So many wonderful moments await when a little one’s about to be born! Planning a baby shower makes it possible for friends and loved ones to celebrate the mom-to-be and her precious baby on the way. Discover how to plan a baby shower full of delicious food, fun and games, and a lovely setting just perfect for this heartwarming occasion.

Let’s work through how to plan your event from start to finish, making the entire process as easy as possible.

Things You’ll Need to Consider Before You Start Planning

Before we start, we’ll need to think about some key details. As with any event, you’ll need to order supplies

, choose and book vendors, pick menus, and plan the flow of the party.

But first, you need to figure out the five biggest details:

• WHO (will co-host with you, if desired and agreed upon)
• WHAT (the party will be like)
• WHEN (it takes place - date and time, plus a planning schedule)
• WHERE (the shower location will be)
• WHY (the mom-to-be will save the date, if it’s a surprise shower)

Once you iron out these details, you can really set the party in motion!

Who is supposed to plan a baby shower?

You may be thinking to yourself, “planning a baby shower is daunting and a lot of work - maybe somebody else should do it….” If you feel overwhelmed, the great news is, many special events come to life from a team effort. Commonly, the future grandmothers on both sides of the family will co-host. Other times, sisters, aunts, in-laws, or close friends may team up and host together in any combination. Sometimes coworkers even plan baby showers for their work friends.

If you want a partner in planning, ask someone! Anything is possible!

What are some things you need for a baby shower?

Make a list of all the things you need to keep yourself organized while planning this special event.

1. Choose a venue.
2. Order baby shower invitations to invite guests.
3. Baby shower decoration ideas
4. Food and drinks
5. Party supplies and tablecloths
6. Party favors for guests to take home.
7. Celebrate guests of honor with mom-to-be and grandma-to-be sashes or corsages.
8. Don’t forget about photo stations for memorable pictures with the mom-to-be!

How far in advance should you plan a baby shower?

For best results, leave yourself at least two full months to plan. With a minimum of eight weeks in advance of the event, you will have plenty of time to book a venue and vendors, order custom party supplies, and allow for items to ship to you. Planning a shower this far in advance also helps to ensure more people are available, especially the mama-to-be!

How to Plan a Baby Shower

Baby showers have that unique way of making the mom-to-be feel so special and loved. If you’re planning the shower, you very likely know the guest of honor best! Now, take some time to organize your thoughts.

Determine Guest List and Budget

Make a special effort to consider everyone close to the parents-to-be, to successfully determine guest list and budget details for planning the shower.

Deciding on a Budget

You can plan a baby shower to suit any budget. Here are some tips to help you identify an appropriate budget for the party:

1. Discuss the details. Do you plan to host the shower at someone’s home or at a restaurant or event venue? Will you order custom decorations or get crafty and DIY? Knowing the answer to questions like these will help you to arrive at a more accurate budget estimate.
2. Build in a little extra for forgotten and unexpected items. Even the best planners may still run into surprises here and there. Anticipate all the main costs but leave a little emergency money in the budget.
3. Confirm the budget with all hosts. If the mother and mother-in-law of the mom-to-be are hosting, they should confirm and agree on a budget. It’s important for all the hosts to be comfortable with the expected costs.

Determining the Guest List

The baby shower budget should help to guide how big the guest list can be. Keep these important points in mind when determining the guest list:

1. Research the per-person cost ahead of time, if possible. Knowing what it costs for each “head” at the party helps you stick to your budget.
2. Invite family and friends from both sides. The grandmothers-to-be can likely provide a list of important names and addresses.
3. Invite the guests closest to the mom-to-be first. Her immediate family, grandmothers, aunts, cousins, best friend, other close friends, and in-laws will all be very important guests. Also include extended family, neighbors, and coworkers, if she is close with them.
4. Keep in mind that not everyone will come, most likely; but you never know. Do your best to keep the guest list within the limits set by the venue or what’s reasonable in the host’s home. You can invite more people as you receive declined RSVPs.
5. Resist the urge to invite every single person she knows. While everyone loves a party, you wouldn’t want to come across as desperately seeking gifts.

How to Pick a Baby Shower Theme

Choosing a theme from the start allows the planning process to flow smoothly until the end. So many adorable themes await!

Lots of party details reflect the theme, beginning with the first glimpse in the baby shower invitations.

