Wednesday 14 October 2015

Guide to Planning a Baby Shower

Image result for UK Baby shower
 Hello! :) 
My wonderful sister will soon be having her first baby and I will be taking on the new role of an Auntie! I am super dooper excited and can't wait to meet the little one! So as my role of soon to be Auntie, I am organising the baby shower! 

Unlike America, here in the UK baby showers aren't as popular which made it a little difficult finding baby shower themed party ideas.

So as always I took to the internet in hope of finding some good ideas (which took way longer than it should). I now have finally managed to organise the Shower and I am pretty happy with what I have, including the gift for my sister! 

So if you are struggling to find ideas for a baby shower, then keep reading! 

Decorations
 I looked around a lot of websites and found that the site that sold a good variety without breaking the bank was partypuffin.co.uk. I bought:
  •  'Mum to be' sash
  • 12ft banner
  • 10 balloons
  • An amazing floor length foil door curtain (it sounds very 90's but I promise it looks great and is so fun!) 
  • Really cute table confetti 
This was all for the grand total of £10.00 including p&p. I ordered it on Sunday evening and it arrived on Wednesday morning- wonderfully quick! All the products were of a good standard and I would definitely recommend using the site! 

Party Puffin also have baby shower themed tableware if you wanted paper plates, cups, napkins etc :)


Food
When sending out the invite, it is always a good ideas to ask if people are able to bring a little food contribution if you feel comfortable doing so. It takes the pressure off you and saves some pennies.
 Keep a list of how many people are bringing food and whether it is savoury or sweet so you don't end up with 100's of cupcakes! 

I have an even amount of people bringing sweet and savoury so i have decided to also bring a bit of both. Don't feel like you need to make a full on meal- take a more afternoon tea approach! I will be bringing:
  • Brownies
  •  Lemon cupcakes with baby blue icing (my sissy is having a boy) 
  • Puff pastry heart shaped jam tarts 
  • Sausage rolls
From my experience, there is always left over food, so try not to over do it :)

As an extra, I have bought three packets of Jelly Babies and I will be putting them into clear jars and tying a blue ribbon around it to add to the table decorations.

Games/Activities
This was probably the most challenging part of the planning process! There was a huge amount of cheesy game ideas on the internet that i knew most people would really rather not be playing! I also didn't want to spend loads of money on bingo sheets and fake miniature babies! So i decided on 3 activities for us all to do rather than actual games. I only chose 3 activities as i wanted to make sure that people still had the opportunity to just sit and chat. 

The activities i decided on were:
  1. Designing your own bibs. I got 20 bibs for £6 from Asda (Walmart if you are in America). I will be giving out pens and a bib to each person and leave them to get creative 
  2. Prediction cards. I got these from EBay for £4.95 for 25 cards and they are lovely. It includes the usual like: weight, time, date, name and some words or wisdom.
  3. Message on a nappy. This is a lovely idea for the Mum to be when she is up at 3.00am changing a nappy and can read a motivational message on the front of the nappy!
I am also going to bring along a small foot bath spa so that the Mum to be can feel super pampered and loved! 


Music  
Music is really important for a party! It sets the mood and can cover up those awkward silences! The playlist I created with baby and of course the Mum to be in mind is:

  1.  Lovesong    Adele    
  2. Fill My Little World    The Feeling   
  3. Tiny Dancer    Elton John    
  4. Greatest Day    Take That     
  5. As Long as You Love Me     Backstreet Boys     
  6. Love On Top    BeyoncĂ©    
  7. One And Only     Adele   
  8.  Be My Baby     The Ronettes  
  9. Sweet  Pea     Amos Lee   
  10. You Are The Sunshine Of My Life     Stevie Wonder  
  11. Mamma Said     The Shirelles 
  12.  You Are The Best Thing    Ray LaMontagne  
  13. Love is easy   McFly 
  14. Love Is On The Radio     Me & Mrs F                   
  15. From Bump to Buzz   Tom Fletcher                   
  16.  Isn't She Lovely    Stevie Wonder                     


Gift 

Usually the Mum to be will provide a list if you need any help with gift ideas. There are the usual items you can buy like nappies, creams, baby clothes and toys, but I wanted to do something a little different.
 I decided to make up a wash bag full of lovely items that my sister can take to the Hospital. I went and bought an lovely floral wash bag from Primark for the bargain price of £4 and its really nice! Believe it or not, all the items in the picture fit into it lovely! 


 For for luxuary hospital wash bag I used:
  • Shower puff
  • Nivea Honey & Milk shower cream
  • Herbal essense shampoo and conditioner 
  • Gentle deodrant 
  • 2 x pack of tissues
  • Hair ties
  • Body Shop Body Butter
  • Body Shop Hand cream
  • Colgate minature tooth paste and mouth wash
  • Gentle anti-bac hand wash 
  • Maybeline Baby Lips lip balm 
  • Slippers
  • Scratch mits for baby
  • Pooh Bear Booties for baby
  • 2x hats for baby  

I wanted to put into the bag a mixture of essentials and luxuary things that might just make her feel that little bit more comfortable once she has had the baby.  


So there we have it, a guide to planning your very own Baby Shower! If you have found it useful or have any other ideas- let me know in the comments box!

Thanks for reading!

Alice x