Friday, May 20, 2016

Throwing An Awesome Baby Shower

Written By: Deanna

Recently, a week after my wedding actually, my childhood best friend told me she was expecting. Which meant I had 9 months to plan a baby shower! While my friend and I aren't on the best of terms, I decided that I wanted to throw her a baby shower that would be above and beyond what she could have through it would be! And based on how everyone reacted, I succeeded, so I wanted to share my advice with you on the matter - because honestly, it was pretty stress free.



First things first, find some friends you can count on. Doesn't matter who it is, just make sure that no matter what, you can count on them. I reached out to the girl's two sister's, her mother, and a family friend. None of them helped me. Instead, I ended up enlisting the help of my mother-in-law, my husband, my sister-in-law, and my husband's best friend. Life savers.

Now, the best thing you can do is give yourself as much time as you can in order to get everything ready and by everything, I mostly mean ideas. Which is where I'm hoping to come in handy! Now, let's get to the bullet points.
  • Figure out where the baby shower is going to be. For us this was a little bit difficult (read "miscommunications"). If you're lucky enough to have a person to offer their house, take it! If not, look into local churches, or ask for suggestions.
  • Make sure you have enough food! #1 TIP I received from any women who had planned or been to a baby shower. They all agreed that in order to have an awesome baby shower was to make sure I had enough food - so that's what I did. And a $200 cake that I had custom made. Sandwiches, cheese platter, mac 'n' cheese, jello, fruit, potato salad, cucumber salad, pickle bites, almond cake, a biscuit bar, taco dip, and finally a tea bar.
  • About that tea bar... I got some amazing tea (here) that everyone loved. Bubble Gum and Butter Bear. Yes, HP (Harry Potter) inspired.
  • Décor: Don't go crazy with it. Anyways, most people won't be paying any attention to that kind of thing. What we did was go to the thrift stores around us and pick up some baby stuff. Toys, clothes, etc. We also picked up some wipes, books, and other items that the mommy-to-be will need, but likely won't get and used that to decorate.
  • Diapers Cakes. I cannot tell you how many people stopped to take pictures of it. People love something unique - in this day and age, it's easier and harder than ever to find unique things.
  • Set up a Facebook page. This was a huge one for me, being in another time zone while I was planning a baby shower. Having the Facebook page gave me somewhere for people to reach me if they had questions - and helped me keep on top of everything - not to mention, look like I was on the ball! (Who doesn't want that?!)
  • Games. I wanted to have lots of stuff to keep everyone busy and chatting. I had a drawing for little, baby bottle bowling, advice to the parents, and wishes for the baby - along with guess the baby animal. I shouldn't be surprised, no one really used the advice to the parents or wishes for the baby.
  • We also did a few prizes, that more than anything, my husband and I ended out giving away! We had a tea/coffee/hot chocolate one, a "boys" one, a "girls" one, wine night, and a candy one. Two got picked. I won't dare tell you how much I spent at Shoppers Drug Mart, or on food. But, I will say that with everything - I spent about $4500, but that includes $1500 plane tickets.

The truth is, with enough time and prep - and some damn good deals - you can throw an awesome baby shower with only a little effort. More than anything, it will be the 2-3 days before the shower that will be busy, the night before and the morning of will be spent prepping food and getting the place ready/set up.

1 comment:

  1. These tips are fantastic. It is definitely important to have enough food on hand. People like to snack while they chat and play all of those games! This sounds like it was quite the shower. Especially with all of those prizes!

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