The World seems to be suffering from Baby fever right now, with royalty Meghan Markle & Prince Harry announcing the arrival of their baby boy, celebrities such as Kim Kardashian expecting a baby imminently and even fellow creator Lily Pebbles is expecting her bundle of joy soon.
I know I'm definitely at the age where a lot of my friends are expecting babies and in some occasions I've been given the adorable task of planning a baby shower but anyone who has planned a baby shower knows that it's no easy task. From knowing who to invite, to the decor, food, drinks, location, entertainment and gifts, it can be difficult, not to mention bloody expensive which is why I thought I'd share some of my ideas.
WHO TO INVITE
If you've been asked to plan the baby shower, chances are you're close to the expectant parents and will know who their loved ones are. HOWEVER, some parents to be like to do seperate events - for example, some of my closest friends recently decided to have a meal with their parents and siblings, so the shower was kept purely for friends and extended family. In my opinion, a baby shower should have 20 or less people and please, PLEASE, don't forget to invite the Daddy to be! it's equally as exciting for them too!
LOCATION & TIMING
Personally, inviting everyone to the expectant parents' home is just not suitable. Usually Baby showers are planned in the final weeks of pregnancy and by that time, the mumma to be will be happy to escape back home where there is no mess to clean or stragglers to shoo from the property at the end of the shower. I booked a local pub on a Sunday afternoon (it was empty). It meant we could reserve tables, decorate and drinks were up to everyone else to get at the bar.
For me, the perfect time to have a baby shower is on a Sunday at 2pm. It means everyone has been able to lie in a little bit on the Sunday morning and had time to get ready but it will be finished before night time which means the expectant parents won't be overly tired.
FOOD
If you're budget restricted (who isn't?) then I'd definitely recommend making your own buffet rather than paying a catering firm. When my Sisters and I were recently planning a baby shower for one of our closest friends and decided to delegate buffet making chores such as making sandwiches and sausage rolls.
It's also a really good time to get creative! Here's some things I like to do:
- Head to ebay and have a look at some baby shower cake toppers. You can pick these up for £2 (including delivery!), go to the shop (or bake your own) to get some cupcakes and place a cake topper in each one.
- Buy baby bottles (12 for £3 on ebay!) and fill them with pick n mix sweets
- Get popcorn bags (or icing bags work just as well) and have stickers made with the babys name on them (or mumma's!) and place them on the bags before filling with popcorn and tieing with some ribbon (again, you can get 24 personalised stickers on ebay for £1.95 delivered)
This post is NOT affiliated with or sponsored by Ebay by the way haha! I just like that so many things are available at competitive prices and it's genuinely where I bought all the things I used!
ENTERTAINMENT
Obviously, the expectant mumma can't really drink alcohol and the guests are probably not going to get lit on a Sunday afternoon, so the entertainment will be a little bit cringe. For me, I prefer to let people mingle as they please and play some good music.
I also like bringing paper and pens so people can make baby predictions - ie - gender, hair colour, weight, date of arrival etc. You can buy baby Prediction game cards from amazon for £1.99 delivered.
GIFTS
This is tricky because it varies from person to person. For me personally, I like to buy a few smaller gifts to cover all bases. For example:
Something for the Mum-to-be's comfort - I recently gave my friend some Love Leggings which are over the bump maternity leggings. These are incredibly soft and hold you in at the same time as allowing you to breathe. They don't go bobbly or see through either and I know of two mumma's who now won't wear anything else!
A cute outfit - I always like to buy a cute wee outfit and shoes for the parents to coo over. I actually recently bought a Harry Potter babygrow and hat for my friends baby (Who has now arrived! Welcome to the World, Baby Orion!!)
Something Practical - I went to the shop and filled a box full of wipes, muslin cloths, Baby scissors, nappies, bottle cleaners, changing mat etc. I also included some Johnsons baby products aswell. Quite honestly, they never go wrong and always are warmly received! The Johnsons Cottontouch 2 in bath & wash and Face & Body Lotion smell like 'babies' and quite honestly even adults could use it! The bottles are huge and will last ages!
Relaxing Products - In the final days of pregnancy and in the weeks after (or years haha!) life can feel a bit overwhelming, which is why I always like to give some relaxing pamper products and opted for the Vie Healthcare Moroccan Hammam Spa Gift Pack. Each set consists of Beldi Black Soap with Eucalyptus (200g), Rhassoul Clay (200g) from the Atlas Mountains and Argan Oil (50ml), all sourced from Morocco for an authentic Hammam experience, one of the oldest cleansing traditions in the world. You can buy the set here for £18.95.
A Memory Box - A memory box is ideal for baby bracelets, first photos, scan pics, baby prediction cards etc. I think it's such a brilliant gift idea and you can even have it personalised for the baby!
FINAL THOUGHTS
Make sure you clean up and don't leave anything heavy or bulky for the parents to take home. In my experience, a baby shower is about celebrating how amazing the pregnancy and journey to parenthood has been more than the actual baby. I think a lor of time is usually spent talking about the impending childbirth and the concerns that expectant mumma's experience which is understandable. Just offering a listening ear and your encouragement is enough and it's likely the mum-to-be is simply getting some things off her chest!
I've also learned what NOT to do from seeing the behavior of others at a Baby Shower:
1 - Do NOT go empty handed. Even if it's chocolate, just don't turn up empty handed - some people draw attention to the poor souls who do turn up without a gift. It's not a competition and of course, 99% of people would never draw attention to it but there's always that 1%...
2 - Do NOT get drunk. I would stick to a '2 drink' rule. No one needs a drunk rendition of 'bye bye baby' at 2pm on a Sunday..
3 - Do NOT leave empty handed! One thing I've found about all baby showers is that there's always an abundance of food and leftovers that needs to go somewhere. Make life easier and just take home some cake. It'll keep everyone happy!
4 - Keep it short & sweet - 5pm finish! That way no one has time to get drunk, get bored or fizzle away as the day wears on. It also means you can get home to a glass of wine and the parents to be won't be overly exhausted.
5 - Don't forget the Daddy! I know I touched on this earlier, but it's his day too and he is likely to be just as excited as the mom to be.
6 - Don't tell horror birthing stories. Preggy peggy is probably already having irrational fears about giving birth to a 26lbs hedgehog so let's keep the horror stories for another day!
Aside from that, Have fun! I'd love to hear your recommendations so let me know in the comments below!
H x
THIS PIECE INCLUDES SOME GIFTED ITEMS.