When should you plan to host the Baby Shower?

Baby showers can generally be held 1-2 months before the baby's due date or 2 months following the birth.

If the shower is planned before the birth, it should be planned for the last trimester but no closer than two weeks prior to the due date. Many a baby have made an early appearance two weeks before they are expected. So it is best to plan for an early delivery. If you host the baby shower prior to the last two weeks of a scheduled due date, it also allows the mother-to-be the much needed time for final prepartions.

If you are hosting a baby shower after the baby is born, waiting untill the baby is about 2 months old is usually a safe timeframe. This gives the baby a chance to build up some immunities so they will not be as inclined to catch a bug from the guests.

Where should a shower be held?

Baby Showers are usually held at the hostess's home, but almost any location is acceptable as long as the mother-to-be and the guest are comortable.

You can host a baby shower outside- if weather is permitting. A park or back yard is fine as long as it is private enough. By that I mean you don't want to host a baby shower in the middle of a park with people running around screaming and yelling or playing football in the middle of your baby shower setup.

Banquet rooms in a restaurant, they will serve the food and do the clean up. Many will even decorate or create the desired atmosphere if you work with them. This leaves you with very little to worry about except looking pretty and smiling a lot.

If you are hosting a baby shower for a co-worker than a conference room where you work would be a great place for a quick baby shower during the lunch hour or after work.

Lodges, Clubs, Community Centers, Township Halls and/or Churches have banquet rooms for just these types of occasions.

Can more than one person host a baby shower?

Yes of course more than one person can host a baby shower. Actually if two people are hosting a baby shower you can divide the tasks and the cost, less stressing and costly. Three can usually get by with hosting a baby shower too. However when the numbers start getting larger than that you lose control of the shower and it's very hard if not impossible to make sure that everything goes off as planned. Unless you are with a group whom you have had similar experiences with and you work together like clock work.

Invitations

Invitations should be sent out at least three weeks in advance. This allows the guests time to go over their schedules, to see if they will be able to attend and get back to you with their answer by the time you have requested.

The shower invitations should go along with the theme of the festivities. If it is a casual affair then the invitations will follow suit. If it is a formal shower than the invitations should express that in their presentation. Novelty invitations are a nice way to get people involved with theme based baby shower.

Inviting Men and/or Couple Showers

More and more men these days are getting involved with the planning stages of childbirth. So today husbands are attending baby showers and more and more couple baby showers are being held. If the thought of having this type of shower appeals to you, make sure to run by the husband first. He may not share in your enthusiasm regarding this style of baby shower. Try to avoid the girly look when planning this shower and be mindful of the games if any that you plan to play.

The Mother-To-Be and Honored Guest

She is the reason you are having this party to begin with isn't it? So she needs to have a special place to seat with the other seating around her. Or at the very least where her back is not facing the guests.

She is to be waited on and should not be allowed to lift anything, including the gifts.

She is to be served first when it is time for refreshments or the food to be served.

Food Etiquette

Are you having a sit down meal or a buffet style finger foods?

When serving food the rule of thumb is: if you need to use a knife to eat the food that is being served than it should be a sit down meal.

Make sure that there is enough seating for the guests.

Use sturdy plates if the guests will need to set the plates on their laps.

It doesn't matter if you choose to serve the food all at once or have light appetizers as guests are arriving and the rest of the food later on. Just make sure the mother-to-be is always served first.

Important hostess etiquette rules to follow:

Never eat until everyone else has been served.

Don't snack in front of the guests.

Make sure you wash your hands if you are handling any of the food or serving it!

And smile, smile, smile!

Schedule Time Wisely

A baby shower should be scheduled for two no more than three hours. Dead time or lulls in activity are shower or party killers. Have activities planned accordingly. But don't plan games or activities that go on forever, lest you see your guest sneaking out the back door. Keep an eye on the clock and keep up the pace.

Games

Be considerate of your guests when you decide what games will be included in the baby shower. Two or three games is enough for a two hour baby shower.

Ask the mother-to-be what games she is comfortable with, you don't want to make her or anyone else feel uncomfortable because of a game.

Gifts

The baby shower is your gift to the mother-to-be. All of the time, money and effort spent by making a baby shower possible is a wonderful gift to the mother.

Additional gifts to the mother-to-be can be items used for games and/or centerpieces.

When the mother-to-be is opening gifts, make sure to write down the gift and the guest that gave her the gift. It will make her job a lot easier when sending thank you cards. You can also assign this task to someone else that is sitting close to her.

Ask the mother to be's closest family and friends with help on the guest lists. Reviewing it with a few people will ensure that everyone she would like to have attend the baby shower gets invited.

Have you ever been to a shower, get together or social function where it seems that the hostess has everything under control and it seemed to flow so effortlessly? Nine times out of ten the reason for these successful events is because the hostess had a theme that she planned around.

Shower Themes

Many people don't understand the concept of a theme. They think if you are having a baby shower, then baby shower is the theme. I have been to many a baby shower that are simply that. Everything is baby, the decorations are baby things, the cake has rattles and booties on it and there are balloons in pastel colors. Not that there is anything the matter with that idea, but with a little more thought you can turn an ordinary baby shower into something to really remember.

So let's work with themes a bit. How do you choose a theme? Once you have your meeting with the mother-to-be and have a few ideas on her likes and dislikes, put that together with the time of year and ideas begin to emerge.

Let's say for example your mother-to-be loves tulips. If the baby shower is planned for the spring then you could plan a tulip theme. Find out her favorite colors and incorporate those colors in your plan. You can pot tulips in clay pots. Painted them the colors you have chosen or place cut tulips in glass bud vases for centerpieces for the tables.

Continue with the tulip theme throughout your decorations. Tulips on the cake for example. If you want to make sure that it still looks like it's a baby shower, then you can have the tulips as the decorations on the traditionals baby items for the cake. Or you can make a diaper cake decorated with tulips. Use your imagination and be creative.