Planning a Unique Baby Shower

I love baby showers. It is so fun to see the mom to be getting excited to welcome her little bundle of joy. I was lucky enough to throw my sister a shower this summer. Now she and my brother in law are the proud parents of an adorable baby girl! I was proud to be a small part in helping her get ready for baby by hosting a shower. Here are my top ten tips to planning a fun and unique baby shower.

1. Decide if you are going to have a theme. Themes are a cute idea, especially when it comes to invitations, decorations and food items. The theme can be an obvious one like 'It's a Girl' or more subtle like a specific color combination. For adoroable invitation ideas check out Tiny Prints.

2. Involve the mom to be in the planning process (if she wants to be involved). Some people prefer to be hand's off and just let the host make all the decisions. Other moms to be have had an idea in their mind about what their shower would be like for a long time. Work with her to see if there is anything in particular that she always hoped would be included in her shower. It is her day and you want to make it as special as possible.

3. Plan ahead. Of course it is necessary to buy things such as invitations in advance of the party but it is a good idea to plan and purchase other items in advance as well. Watch for sales on things like diapers which can double as a gift and a decoration. I placed several packages of diapers around the party with ribbons on them as decorations for my sister's shower. One thing every new parent will need is diapers!

4. Have a schedule for the party in mind. The schedule can be flexible of course but it is a good idea to have at least a loose plan in mind for how the day will go. Do you want to do games first or food? When will the presents be opened? The host should be the guide as to what comes next so the day flows well.

5. Play fun games. I have heard that some people don't like baby shower games. To me they are one of my favorite parts of the entire party. If you need ideas for games there are plenty on the Internet. Some of my favorites are the diaper game and the baby music game. For the diaper game the host prepares melted candy bars in diapers and they are passed around to the guests to decide what type of candy bar it is. You tend to get a lot of funny reactions to how the candy bars look in the diapers! The baby music game is fun as well. Prepare a CD with several songs on it that include the name 'baby' in the title. Then play a snip it of the song and guests guess the name of the song. Another easy game is to print out a list of baby names and celebrities and have the guests match the name of the baby to the celebrity parent.

6. Serve easy food. The focus of the baby shower should remain on the parent to be and not necessary on the food. That being said the food should be simple enough that guests can eat and socialize at the same time. Have a variety of options so there is something for everyone. I prefer a shower where everyone can sit to eat. I don't like parties where you have to stand and balance your plate because I am always worried I am going to drop my plate.

7. Keep track of the gifts for the mom to be. The guest of honor will surely want to send thank you notes to her guests after the party. The host should write a list of all the gifts received and who they were from. Then the guest of honor will be able to easily remember who gave them what and can use the list as a tool to write her thank you notes.

8. Do not serve alcohol. I have been to some baby showers where alcohol was served. It is my opinion that alcohol should not be a part of a baby shower. If the guest of honor cannot enjoy the drinks you are serving than why serve them? That would be like serving all meat dishes for a guest of honor who is a vegetarian. Save the liquor toast for after the baby is born.

9. Make the guest of honor a keepsake for her shower. At my sister's shower I made a simple keepsake that she was able to take home at the end of the party. I cut chipboard into circles and each had a hole cut in the corner. I covered each of them with paper. At the shower I asked everyone to sign the pages and write a personal note to the guest of honor. Then when you collect all the pages, simply connect them together with a ribbon and viola! you have a nice keepsake for the mom to be.

10. Have fun! The most difficult thing I find when hosting a baby shower (or any party for that matter) is to just have fun. You have certainly spent a lot of time, money and energy planning the shower. During the shower enjoy yourself and be happy that you were able to provide mom to be with a special day that hopefully she will never forget!

I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Tiny Prints blogging program, making me eligible to get a Tiny Prints gift code worth $50, plus 25 FREE Tiny Prints greeting cards—a total gift value of $149.75! For more information on how you can participate, click here.