How to Plan a Baby Shower

Are you expecting? If you are then I am assuming a baby shower is in store. If a family member isn't planning this as a big surprise then it is your duty to plan it out. Having a baby shower is something I think all expecting mothers should have. You get a chance to have your close friends and family together and also get things you really need for your soon to be born baby.

First things first, you need to decide whether you will incorporate the babies gender into the baby shower theme and if it will be a Jack and Jill, meaning men and women or only women. If you are going to go by the sex of the baby then you can add the appropriate colors to the theme. As we all know pink is for girls and blue for boys, this doesn't necessarily mean it has to be those exact colors, you can use purple or turquoise and so on. If the gender is a surprise then you can use unisex colors, such as pastel green or yellow.

The first thing you have to do is select a theme for your baby shower. There are many themes to choose from, for example you can use some of these:
Girls-------------------------------Boys
Butterflies----------------------- Teddy bears
Flowers-------------------------- Sports
Princess -------------------------Dinosaurs
Diapers-------------------------- Cars
Disney characters------------ Disney characters

Once you have picked the theme you can go ahead and buy the invitations. Make sure you buy them and send them out at least 1 month before the baby shower. The invitation should have something on it that will give them an idea of what your theme is and the gender of the baby, if you are going to reveal it.
Also make sure to put in where you made baby registries. Target and Babies R Us are really good places to do your registry. You can even do it online and print out small registry cards to put in each invitation so your guests know where to go and what to buy. Doing it online is a lot easier I think because you are pregnant and don't want to walk around the store looking for items when you can just do it by the click of a button.

Now the real planning begins. You have your theme idea, now you have to shop for things that will show off your choice of theme. I will explain this by using the butterfly theme, which was my theme for my baby shower.

I went to the dollar store so I didn't have to spend too much money on things that were going to be heading to the trash. I found many things I could use at my baby shower. I bought some fake flowers that had lady bugs on them and some wall hanging butterflies. I also bought miniature butterflies that I could use in my theme. I got plates with the colors I was going to use and cups and napkins also. You will also need tablecloths for your outside tables; you can also find these by themes. I obviously bought mine with butterflies on it.

I then went to Target and found some butterfly paper cut out that were used to hang on a wall, and some figurines to put on the tables.
Make sure you buy all the necessities too:

Utensils
Napkins
Cups
Plates
Soda
Chips
Finger foods

Try to have everyone in your family, even friends, to bring a dish. That way you save on money and don't have to cook anything yourself. Once you have bought everything for the decorations, now you have to buy the party favors. There are plenty of ideas for favors. I wanted to buy real butterflies and give them to each guest and have them make a wish and let the butterfly go, but with my budget that wasn't possible.

I bought Jordan Almonds that come in many pastel colors and put about 10 in little bags and wrapped them with a ribbon, I then added miniature butterflies to each one and a tag with the date and my name on it. I thought the almonds were a great idea because your guests will eat them. If you get something like a figurine they might throw it out or put in a drawer, like I do when I get them. Have your favors ready and put them in a box so they are safe from breaking.

The cake is a very important part of your baby shower; you can buy your cake at any public bakery. Just plan ahead so you know what kind of cake you want, how big and what theme. Then you can order it the day before the baby shower so it is ready for the day of the baby shower.

Will you be renting tables and chairs? Try to shop around so you get the best rates, and make sure you know how many people will be coming so you get the right amount of tables and chairs.

A week before your baby shower you can send your guests reminder invitations, this helps a lot because many people forget events such as baby showers.

The big day is here!

Your tables and chairs should be delivered already, dress them up with your tablecloths. Set up your figurines or table decors on each table.
Have a separate table for your drinks and one for the food. Decorate the room with all the decorations and put up balloons. Get the cake you ordered and set it up on a table with the party favors around it. An hour before the time you told your guests the shower will start you can begin to put your food. That should be it!! See how easy it was? It seems like a lot, but it isn't really. Once you're done you will be surprised you actually pulled it off. Of course it will make your life easier if you have someone help you out instead of you doing it alone; this will relieve some stress you might have.

More ideas for your baby shower:
You can out disposable cameras on each table, that way each guest can take pictures of everyone, even you and at the end of the baby shower you will have cameras full of great pictures from different views.

Have everyone fill out a blank card with there name and address and put it in a box, when your baby shower is over you can send everyone thank you notes.

Have games! You can have everyone guess how big your belly is by taking a piece of toilet paper that they think will wrap around perfectly around your belly, whoever guesses right can get a prize.

Buy miniature babies and put them in a ice box, give everyone a piece of ice and make sure they know so they don't choke, whoever's ice melts first has to yell " my water broke" and wins a prize.

The most common game is the pin game; you buy baby pins and give everyone that arrives a pin. Let them know that if anyone says baby or crosses there legs must give you there pin, only if you notice it.

Baby showers are fun and should be a moment to remember, so take lots of pictures and enjoy yourself. Planning a shower is something anyone can do, and if you're smart it could be cheap also.