Much like Halloween, although a lot less scary, baby showers originated in the US but have slowly crept over to British shores and are now an essential part of many women’s pregnancies- especially celeb ladies! A survey by Carte Blanche recently revealed that two-thirds of mums-to-be have plans for a baby shower before their nine months are up and it’s not surprising; they’re the perfect way to celebrate your soon-to-be-born little one and a chance for your friends and family to shower you with gifts and give you some much-deserved pampering.
With that in mind, we’ve gathered together some tips and inspiration on hosting the ultimate baby shower. Bearing in mind that it should be a nice relaxing day for you and your bump, you may want to slyly print a copy, leave it at your best friend’s house, and leave the organising to someone else!
Credit: Svadilfari Flickr
Firstly, you need a venue!
- Keep it simple and low-key, and have the shower at home. No one should have any trouble finding the venue and you’ll be sure to keep costs down. Your loved ones are bound to help with the clean up too!
- Or, make like a celeb and head to a classy hotel. Mariah Carey held hers at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, while Eva Longoria hired out the Butterfly Bar at West Hollywood’s Petit L’Ermitage hotel for Victoria Beckham’s shower before she gave birth to Harper
You’ll need to decide on how to entertain the guests too. Here are our top suggestions:
- As with many things in life, the most traditional baby shower games are often best! Sweepstakes on baby’s name, date of arrival and weight go down a treat, and if your guests are happy to put some money in for their guesses, you can set up a nice little savings account for when baby grows up
- Or, go hi-tech! Download iPhone app ‘Kick to Pick’ and have fun letting your bump make suggestions as to its own name! All you need to do is lie back, place your iPhone on your tummy and wait for baby to kick. You can give it a selection of your favourites, or simply let it choose from a very extensive list which can be narrowed down by gender
- You could take inspiration from Jessica Alba, who had a ‘DIY’ baby shower in March 2011. She and her guests spent an afternoon creating homemade decorations including butterfly paper lanterns, flower baskets and dragonflies. She says it was a ‘more personal and fun’ shower, and it’s bound to keep costs down
Your friends and family may be struggling with what to buy. We’ve had a little think:
- If you’re keen to get your pre-baby figure back, follow WAG Abby Clancy’s lead. Her stylist gave her a pair of red leather hotpants at her baby shower and they helped her regain her pre-baby figure after Sophia Ruby’s birth. We can’t all be blessed with a model figure, so you might like to ask for a pretty dress instead of hotpants!
- Think about charm bracelets for baby (if it’s a girl) or for mum. Both Thomas Sabo and Pandora have special charms with a pregnancy theme such as bootees, little boys & girls and birthstones, so you’re bound to have a really memorable gift for the mum-to-be. Or, buy for baby and add to the charm collection on each birthday as she grows up- think how lovely it’ll be by the time she’s at school! Visit John Greed Jewellery for some charm inspiration
- Or, opt form traditional gifts: baby clothes, accessories or frozen meals so that post-birth stress is kept to a minimum. You can order special maternity food boxes online from stores such as Chef on Board and The Food Stork. Baby showers are a wonderful opportunity for loved ones to help out with the costs the come along with a baby
And, we’ve even covered the little odds and ends you might have forgotten:
- Don’t forget Daddy! Dads can sometimes feel a little left out of fun events such as baby showers. Consider inviting him along to share the fun and include him in the gifts- you can buy items such as custom medical scrubs for the delivery room
- Add a special element to the event by deciding on a theme. Pink and/or blue are the obvious ones, but what about princesses, animals or a story such as Winnie the Pooh for a little girl? For a boy, think about comics, superheroes or cars and select or design your invites and decorations accordingly
- Baby showers don’t have to be expensive- set a price limit if you’re worried friends will be embarrassed about spending too much or too little. You could even challenge them to get creative and make their own gifts!
Mumable Author: Sophie
