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:
- 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
- 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.
- 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:
- Lovesong Adele
- Fill My Little World The Feeling
- Tiny Dancer Elton John
- Greatest Day Take That
- As Long as You Love Me Backstreet Boys
- Love On Top Beyoncé
- One And Only Adele
- Be My Baby The Ronettes
- Sweet Pea Amos Lee
- You Are The Sunshine Of My Life Stevie Wonder
- Mamma Said The Shirelles
- You Are The Best Thing Ray LaMontagne
- Love is easy McFly
- Love Is On The Radio Me & Mrs F
- From Bump to Buzz Tom Fletcher
- 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