A Quick And Easy Guide To Baby Showers

Table of Contents:

INTRODUCTION...4
PART 1: PLANNING THE SHOWER...7
Who’ll Throw the Shower?...7
When Should the Shower Happen?...10
Sending out Invitations...15
To Gift Registry or Not to Gift Registry...19
PART 2: HOLDING THE SHOWER...22
Things to Do: Themes...23
Theme: A Tea Party...25
Theme: Celebrity...26
Theme: Literary Baby...27
Things to Do: Games...28
Food...31
PART 3: INSIDER’S TIPS...33
Things to Do: Plan...34
Things to Do: Decorate...36
Things to Do: Cater Accordingly...36
Things to Do: Set a Time Limit...40
Things NEVER to Do: Don’t Ask People to Eat Standing Up...42
Couples Showers?...46
CONCLUSION...48


When Should the Shower Happen?
This is an important question to ask, and of course, to
answer. And as usual, there are a few different viewpoints
on when to hold the baby shower. Fortunately, however,
these views aren’t as debatable as they sometimes are when
it comes to whether a relative or non-relative should hold
the baby shower (as we discussed above). So don’t worry;
this is a rather easy and straightforward challenge to solve.
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Now, the real problem here is simply that there isn’t a clear
answer to the question: when should the shower happen?
The answer to this will almost always depend on factors that
are specific to the mother-to-be, the guests, and other
issues.
So rather than providing a “one-size-fits-all” answer here –
which is something that we can’t do without knowing the
details of your particular baby shower – let’s just look at the
variables. Once you know these, you’ll easily be able to
determine when the baby shower should be held.
The Mother-to-Be
Let’s start with mother-to-be. She may have a preference
about when the shower should be held; and this preference
should be heeded. The father-to-be might also provide
input here, which is wonderful and should be part of the
overall decision-making process (we take a closer look at
“couples” baby-showers later on in this book).
What kinds of things might influence a mother-to-be’s
preference on when the shower should be held? Some of
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them prefer to have the shower when they’re showing; they
may feel that there’s something more appropriate (for lack
of a better word) about holding a shower when people can
actually see that a baby is on the way.
In practical terms, this means that a shower might be held
well into the second trimester, or into the third.
The Guests
As we all know, December is a season for parties and
events; both business, and personal. As a result, it may be
polite to not hold the baby shower during “party season”, as
it may influence whether people would be able to attend (or
be able to relax when they attend, because they don’t have
three more “get togethers” to go to after the baby shower!).
Furthermore, if you live in a wintry climate, it may be a
pleasant idea to not have the baby shower in the dead of
winter. True, life does go on in the middle of January and
people go to work and do many of the things that they want
to do (go shopping, go to restaurants, and so on), but if it
makes absolutely no difference to you and the mother-to-be
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(and/or the father-to-be) whether the baby shower is held in
late January or late April, then it may be advisable to choose
the latter; simply for climate concerns.
The Gifts
This is one that most people don’t think about until someone
brings it up, and then they say to themselves: ohhhh, yes,
that makes sense! Fortunately for you, you’re getting a
sneak-peak at that thought well before someone at the baby
shower asks it!
As we all know, some people prefer to give gender-specific
gifts. While, indeed, times have changed and makers of
baby-related items are creating more gender-neutral items,
there’s still a large contingent of people who want to give
baby blue gifts to an impending son, or pink gifts to an
impending daughter.
In light of this, if the parents-to-be have decided to learn
the baby’s gender via ultrasound, and further decided to
share that information with the world-at-large, then it may
be very appreciated by the baby shower guests if you hold ...