Baby Showers

Hosting a baby shower is a wonderful way to celebrate a friend or relative’s pregnancy, create joyful memories and help the prospective mother gather the items she needs for baby. Baby showers have been popular parties for many years, but today’s baby showers are often a bit different than those of the past.

In past years, most baby showers were filled with lots of baby shower games and traditions. And, while this type of shower is still the choice for some hostesses and expectant mothers, today’s hostesses and moms to be are typically planning more grownup affairs.

One great way to host a baby shower is by holding a baby shower brunch for the mom to be. A Saturday or Sunday around noon will give everyone time to get their regular weekend tasks attended to and be ready for a relaxing afternoon. You can serve salad and quiche with fruit and a few bakery items. This makes for a menu that will please nearly any guest without creating a lot of work for the hostess. End the brunch with some sort of baby shower cake for dessert. For an elegant cake that doesn’t seem too babyish consider a square cake in white frosting and a large fondant bow to make it resemble a gift. If you know the gender of the baby, make the bow pink or blue to correspond. If the baby’s gender is a mystery, a green, yellow or black bow will work well.

You will set the tone of the event with your baby shower invitations. If you know the gender of the baby you can use something appropriate for a boy or girl. In addition to helping you designate your theme, using an invitation or theme that sends a clear message of the baby’s gender will help you to get the word out to any guests who may not yet know.

For shower invitations, there are some beautiful designs depicting different types of baby items, like cradles, diaper pins or baby footprints. If you’re opting for a more grownup tone, consider toile in pink or blue if you know the baby’s gender, black and white toile if you don’t. Gingham and polka dots also make great patterns for a gender neutral baby shower, and you can usually easily find many items that match.

Try to keep all of the elements to the shower cohesive by using the same color, pattern or theme throughout. If you choose to have games, pick just two or three and make sure that they’re all games that will bring a laugh from your guests. The main event, of course is gift opening. Be sure to have paper and pen available for your mom to be to record her gift list and be sure to take lots of pictures to give to mom after the shower.

Baby showers are such fun for both the mom to be and the guests. What better way to wish a friend all the best with her new bundle of joy?