BABY SHOWER
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If you’ve never been the type to make check lists, now’s the time to leave haphazard themed shower planning behind and get organized.
Here are some printable listings of some cool and unique shower themes that you might want to consider when brainstorming your baby shower ideas:
Believe me when I say that if you take a hap-hazard approach to throwing a party, your guests will be aware of it. Save yourself the uncomfortable feeling of being caught unprepared. Buy a notebook and become an organized party planner. No matter how basic the party or how low the budget, your baby shower ideas should be documented. Make a separate page for every aspect of the shower from buying the cake, the decorations and the baby shower favors for your party. You can organize all of your baby shower ideas to compliment your baby shower themes with just a little planning and thought. You can be sure that your unique shower themes and ideas will be especially appreciated by the pregnant guest of honor when it reflects the same decor that she has chosen for her baby's nursery.
It’s become commonplace for there to be more than one shower for a first time mother. You could find yourself under pressure to dream up some unique baby shower ideas and an unusual baby shower theme for a small formal party for close friends with only a few guests followed up with a festive baby shower theme for a huge, informal shower.
Bear in mind that for bigger baby showers, there a need for a constant stream of communication between involved parties so that there’s a seamless blending of each individual’s baby shower ideas. If you nail down a baby shower theme and a color scheme on the front end that will make things much less complicated, but dedicate yourself to staying in touch with your co-planners.
If the baby shower that you are planning is to be a large affair that has more than one hostess the sharing of responsibilities and individual baby shower ideas will be essential. As a token of unity at the very first meeting, have a trendy matching notebook and pen set for each hostess. If you have a favorite baby shower theme in mind, you can buy notebooks with themed covers to see how well your idea might be accepted. See how planning can pay off?
At the first meeting, here are some details that should be covered.
- Timing – The date, time and length of the shower
- Budget – How much money do you have to work with?
- Guests – The number of guests that will be invited
- Location- Where the shower will be held
- Theme and Scope – The theme will direct your baby shower ideas and scope will probably be determined by the budget. Will there be traditional baby shower food, like snacks and a decorated shower cake or will there be a complete meal?
- Baby Shower Invitations - Will invitations be made by phone or sent through the mail?
- Decorations – Will the entire area be decorated or will you only be required to come up with baby shower ideas for the serving and gift tables?
- Games – Will there be games? Baby shower games might be great for a group of girls, but if it’s a couples or co-ed party that includes guys, traditional baby shower games might not be that entertaining. Modern daddy dudes are certainly more involved in the baby process than our dads were, but you might want to come up with some baby shower ideas, games and prizes specifically for men. We don’t want to make the boys uncomfortable!
- Hostess gift for baby
Now, put simply, decide who will take care of what. Give each participant an equal amount of work and input. Stress that each hostess is encouraged to jot down and share their ideas at the next meeting. If regular meetings are impossible, use the internet to send group emails with pictures attached so that appropriately themed decorations can be put to a vote. The election of one main organizer might be a good idea in case of a tie.
Once the theme is chosen, be prepared to be diplomatic in case one hostess’ baby shower ideas don’t mesh with some of the other baby shower ideas on the table. Be flexible! Going over baby shower ideas should be part of the fun. Don’t be upset if your personal vision of a classy, elegant occasion taken right off the pages of a Martha Stewart baby shower guide is shot down for a hip and trendy affair with pink and purple baby shower decorations or even a casual picnic brunch baby shower with food served on paper plates!
Not even the most unique, fairy tale baby shower is worth the loss of a dear friend. If it takes your being the bigger person to keep the shower planning train on the tracks, smile and do the best you can. Save those fabulous baby shower ideas for later and knock their socks off when it’s your turn. Be a team player and work with the agreed upon baby shower ideas to make your particular portion of the shower a masterpiece.
If the baby shower is to be a party for couples, there are certain shower themes that will be much more appealing to men. Find out which of dad’s hobbies might be worked into a themed party. If there’s something he’s passionate about, there’s your theme. Every man has something that he blows more money or spends too much time with, play on that! It’s ok for the theme of the party to be about the parents' hobbies and personality traits! Baby isn’t here yet and mom and dad are the guests of honor. It’s perfectly acceptable for the theme to be something other than teddy bears and little yellow duckies and bunnies.
If dad’s at the shower, tradition is already out the window so you might as well make it easy on yourself and have fun with it. If dad’s into building choppers or remodeling classic cars so be it. Take the theme and run with it so long as mom and the other hostesses are in agreement. Warn the grandmothers and grandfathers ahead of time so that they are prepared for a shower theme that they might consider unusual as baby showers and parties were two completely different entities back in their day. The hip crowd of today doesn’t consider anything unusual about combining baby showers and bridal showers and that would have been pretty rare a couple of decades ago. The rule of thumb is there is no hard fast rule so long as the mom and dad consider it an appropriate celebration of the birth of their baby.
For more information on how to choose a baby shower theme return to Unique Baby Gear Ideas, Nursery Themes and Decorating Ideas.
