How to plan a dream baby shower

How to plan a dream baby shower

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There are several rites of passage mums to be must go through before they get to welcome their little bundle of joy into the world. There’s the morning sickness, the first scan, those first fluttery baby kicks. In recent years, mums have had another pregnancy milestone to look forward to – the baby shower. Despite being a mummy of two, I have never had my very own baby shower (cue the violin music). Living far away from friends and family meant organising a special get together to celebrate my bumps just wasn’t really possible. I have attended a few baby showers though and I always think they are such an exciting occasion. As I never got to have my own baby shower (sob) and I’m 99% sure I’m not going to be having a third baby, I thought I would put together a little post all about throwing a baby shower of dreams! Just because I didn’t get one of my own doesn’t mean I don’t know how to organise a party that will make a soon to be mama smile. If you have a pregnant friend and are planning to throw her a baby shower, or maybe you’re organising your own, hopefully this post will be helpful.

How to throw a dream baby shower.

Pick your venue – Are you planning on celebrating your friends impending arrival with food as well as fun? If so then you need to pick your venue carefully, many places will have function rooms and halls for hire where you can pay for buffet style catering or bring a long your own. You could maybe book out a large table in a restaurant if you wanted something more fancy, or you could go somewhere for afternoon tea. The possibilities really are endless, if you wanted to keep costs down you could invite your pregnant friend and the rest of your tribe over to your house and whip up some snacks and have a little gathering in the garden. One thing is for sure, mums to be like to eat so even if you’re not planning on having a full on meal, you best have some bowls of crisps or cupcakes on hand. As this is my dream wish list, I would want to go to a swanky hotel for afternoon tea where I could eat all the cake.

baby shpwer
Send out invites – Once you have your venue you need to decide who’s coming. Heavily pregnant mums tire easily so it’s best to keep baby shower guests to just close friends and family. You don’t want the star of the show falling asleep at the table after having to waddle around 30 people making small talk. An easy way to invite people is to just set up a Facebook page (I do this every year for the kids birthdays) or create a WhatsApp group chat to figure out a date that suits everyone. If you like to keep things old school then you could make cute baby theme invites, or buy some online. If you want some baby shower invite inspiration, I have got a Pinterest board just for you ..

Create some games – Baby showers are a lovely opportunity for a mum to be to spend some quality time with all her loved ones before the baby arrives and everything goes a little bit crazy for a while. When you have a newborn to look after making it to social gathering can sometimes be a bit tricky. As well as all the eating and chatting you really do need to have some fun games lined up too – the more baby related the better! The baby predictions game is always fun, or nappy changing races and downing drinks from tiny bottles (non alcoholic for the mummy to be, obvs). Pinterest really is a girls best friend when it comes to party planning, here’s a board full of baby shower game inspiration I have created..

Buy a perfect gift –  When I have been a guest at friends baby showers I am always in awe by the amount of presents they receive. We all know that babies need A LOT of stuff but while you can get away with just a few key essentials, there are so many lovely newborn baby gifts out there and it can be hard to resist buying the bump something really special. There are so many baby products out there that would make prefect baby shower gifts : baby milestone cards, personalised blankets, nappy cakes and baby journals to name just a few. Baby shower hampers are a lovely way of giving a mum to be a lovely bundle of goodies for the baby, The Baby Box Co have a great selection.

baby shower

baby-girls-hamper-medium

Choose a cake -I don’t know about you but when it comes to parties the thing I always get most excited for is the cake. I have two beautiful boys so if I had had a baby shower I am sure I would have ended up with some kind of blue cake. I am bet it would have been lovely but there are so many more creative things you can do to make a baby shower cake really special. I love the idea of baking lots of cupcakes and arranging them to look like a pushchair or teddy bear. It is a well known scientific fact potentially not true that mums and mums to be love cake so you really should go to town when baking/buying a cake for a baby shower. Need some inspiration? You guessed it, I’ve done the hard work and made a pinterest board for you ..

Don’t leave it too late – When you’re over 37 weeks pregnant you feel like a whale and just getting up to go to the loo is hard work. Being heavily pregnant is a struggle and while it probably is the perfect time for some pampering and to have friends make you feel special, it is also a really exhausting time and a big social gathering could potentially feel like too much. I would say the best time for a baby shower is anytime between 32 and 37 weeks, it’s not too early and it’s not so late that there is a very real risk the mama to be will go into labour in the middle of opening all her presents!

Done! If you are planning a baby shower, good luck and I hope this list has helped. Remember, the most important thing is that your mummy to be friend has a lovely day and she and her bump are thoroughly spoilt. If you want to plan a baby shower that is bang on trend then check out this post about the hottest baby shower trends for 2018.  Hmm, after writing this I feel the need to go tell Oli we should have another baby so I have an excuse to have my baby shower of dreams…

 

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How to plan a dream baby shower

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7 Comments

  1. October 10, 2017 / 6:30 pm

    Great post, ive got my baby shower on the 20th .its nothing massive to be honest, and deffo not pinterest inspired, just me, my mum and a close few mates,. #triumphanttales

  2. October 13, 2017 / 10:21 am

    Great tips! I always have a bit frustrating when it comes to finding the perfect gift (*crossfinger* hoping they will love).

  3. October 15, 2017 / 6:11 am

    I had a baby shower with my first, not the other two. If you do have a third you should have one. There are so many love;y gift ideas now compared to 13 years ago (still can’t believe I have a teenager), so much choice. Great post lovely, thanks so much for linking up with us #ablogginggoodtime
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  4. October 15, 2017 / 12:45 pm

    Love this post. My baby shower for my first was a surprise that my mum and friends planned, it was so lovely! I’ve never planned one for someone else but I’ve been to a few. It’s always good to have a few silly games, and definitely cake! since having my own kids, I buy practical gifts for the Mummy to be, like a hamper with nappies, wipes, vests, Muslin etc. Loved the tips here! Thanks for sharing with #fortheloveofblog

  5. October 16, 2017 / 8:31 am

    I was very lucky with my baby shower as my mum hosted for me but she was clueless as what to do for the actual event, so Hubby jumped in and basically organised it with my mum just letting him use her front room. It went really well until I got into a blazing row with my older brother over the phone and ended up telling him to come over and argue face to face… hahahah the hormones made me do it!!!
    Thank you for sharing this with us at #TriumphantTales. I hope to see you back tomorrow!

  6. November 3, 2017 / 3:43 pm

    Baby showers are cute little events filled with fun, laughter, games, food and of course….gifts!