A step-by-step guide to plan a baby shower to help you stay organized and on track, so you don’t forget any of the important details!
Pregnancy is an exciting time in any soon-to-be mother’s life. It’s a wonderful idea to celebrate the arrival of a baby, whether they’re adopted, born naturally, or carried by a surrogate. Baby showers are a memorable and fun way to celebrate the parents and welcome the new baby to the world.
If you’re planning a baby shower for yourself or a loved one, you might feel a little overwhelmed. Typically, the party does have many particular tasks that need to be planned, such as the invites, gift tracking, registries, and food. If you’re looking to plan a baby shower, it’s essential to use a step-by-step guide to help you stay organized and on track, so you don’t forget any of the important details! Continue reading to create the best baby shower ever.
We offer many free baby shower printables that will help you plan the perfect event!
Baby Shower Checklist
The following baby shower planning checklist will ensure that you don’t forget to take care of anything!
If you want to edit the baby shower to-do list then select the Word version.
How to Plan a Baby Shower
-
Choose the Date
The most crucial part of any party is determining the time and date for your celebration. You can choose to have the party after the baby arrives or well before you’re due. The typical baby shower is held when a mother is around 7 or 8 months pregnant. This date is far enough into pregnancy to celebrate while still giving you enough time to organize gifts and send thank-you cards before your baby arrives.
-
Set a Budget
You’ll need to spend money on items such as food for your guests, decorations, and even a potential venue if you can’t host it in your house. It’s essential to determine your budget and how much you want to invest in each part of your party. This number will also determine how many people you can potentially invite to your baby shower, especially if you’re paying for a caterer.
If you’re trying to stick to a strict budget, consider cooking your own food and buying low-cost decorations. If you want a little more help, consider hiring an event planner or caterer to help you with the details. See Budget Template.
-
Choose Your Guests
How many people do you want to invite to your party? Do you plan to allow kids or only adults? Will only females attend, or are both genders invited? It’s your party, so choose what will make you happy. Ensure that you understand your venue’s capacity so that you can make sure you don’t invite too many people! Print a guest list template for free on this site.
-
Create A Baby Registry
When you invite guests, they’ll want to know where you’re registered so they can purchase items that you need for your baby instead of buying duplicates of things you already have. There are tons of stores to choose from, such as Target or BuyBuyBaby, to create your baby registry. You can either make one directly through the website or go in-store and use a scanner to add items to your list manually. See our Baby Registry Checklist
-
Send Out The Invites
Make sure to give your guests enough notice about your party so that they have enough time to plan for and attend your baby shower. Guests need to receive invitations about a month and a half prior to the event. This allows your guests to make arrangements with babysitters and have time to shop for gifts. You can choose either a paper or an e-mail invitation, depending on how formal your event will be and how much money you want to spend. We offer free baby shower invitations that you can either print or send digitally.
-
Follow Up On RSVPS
It’s ideal to put an RSVP due date on your invitations to have an accurate number, but that doesn’t always mean your guests will reply by that date. Take time to follow up with anyone who hasn’t answered your invitation to confirm the number of guests attending your party before you go shopping for your supplies. Update your guest list template whenever someone confirms.
-
Create a Baby Shower Timeline
Like any planned event, it helps to create a baby shower itinerary, so you know what to include and expect during your party. Most baby showers include drinking, eating, gift opening, and baby shower games. You’ll want to organize the activities so that everyone has enough time to socialize and chat before jumping into entertainment.
A baby shower usually lasts around 2-3 hours
Here is a sample baby shower schedule that shows what will happen during the party. You can change it to suit you.
-
Choose Your Food & Beverages
What do you need for a baby shower? You don’t need to go crazy when trying to decide what type of beverages or food you want to supply at your baby shower. Simple appetizers like veggies, fruits, cheese board, or any other kind of finger foods are excellent for these types of parties. If you want to offer beverages, consider water, sparkling cider, or alcoholic beverages.
However, if you’re planning a big get-together, you might want to do something a little fancier. You can always choose to hire a caterer to help create delicious food for your event.
-
Purchase Your Supplies
You can’t throw a party without a trip to your local store. Besides buying food and drinks, you want to make sure that you also purchase decorations and game supplies (including prizes). Decorations do not need to be expensive; you can find confetti, balloons, flowers, and greenery for low prices.
You should also consider picking up baby shower favors to give out to your guests to thank them for coming to your party. It doesn’t have to be a huge gesture and could be as simple as homemade cookies, a Starbucks gift card, or any other type of item that matches your theme.
-
Assign “Day-Of” Duties
There are a few essential roles that need to be assigned on the day of the party. There should be one person to ensure that all gifts are written down. The person appointed to this task should include the person’s name and what their present was. This small detail will help immensely when you need to write your baby shower thank you cards.
One additional person should be asked to take photographs during the event. This could include moments during the baby shower games or while you’re opening presents. Pictures are a great way to remember this special event.
Host A Fabulous Baby Shower
Use our baby shower to-do list above to ensure you’re ready to host a baby shower. Your baby shower does not need to be perfect, so don’t take it too seriously. The most important thing to remember is to have a great time and celebrate your baby!
My name is