Try these tips to find the perfect theme:

• Feature the mom-to-be’s favorite colors. Then, build a theme around the perfect color scheme.
• Celebrate with the themes of the baby’s nursery. Those little details come to life in a theme that ties everything together so nicely.
• Find a theme inspired by the parents-to-be and their favorite things. Hobbies they love or favorite destinations may help in finding a great theme, whether it’s woodland animals in a rustic, outdoorsy setting or a carefree tropical luau with lots of bright, fun colors.
• Consider the seasons. Sometimes the time of year itself makes a lovely theme. Host a garden party in the spring, a beachy party in the summer, pumpkin spice and everything nice for fall, or a warm and cozy winter wonderland.
• Go with a throwback theme. Imagine how fun it would be to choose a theme that was popular when the new mom was young!
• Keep it simple. Pretty colors with lovely script for the baby’s first initial, if known, would be a classy and beautiful start to the theme.

While considering the best baby shower themes, keep the parents-to-be at the front of your focus. Let your relationship with the guest of honor guide you to the perfect choice.

Baby Shower Checklist

Planning a baby shower step-by-step makes it easier to keep track of everything, ensuring you don’t forget anything important. Use this printable checklist to tackle all the important tasks.

• Host - Identify baby shower hosts.
• Budget - Set a baby shower budget.
• Location - Choose an event venue.
• Guests - Create a guest list with addresses.
• Invite - Create and send baby shower invitations.
• Decorate - Design or order baby shower decorations.
• Menu - Plan the food and drink menus.
• Table Settings - Pick out place settings, tablecloths, and party supplies.
• Photo Stations - Set up stunning backdrops for group photos of guests with the mom-to-be.
• Fun - Decide on baby shower games and activities.
• Prizes - Purchase prizes for the games.
• Party Favors - Make or buy adorable baby shower favors.
• Gifts - Pick out baby shower gifts for mom & baby.

Download and print the checklist below:

Preliminary Planning – 8 weeks out or more

First things first – take a few moments to iron out the very basics of the baby shower.

• Choose a host and location. Decide who will host and where you’ll have it. Will it be at someone’s home, a restaurant, or another venue?

• Determine a budget for the shower. If multiple hosts are planning it, make sure everyone is onboard with the total budget amount split however many ways.

• Surprise or No - Discuss whether or not the event will be a surprise. If it’s a surprise, come up with a decoy reason why she needs to mark her calendar for that date to prevent any conflicts. Get her partner involved with the plan.

• Choose a theme. Let the mother’s favorite colors, activities, themes, and places guide you in choosing the best theme to celebrate her. Do a little detective work and hunt for her nursery theme and color scheme or the baby’s gender as a clue, if known. 

Consider these baby shower decoration ideas to give you a helpful starting point for themes.

Get the Ball Rolling – 6 to 8 weeks out

Make sure the mom-to-be is available for the date you’ve selected and ask her about her baby registry. Start planning far enough in advance for booking vendors and ordering items.

• Gather the guest list from both sides of the family. Invite family and friends from both new parents. Traditionally, many bridal and baby showers feature a predominantly female guest list, but modern times often see dads-to-be and their friends invited as well. Decide upon your intentions for the guest list.
• Create lovely invitations. You can customize beautiful girl baby shower invitations, boy baby shower invites, neutral ones, or simply create your own. Be sure to include the baby registry information with the invitations.
• Send the invitations at least 6 weeks in advance. Give guests enough time to mark their calendars and respond.
• Find a caterer or start planning menus. Make sure you know the new mama’s favorite foods. Discuss food allergies.
• Order anything that requires customization or shipping. Find and order decorations, favors, supplies for activities, and any custom-printed gifts or other items.

Keep the Momentum Going – 4 weeks out

Focus on how to plan a baby shower from start to finish, checking off items as you go.

• Order cake or cupcakes. Place the order for a cake that is frosted and customized to match the shower theme. Be sure you know the mama’s favorite cake flavor! Also order any other desserts you like, such as trays of cookies, pastries, etc.
• Plan the games, activities, and entertainment. Organize your plans for any festivities, such as activities and games as well as prizes.
• Schedule any rentals for photo stations or other needs. Consider a photo booth or create your own. Order any other party rentals such as tables, chairs, or tents, that you may need.
• Hire a photographer or assign one. Keep the shower flowing gracefully by designating one specific person to take great photos. A hired photographer helps to capture unforgettable memories without distraction.
• Finalize the decorations. Know exactly what you’ll have for centerpieces, table scatter, photos, banners, and so forth.

Crunch Time – 2 weeks out

• Finalize the guest count.
• Confirm with the venue, vendors, etc.
• Confirm how the mom-to-be will arrive. Stick to the plan!
• Organize the party favors, activities, games, and prizes.
• Create an agenda.
• Create a requested photo list for the photographer.

Last-Minute Dash – 1 week out

• Ask a friend or close family member to write down the gifts. Pack a notepad and pen to list the guests’ names and gifts they gave. This will be invaluable when the time comes to write baby thank you cards.

