Baby shower!

[gailrmv]

I''m very excited, I just offered to host a shower for a friend next month!

I haven''t been to very many though, and I don''t want to commit any faux pauses! (Probably spelled that wrong!) I can''t spend too much but I want to make it really nice for her - do you think I can do it on $200 by hosting at my house?

Anyone been to any fun showers lately? Any ideas for games entertainment etc?


What I have in mind: Thought I''d do an e-vite and save more of my budget for the food and decorations!

I''ll be hosting it on a weekend afternoon - about 20 people - thought I''d have plenty of appetizer type food, a sheet cake, plenty of balloons around... and have a few games planned! Most people know eachother but it will not be a group of intimate friends. Most people are pretty laid back - I''m pretty sure this is not a crowd that will be expecting tea at the ritz carlton, but just a relaxed good time. Does it sound like the makings of a good shower?

Luckily, the mom to be is just thrilled to be having a shower and says she does not have anything she is real particular about!

What''s the protocol with alcohol? I''d love to make some girly fruity drinks but maybe this is inappropriate since the mom-to-be would be left out?

 

[sunkist]

Ya, I wouldn't have alcohol at a baby shower... But your plans sound great! I think girls all like to get together and chat, have a little food too. Personally I'd keep it to one maybe two games. And keep them short too. Maybe it's me, but bridal shower games and baby shower games that go on forever get boring real fast. Have fun!

 

[FireGoddess]

Some fun games...

bottle race - fill several bottles with Coke or Pepsi and (if a co-ed shower) the guys race at sucking the bottle to see who finishes first. If not co-ed, then the girls play.

poopie diaper - have several numbered baby diapers and melt a different small chocolate bar in each one (snickers, milky way, mounds, whatchamacallit, etc) and people have to guess which candy bar corresponds to which 'poopie diaper.'

what's that food? - get different jars of baby food and remove the labels. number them individually and people have to guess what each one is.

don't say baby! - everyone gets a necklace with a tiny plastic pacifier charm or something, and if they say the word baby, whoever catches them gets their necklace. the one with the most necklaces at the end wins.

tp the mommy - take a roll of tp and each person pulls off the roll how big they think the mom's stomach circumference is. closest to actual size wins.

ETA: usually no alcohol is the protocol! you could do virgin drinks...

 

[gailrmv]

Ooh, thanks for the ideas!

So, if the games should be short and sweet, what comprises the rest of the time? Small talk/visiting, plus the mom opening the presents? Does there need to be anything else scheduled?

It''s not co-ed - just girls I sent the e-vite today. It was super cute!

Is it typical to have party favors? If so, any ideas?

If people ask if they can bring something, is it tacky to ask them to bring an appetizer to share? (It would make things easier on me, but I wouldn''t want to impose, especially since people will already be bringing a gift for the honoree!)

I''m hoping my dogs will behave!!

I''m really excited about this!

 

[MissAva]

I think that depends on your circle, some people enjoy pot luck...some don''t. If you ask you could get people to bring what the mommy to be has been craving. Or what they did when they were pregnant.

 

[Kaleigh]

When people respond to the invite and say what can I bring, take them up on it. The games are fun. But I''d keep it to two. I love the TP one, that''s fun and guessing the baby food is a great one also. Most of all have fun. They can also write down the sex and weight of the baby and the winner gets a prize after the baby is born. Just a thought, have fun. I love baby showers!!!

 

[Small]

I think it depends on the formality of the shower. I totally wanted a low key, very informal shower. What did I get...a restaurant formal expensive shower

It was nice but I would have preferred to relax and enjoy my friends and family and not have my SIL spend 700-1k on my lunch shower...go figure???

I didn''t have any games...didn''t want any either. We had a really nice lunch, you could have alcohol at my shower as it was buy your own from the bar, and they brought in a spectacular cake made by a pastry chef at one of the culinary schools downtown (bil has the hookup as a professor at a swanky culinary school in downtown chicago).

If it''s a very informal get together I would think fruity drinks would be fun. Potluck...hmmmm, I probably would do that if it was just family but not friends. I say nix that idea even though it will be more work for all the food yourself I''d say do that.

