Celebrate the approaching arrival of a beautiful baby with a baby shower! Bring friends and family together to share baby stories, play fun party games and spoil the guest of honour with lovely gifts. 

Here are some great tips to help you plan a perfect and memorable baby shower: 

When to host the baby shower?

In the third trimester, the pregnancy is established, excitement is growing for the upcoming birth of the baby and preparation for the birth is nearing full swing! The expectant Mother may also know the gender of the baby by then (if she chooses to) which helps with the gift buying choices and theme for decorating the baby shower. This makes the third trimester the perfect time to hold a baby shower! Whenever you decide to throw the shower, you don’t want to leave it too close to the birth when the Mother to be may be more tired and busy getting everything ready for the baby’s arrival. A good rule of thumb is between 30-32 weeks - if you leave it much later, the baby may make a surprise early appearance! 

Ask the mum-to-be for a date that suits her and any guests she would really like to be in attendance so that she can make sure everyone she wants to be there can make it. She may even decide to have the shower after the baby is born when the baby themselves can be the star of the show! (“Baby naming ceremonies” and “meet the baby parties” have grown in popularity and typically take place after the baby is born.)

Whenever you decide to throw the baby shower, give all of the guests plenty of notice and send the invites as soon as possible so that everyone can mark their calendar with this special event! 

Where to hold the baby shower?

It is lovely if a close friend or family member can offer to host the shower at their home so that the mum-to be does not have to hold it at their own home where they have to fuss around and make sure everything is clean ready for her guests. You may also find a local community hall or club that offers great rates to hire out a room for the party. 

If the expectant mother would prefer to host the baby shower at her home, make sure that you and a few others offer to arrive early to clean, tidy and set up the decorations and also offer to stay after the party to clean up.

Choose a theme and decorations

Ask close family members and friends of the mum-to be for ideas on a party theme. Brainstorm and share information on the mum-to-be’s likes so that you can design a perfect and unique baby shower theme that individual to her. Brainstorm ideas such as:

What is her favourite thing/ show/ movie? Does she love unicorns, aliens, fashion? Make it as funny and outrageous as you like - if her favourite film is Breakfast at Tiffanies or Clueless, maybe you can base the theme on this? Or base the theme on her favourite hobby such as horse riding or singing. Have fun, get creative and enlist the help of others so that loved ones can feel like they have each made their own contribution to the baby shower. Follow the theme through to the dress code, decorations and the invites. 

Keep it simple or go all out! To make it more fun and save a bit of money, why not make some of the decorations yourself?

Ideas for food party drinks

You can keep the menu simple and still have a great selection of tantalising food and drinks for all to enjoy. Depending on the budget, location and the time of day that the party is held, you can offer a choice of savoury platters, mini sandwiches, light bites, vegetables and dips, fruit salad and celebratory cupcakes. Choose drinks such as soda, punch or mocktails that are pre-made ready for the party. 

A great time of day to throw a baby shower is after lunch or dinner when the guests have already eaten so you can arrange a small selection of easy to make food for the guests to eat if they feel peckish (this will help to save you time and money). If you want to be extravagant and have time to prepare a unique and impressive party spread, ideas can be found on delish.com. 

Send out the baby shower invitations

Once you have decided on the guest list and the details of the party, send out the baby shower invites with the date, time, location, RSVP details, theme of the baby shower and any other information you want to include. 

Our MyParty free invitation template helps you personalise your own invites using handy tools to ensure that you include all of the essential party information which you can then email to your guests! We also have an RSVP tool to help you keep track of the party attendees. Make sure to include information about the food you are serving and check to see if anyone has any dietary needs so that you can cater for them. Send out the invites well before the party so that guests can mark the special occasion in their diary! 

Create a gift list

We all know how incredibly expensive all of the small baby essentials add up to for parents-to-be, let alone the big ticket items such as a pushchair or crib! So any gift is very much appreciated whether it is sentimental, practical or just plain cute. 

