursing cream, nursing pads, or a silicone Haakaa pump. Skincare for new mums is also an essential, with items such as lotions, belly cream and lip balm also essential.

 

Nappy bag:

A nappy bag makes a great baby shower gift, as this is an essential item that the new mum will use almost every day. If you like, you can fill it full of everything she will need for her first outing with baby, or you could fill it with items for her to take to the hospital for her birth.

 

A pregnancy or baby journal:

A pregnancy or baby journal makes a special keepsake for the new mum to have forever, or to share with her baby when they grow up. These journals hold beautiful memories for a lifetime, and are a special, thoughtful baby shower gift.

 

Pampering items for the new mum:

Think of items that the mum-to-be might use to help her relax. Items such as essential oils, scented candles, face masks, scented products, scrubs and soaks can all help a new mum relax during the end of her pregnancy and during her postpartum period.

 

Baby Carrier:

A baby carrier is a wonderful gift for a new mother! Especially during the fourth trimester, when babies often just want to be held all the time.

 

Hampers:

Baby and Mumma Gifts have a variety of hampers available full of gorgeous gifts for new mums, including pregnancy and postpartum care items, and adorable gift items for babies. Check out our popular Baby Hampers, New Mum Hampers, and Pregnancy Hampers

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