• Purchase any food, drinks, or remaining items. Finalize shopping as much as possible.
• Clean the house. If hosting at home, deep clean and organize as much as possible.
• Plan for safety. Consider ways to have a safer baby shower during covid.

Final Dash – 2 to 3 days out

• Finish last-minute shopping. Pick up anything forgotten and any perishable food.
• Check in with co-hosts. Discuss and finalize any outstanding questions or details.
• Create a photo hashtag for the event. Make a sign asking guests to tag their photos to share with mama-to-be.

Finish Line – day before & day of

• Pick up the cake and any fresh-baked goodies.
• Set up chairs, tables, tents, etc., if applicable.
• Decorate. Set up any balloon arches or other elaborate backdrops.
• Set up and decorate the gift table, cake table, and place centerpieces on guest tables.
• Set out food and drinks as well as place settings and utensils.
• Have fun!

Be sure to collect the pictures from guests and create a lovely baby shower photo book after the event!

Virtual Baby Showers

Given the global health climate, virtual baby showers continue to be another option for celebrating a sweet baby on the way. Virtual showers also work well when getting together in person would be difficult. Sometimes friends and family of the expecting parents may live far away or loved ones may be scattered in many different places.

You can host a virtual event on Zoom or your choice of online conferencing platform. Come up with a few interactive ways to keep virtual guests entertained and engaged.

Virtual Baby Shower Ideas

• Virtual Baby Shower Invitations – Don’t let your virtual shower invite get lost in the spam folder! Create lovely virtual baby shower invites that you can send out to guests with the baby registry information.
• Photo Slideshow – Share a photo slideshow of the mom-to-be during her pregnancy. Feature some ultrasound photos as well.
• Virtual Baby Shower Games – Even if you can’t be together in person, you can play plenty of baby shower games together in a virtual party. Since it’s an interactive event, have each guest share their baby photos and see how many the crowd can get right!
• Open gifts, or don’t. It’s truly up to the mom-to-be whether she chooses to open presents or not. Some new moms may prefer to spend the virtual time catching up with loved ones and just enjoying the time playing games.

Virtual baby showers can be flexible and easy-going. Plan the virtual shower to align with the mom-to-be and her preferences. If you aren’t sure you’ll go full virtual for the shower, you might also wish to check out some tips for hosting a baby shower during covid.

Baby Shower Entertainment: Games & Activities

Often, baby showers slip into what feels like hours of the mother-to-be opening presents. Keep things exciting with lots of photo ops featuring baby shower activities and games for guests to play.

Games:

• Baby Animal Names
• Baby Shower BINGO
• “Build a Baby” with Play-Doh
• Name that “Baby” Song
• Necklace Game – Don’t Say “Baby”
• Parenting Word Find
• Guess Who Mommy & Daddy Trivia
• Which Candy Bar Is It? (Guests guess which candy bars are smeared in disposable diapers.)

Activities (NOT Games):

• Baby Predictions (guess baby’s stats)
• “Dear Baby” Letter (sentimental messages for baby)
• Onesie Decorating (get creative!)
• Positive Parenting Advice Jar (share supportive tips)
• Words of Encouragement or Humor (write messages on disposable diapers)

Prizes for Games

For any baby shower games, you can reward guests for their efforts in having fun. Consider these prize ideas:

• Candy Bars
• Colored Pens
• Hand Cream
• Hand Sanitizers
• Lip Balm
• Magnetic Notepads
• Mini Candles

Gifts for the Mama-to-Be & Baby

While it’s certainly a fun event full of celebration, the baby shower also supports new moms and dads in preparing for baby’s arrival, both emotionally and financially. The baby registry helps new parents to get all they need for their babies.

You can also consider outside-the-box gifts, like:

• Sweet Baby Clothes
• Acrylic Photo Block of Ultrasound Photo
• Baby Security Blanket / Lovies
• Diaper Cakes (Disposable Diapers, Washcloths, Baby Toys, etc.)
• Gift Certificate for Takeout (easy dinner for Mom and Dad!)
• Handmade Baby Blanket, Booties, or Hat
• Handprint and Footprint Photo Frame
• Keepsake Box
• Metallic Print of Mama’s Pregnancy
• Milestone Gifts (blanket, blocks, onesie stickers)
• Personalized Name Puzzle (if known)
• Pregnancy Photo Book
• Savings Bond or Monetary Gift

We hope this guide helps you to plan an amazing party for the mother-to-be. Get organized, plan ahead, and enjoy the fun of creating such a meaningful event for a beloved and special mama.