The mum-to be can draw up a gift list using our online party invitation tool to let her guests know which baby items she really needs. Or the guests can choose their own individual gift for the baby (or the mother). Here are some ideas:

• Unique, specially made and thoughtful gifts such as crocheted/ knitted blankets or other handmade baby items.
• Family heirlooms passed down through generations can be a one of a kind treasured item that the baby can one day pass down to their own children.
• Photo frames, albums and baby boxes are gifts that the parents can use to treasure special memories of their baby through the years and mark important milestones.
• Essential consumable items such as a set of baby toiletries, baby medical items or diapers (make sure to ask the type of diapers they will be using - whether it is cloth or disposable diapers). It is very popular to buy eco-friendly, organic products that are environmentally friendly.
• A treat for the mum-to-be. This gift will be very well received and can include a pamper day for her to take before or after the baby arrives, money towards a meal or money towards a new outfit.
• An IOU. This can be a handwritten note offering assistance of a home cooked meal, assistance with cleaning the house, doing the laundry, helping with the ironing or other tasks for a set time frame after the baby is born. This is a thoughtful gift which is free to give and offers a much needed helping hand for the Mother and Father after the baby arrives.
• Baby clothes.Be sure to buy easy to change comfortable clothing for smaller babies or buy beautiful seasonal appropriate clothes in larger sizes. Larger sizes are particularly useful as the expectant parents will have a number of new baby items and will appreciate the larger clothes to save for later on.
• Baby toys, soothers or vouchers towards these. You can ask the mother to be for her preference on these sorts of gifts.
• Ask the guests to forgo smaller items and instead, arrange a small collection of money from the guests to help towards the purchase one of the bigger baby essential items such as a crib or a stroller.
• You can find some more tips on baby shower gifts from the popular babycentre community or for a personalised gift, not on the high street has a selection of gift ideas for a baby shower.

Arrange some entertaining party games

Choose some great party games to break the ice, provide entertainment and have lots of fun! Recruit one or two people to help you plan and host some of the party games which is great for those who love to contribute. Here are a few party game ideas to get you started - just make sure you get some small prizes ready for the winners! You can also find some fun baby shower "name games" on thebump.com.

1. Guess the baby’s… 

This is a popular guessing game with prizes for the winner which can be presented after the baby’s birth if they guessed correctly! You can write a short list of questions for things relating to the baby’s birth and the players to guess the answers to those questions such as the baby’s birth weight, birth date, time of birth, name of the baby etc. Once the baby is born, the winner / winners get a prize for the most number of correct or closest answers!

2. How old am I?

An entertaining game for all! The guests must try and guess how old the mum-to be was at different stages in her life. Prepare for this game by asking the expectant mother and close family members for some playful, humorous photographs of the mum-to-be at different ages / stages of her life, write a number next to each enlarged image and place them on a board or a big screen. Each of the players (armed with a pen and paper) have to guess the mum-to-be’s age when each photograph was taken and write it next to the number on their paper. The player with the most correct guesses wins!

3. Fun facts quiz

This is an amusing game of trivia with mum-to-be as the star of the show! Ask the expectant Mum to help you before-hand to write up a list of questions based on fun facts from her past and present. Choose questions based on unknown details about the mother-to-be that are charming and fun! The player with the highest number of right answers to the questions wins the game.

4. The diaper pin game

This is a simple, fun game to involve everyone. All guests have a diaper pin (or small baby related item) on arrival. The aim of the game is that each time someone says “baby” to you in conversation, you can take that persons diaper pin to add to your own collection. The winner at the end of the day is the person who collects the most pins. 

5. Who’s the baby?

This is a great ice breaker! All of the guests can be involved and the aim of the game is to guess the name of each baby in the photo. To prepare for the game, each of the guests share a cute baby photo of themselves with the party host (make sure you ask for the baby photos a few weeks before the party or mention this on the invite). Introduce everyone before-hand and give each guest a name tag to help the guests familiarise themselves. 

Number the baby photos and put them on a board or big screen. Each player (armed with a pen and paper) needs to “guess which guest the baby is” and put a name next to each number on their paper. You could even add in a celebrity round for extra points. The winner is the person with the most right answers. 

6. Guess The Age?

An entertaining game for the guests and the mum-to-be as the players try and guess how old the expectant mother was at different stages in her life. To prepare for the game, ask the mum-to-be and close family members for some playful, humorous photographs of the mum-to-be (all taken at different ages). Write a number next to each enlarged image, placing it on a board or big screen. Each of the players have to guess the mum-to-be’s age when each photograph was taken and write it next to the number on a piece of paper. The player with the most correct guesses wins!

A toast to the guest of honour and some thank you notes

Make sure you have a toast for the special guest of honour with an alcohol free drink and once the party is over, thank everyone for coming. Hand out small party favours or “thank you” gifts to the guests such as a small jar or an organza pouch of sweets. Personalise the party favours for each guest with a tag and a special handwritten, thoughtful “thankyou" message.

Once the mum-to-be has opened her gifts, you can also offer to help her write some personalised thankyou notes for each of the gifts. 

And… Relax!

As the organiser of the party, you can now put your feet up and relax! Don’t forget to pat yourself on the back for planning a fantastic baby shower, which was enjoyed by all (most of all by the guest of honour herself)!