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How To Plan An Amazing baby shower?

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  • October 13, 2020
  • MKB Team

Guide to planning the perfect baby shower

Pregnancy is a milestone to be celebrated, here’s how you do it right!

The term 'Baby shower' is relatively new but the celebration and rituals associated with pregnancy and childbirth are both ancient and enduring.

In ancient times, in our very own country, India, baby showers were thrown only in the presence of a few close ladies. It could be after delivery or anywhere between 6 - 8 months of pregnancy depending upon the culture. There used to be literal showers of dry fruits and some healthy food over the mom to be followed by soothing music for the baby to hear in the womb. This ritual is termed as “Godh Bharai” and we are certain that you must have heard of it.

But now, there is an adaptation of the western world in our Indian society which has resulted in the modern version of baby showers. These baby showers have just one agenda: FUN!

We have compiled a list of questions that will most certainly pop your mind when you think of a baby shower. Fret not, we have lined up all the answers too. Dive in!

1. What about the venue?

You have to work on this aspect as it should be a close-by area for the expectant mom to reach safely and without any hassle. A close-by restaurant/banquet/Party lawn in your neighbourhood is the ideal pick depending on the look and feel you are aiming at, also the budget you have in mind.

2. Who shall host the party?

Here comes the most important thing. Generally it’s a woman from the family who is close to you who hosts it or a friend nowadays because our girlfriends are the family we choose! There could be a single host or the party can be co-hosted by 2 or more people depending upon the size of your guest. If you are the go big or go home kind of girl, you can also hire a host for the event.

3. What about the guest list?

This is a crucial part of the event. As baby showers are thrown by a friend, chances are they will miss someone. Keeping your guest list handy saves embarrassment. If you have guests travelling from other cities it would be nice to send out save the date e-invites at least a month prior to the big day, allowing them enough time to make their travel arrangements. If all your guests are local, 15 days before the baby shower is a good time to invite them to make sure they block their schedule.

Go crazy with the invites and let your mood for the baby shower pour on the e-invites.

4. A baby shower is no fun without games!

Games are the responsibility of a host to arrange, to ensure a fun baby shower. Depending upon the time of the baby shower i.e. before delivery or after, there are a variety of games to pick from! We took the liberty of doing some digging to give you some inspo!

Before delivery games ideas:

a. Guess Who?

What you'll need:

  • Baby photo of each guest, numbered
  • Numbered blank lists, one for each guest
  • Pens or pencils

How to play:

When planning a baby shower one of the first things you’ll need to do is send an invitation to all the guests. With this game, when you send the invites out, ask everyone to bring a baby photo. Collect all the photos at the beginning of the shower. Later on, post the pictures around the party room with a number attached to each one. Distribute numbered, blank lists, and have each guest guess who is pictured in each photo.

b. Baby Pool

Have each person try to guess the exact date and time of the birth of the baby that’s on the way. If you want to make things interesting, let each person throw one dollar into an envelope along with their prediction. Whoever is closest to the real date and time of birth wins the cash!

c. Don’t Say Baby

What you'll need:

  • 5 clothespins per guest

How to play:

When your guests arrive, pin five clothespins onto them and offer a single instruction: Don’t say “baby.” Have your guests keep their ears open, and if they hear anyone say the word “baby,” they get to take away one of that person's clothespins. The guest with the most clothespins at the end of the baby shower is the winner. This simple baby shower game is fun, and it encourages guests to interact in an interesting way. At the end of the party, everyone will know everyone. Bonus points to the game for making that happen!

d. Blindfolded Diaper Changing

Gather a couple of babydolls and a pack of diapers. Put the diapers on the baby dolls. If you’re really feeling saucy, you can add a spoonful of Nutella to the diaper before putting it on the baby doll.

Next, blindfold several of your guests (one for each babydoll). Now, have them race to remove the dirty diaper, wipe the babydoll clean, and put a new diaper on. Whoever finishes first is the winner!

e. Price Is Right

Bring a series of gifts for the mom-to-be, and have guests try to guess the value without going over. But winners only get bragging rights! The gifts, of course, are for the woman who’s expecting.

5. Do we give gifts or just get them?

Gifts are the most exciting part of the evening. The new parents receive a number of baby clothes, those teeny tiny booties, number of cosy blankets and various products in the shade of blue or pink.

There is also a return gift trend, where the expectant parent gives a souvenir to all the guests as a thank you for being part of the baby shower. It could be anything simple and cute that captures the essence of what this day means to you!

Now another cool thing which can be done is setting up a baby shower gifting registry online. It is a very practical way to make sure the gifts you receive are actually what you need and will use. We feel it saves the effort from friends and family in thinking about what to get the new mom, and also assures you don’t receive cringe-worthy gifts that you will never use.

6. Did someone say FOOD?

Food is the most important thing a person remembers at any party. So, the host has to be very particular about it. Also keeping in mind that the menu should meet all the desires of the mom-to-be along with the guests. It shouldn't be way too spicy or bland! Take a pick of your favourite cuisine from Italian, Mexican, Asian or anything that is a special craving of the mom-to-be. Isn’t this day about pampering her and celebrating her! Get hogging like nobody’s watching, woman!

This could become a bit easy when you analyse which part of the day the function is, so you can plan accordingly beverages, the main course, light snacks, and the desert.

7. What about budgeting? Is it really needed?

The idea of this shower is to have fun. As amazing as a day with your best girls sounds, it’s important to not go crazy with the expenses and decide a budget with your partner, before it gets out of hand and turns into a lavish affair. Because if you don’t budget things appropriately, trust us it will burn a hole in your pockets. So you have to plan everything accordingly, ranging from the menu to the gifts to prize distribution for games. This doesn't mean you have to ditch the return gifting part. Just personalise your with a little DIY (check out the slideshow at the end of the article to go crazy with DIY inspo), and be ready to hear this a gazillion times: "Where did you get this from?" If you want to go easy on the spending, we have 3 alphabets to cheer you up: DIY! A team of girls can together throw a better baby shower and leave all the event planners to shame. Let the planning begin!!

8. That’s all folks. We are done, right? Yes? No?

Just like the beautiful saying, 'All’s well if it ends well'. So we have to take care of many things for the end of the day. Like when to give gift bags, what about the leftover food, where is it going, when can we politely ask our guests to leave, how is the expected mom going take her gifts back home. For all such, we need a planning committee. And most importantly, the health of the expected mom and her means of travelling back home has to be considered by the end of the day. As the party can go long and she might be tired. And the last thing we need is a cranky mom-to-be.

So make sure all of these points are planned in advance so that you can say: All's well that ends well. Feet up, hair down. Get that nap mom-to-be, you have had way too much fun for one day. Catch up on that rest now, you need it!

Now we have put together a few images from everything we love about baby showers to get you inspired! Get swiping!


Published by

MKB Team

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