baby shower is a special event given by a family member or a friend of the parents/mother-to-be. This event is normally given when the mother-to-be is in her seventh or eighth month
of pregnancy. The objective of the baby shower is to help the parents or the mother-to-be by giving gifts for the baby.
If you are given the honor of hosting this special event and you are working with a budget, here are a few ideas you can apply to make the baby shower a memorable and successful one.
Make sure you decide up front what your budget will be. Know how much money you will spend on the baby shower items and stay within your budget.
If this is not a surprise baby shower the hostess may want to discuss it with the mother-to-be or solicit the help of a family member or another friend to help with the planning. The first thing you would need to decide upon is the date and time. After the date and time has been determined a location would be the next important issue to discuss.
If your budget allows, you may want to have the baby shower at a hotel or a restaurant. The baby shower can even be held at a church. If you want to save money you can have it at the mother-to-be, the hostess, a family member or a friend’s home. If the weather permits it can be held outside in the back yard or at a park.
You would need to make a list of everyone you are going to invite. You can get their email address and send an e-card. This will cut out the postage. Of course if the people you are inviting do not have a computer you can purchase inexpensive baby shower invitations by Invitesbaby and mail them to their homes. It is also a good idea to have the invitees to RSVP. This will help you determine how many people plan to attend.
If the mother-to-be is registered at a store a registry can be printed out and given to the hostess to be emailed or mailed to the invitees, or the mother-to-be can supply the hostess with a wish list of the items she would like to receive. For great gift ideas for your baby shower see the article Great Gifts for the Bundle of Joy by Alicia Ellison Grant.
You will need to decide what your menu will consist of. You can serve light refreshments such as potato chips, punch, a veggie tray/fruit tray, meatballs, etc. You can also serve a cake. This cake can be purchased from the grocery store; you can bake it or have a family member to do so. Do not forget your napkins, paper plates, eating utensils and cups.
Your decorations can be inexpensive. If you decide to go with a theme you may want your decorations to correspond with the theme. If you decide to go with the basics you may want to choose the blue for boy or the pink for girl. Your decorations can consist of pink or blue balloons with pink or blue streamers to match. If you or unaware of the baby’s sex you may want to consider using yellow or green. Your decorations do not have to be expensive.
If your budget allows, you may decide to give souvenir gifts. This is totally optional. These are little gifts to thank your guest for attending the baby shower. These party favors or parting gifts can be anything from book markers, bath soaks to picture frames. If you decide not to go with the souvenir gifts make sure you send thank you cards to your guest.
Now that all of the hard work is out of the way, you will need to decide what games you will play at the baby shower if any. If you decide to play games they will help to entertain and occupy your guest. You can never go wrong with games such as Bingo, the Q-tip game, the name game or the baby food game. The Q-tip game is played when a baby bottle is filled with Q-tips and is passed around to the guest. They would need to guess and write down how many Q-tips are in the baby bottle. The person who come the closet wins. The name game is played when the mother-to- be has already named the baby. The guest would need to make as many words as they can out of the baby’s name. The person who makes the most words win. The baby food game consists of your guest guessing which baby foods they are tasting. Make sure whatever games you decide to play are fun and appropriate. These are just a few games you can play to entertain your guest. You will also need to decide if you will give inexpensive gifts to the winners. These gifts can consist of candles, candy bars, key chains, magnets etc.
If you decide to have music in the background you may want to play something soft and not too distracting.
Tags: Baby Shower invitations, Baby Shower Party Favors, Baby Shower Party Invitations, Planning a Baby Shower