Make the party quick and fun. Don''t play too many games (2 at most) and be efficient with gifts. People usually socialize while eating. So have them eat, get to the cake then open the gifts. Have someone at least hand her gifts and then hold them up for her so everyone can see. Then on to the next one. I had someone opening cards, I opened the gifts, and someone took them to show and put on the display table. I only had 25 people but got tons of stuff

HTH...my shower was just a few years ago and have been to tons since. Some really long and drawn out but for the most part I felt all of the baby showers I''ve been too have been efficiently done and enjoyable

 

[monarch64]

Gail, the last baby shower I went to included an alcoholic drink in the form of champagne punch...it was on a Sunday and my girlfiriend and I went together and assume there would be no alcohol. Turned out that there was--the hostess had a beautiful punch bowl set up in the middle of the food/appetizers on the kitchen island, full of a lovely pink punch just "sprinkled" with champagne! It was enough to take the edge off our hangovers from drinking the night before, lol! Of course, most of your guests will not have that problem, but my friend and I rather enjoyed the fact that an adult beverage had been provided. Neither of us have children yet (although we are nearing 30). There were plenty of women there who had finished having children, and also plenty who had not started, so if I were you I would consider having some sort of alcoholic punch or sangria/wine cooler type thing just in case someone feels the need to imbibe.

Another note: I would think about doing a mailed invite just in case someone's email isn't received, or "heaven forbid" their computer crashes or some other technological disfunction. I like to do email AND snail-mailed invites now, just to avoid a circumstance in which a gal isn't able to access her email due to some odd circumstance and therefore misses out on the invitation...

I do think you can get away with spending around $200. Take advantage of close friends or family who are invited, like someone else mentioned, and get them to help out with food or beverages... Also, go to Sam's or Costco or wherever and buy cream puffs and chocolate syrup in bulk--that's always a crowd pleaser and doesn't keep you in the kitchen all day!

Best of luck, Gail, I know you will do a fabulous job!!!

ETA: for the record, it is "faux pas"--only know that having taken French in high school and reading fashion magazines cover to cover, lol!

 

[sydneycasandra]

I think you should perhaps pass on serving alcoholic beverages; it would be sort of akin, IMHO, to throwing a party for a diabetic honoree, and serving cake and cookies. If the mom-to-be can''t indulge (which she can''t) it might not be fun for her to watch others do the same... also just seems impolite to serve something that the person being honored can''t eat. (I am vegetarian and would be more than a little hurt if my wedding or baby shower was a pig roast!)

 

[ivanadiamond]

I have never been to a baby shower where alcohol wasn't served, maybe my friends and I are all lushes!

But usually it's wine and champagne. I recently went to one where they made specialty martinis like a Godiva white chocolate martini- called Mother's Milk martini and there were a few other ones with funny names...it was a riot.

I agree with keeping it down to 1 or 2 games. One thing that we did for a baby shower recently was mail every one a onsie in different sizes and everyone had to decorate it and bring it to the shower, it was a lot of fun and the onsies turned out so so adorable. We made the momtobe guess who made each one. Here is a picture of some of them...good luck, I am sure whatever you decide it will be a lot of fun~!

 

[ivanadiamond]

pic two

 

[Scooba]

The onsie idea is super cute!!!

 

[ivanadiamond]

Firegoddess, we have played the don''t say baby or cute game and it was soooo hard!!! Necklaces were being exchanged left and right

 

[Mandarine]

Hi! I didn''t read all the posts so I apologize if this game was already posted...

It''s called "Name that baby!"....

ask all the people coming to the party to bring a baby picture with them...then you can assign numbers to them. Then people have to guess who''s who in a piece of paper...whoever guesses the most gets the price

I think it''s pretty cute and you''ll get some good laughs at the pictures!

M~

 

[saturn]

At the last baby shower I went to, we did something similar to what Ivanadiamond described, only we decorated the onesies AT the shower, with puffy paints. I was really fun, and was a good alternative to games, since the mother-to-be specifically requested that we not do any games.

Also, we had both alcoholic punch AND non-alcoholic punch, so there was something for everyone. And I think that if it''s a small shower with just close friends, that a potluck is totally fine.

Good luck!

 

[gailrmv]

Thank you everyone who posted so far! You have given me some great ideas.
I decided to nix the potluck b/c the shower is at 2 pm, so I don''t think I need to provide a TON of food. I thought I''d do a big salad, deviled eggs (I''m in the South after all), and maybe 2-3 other appetizers (I make great bruschetta but it doesn''t really go with the other things) - maybe I should choose an Italian theme (bruschetta, caprese salad, etc) or a salad theme, with pasta salad, chicken salad, etc... for the food. I think if everyone brings something we would end up with too much food and it might be too varied.
Love the idea with the Onesies - I will have to take a little trip to Michael''s and get some craft supplies!