Decide who will be involved in hosting the shower. Organize
a group of people and decide who will be in charge of keeping the shower
planning on-track. The main host of the shower should be a friend and not a family member, as
etiquette dictates, but family may certainly be actively involved in the entire
process. Good communication is essential to success. The “lead planner” should
coordinate with the expectant parents and determine the best date for the
shower. Most people throw baby showers in close proximity to the due date of
the baby, but don’t wait too long as some babies do come early. At least one
month before the due date should be fine as it allows time for the parents to
evaluate the gifts they receive and determine which ones to keep and what they
will still need to buy for the baby.
Keep all receipts for the money that everyone involved in
hosting the party spends on the shower so that all expenses can be equally
divided. Choose the cutest invitations
you can find and try to decide on an overall theme for the shower. Knowing the sex of the baby in advance is helpful,
but not required. Buy a bouquet of
balloons and enough separate balloons to tie in strategic locations throughout
the shower. Be sure to have enough
balloons to tie a few to the mailbox in front of the house where the shower
will be held. Request a guest list with mailing
addresses from the expectant parents and mail the invitations no later than six
weeks before the event. Include an RSVP
as it will help you to plan the necessary food and refreshments more carefully.
Arrange several activities for the shower and have a few
back-ups just in case the shower lasts longer than expected. Some fun games to play are baby trivia,
unscrambling words that refer to baby terms, writing cute messages on diapers
for the baby, and creating custom outfits for the baby using white onesies and
fabric paint. If the shower includes
both men and women, have two baby dolls and some props, like diapers, clothes,
bottles, etc. and make the men try to care for the baby while the women shout
instructions to them. Simulate all of
the distractions that would normally happen during the day, like preparing a
meal, a phone ringing, or a visitor at the door. This is almost always amusing.
Set up for the shower early in the day to allow time for
someone to go pick up anything that was overlooked. The day of the shower
should be fun and completely stress-free for the hosts, the expectant parents,
and the guests. While the expectant parents are opening gifts, have someone
write the names of the gifts as well as the gift givers on a sheet of paper.
This will be a great help to the couple when it’s time to write thank you
notes. After the shower, each host should total the amounts that they spent and
report them to the lead planner. They can determine who owes money and who gets
a refund.
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