No one can deny that pregnancy is a beautiful phase of woman's life. We are not just talking about the moment when your newborn comes in this world. The entire nine months of that period are a joyous rollercoaster ride for both the parents. To celebrate the motherhood and welcome the new baby, people throw baby shower parties for the new mom. It is a relaxing and fun way to pamper the mother to be. It is a celebration of the transformation of being a woman to a mother.
The meaning of baby shower
A baby shower is a timeworn tradition. In the Victorian era, grandmothers used to gift silver, jewelry and other precious gifts to pregnant women. The tradition continued, and now, the arrival of a baby shall have celebrations and pamperings by her friends and family. They will flood the new mom by showering her with gifts, and affectionate gestures. The baby shower party is a fun way to show love to the new baby and the mother.
Why is baby shower important?
1. A baby shower is necessary because it is an excellent way to celebrate the beginning of a new life.
2. Mostly, new mothers do not have everything they require for the arrival of the baby. Further, it will act as a missing link filling ceremony because many new moms will not know what are the exact requirements needed to welcome the new child. They get confused and exhausted and miss buying many important things. The gifts they get in baby shower help them immensely with the preparation of baby's arrival.
3. A baby shower is a special way of showing your love towards the new mother to be and to make this phase more memorable for her.
When can you have a baby shower?
The right time to have a baby shower is in the early part of last trimester, i.e., when a woman is seven months pregnant. By then, the woman gets comfortable in her pregnancy, and she can too enjoy the party without exhausting much and being uncomfortable.
Hosting a baby shower – important things to remember
Baby shower hosting requires careful planning. It should meet the expectations and aspirations of the pregnant woman.
Family or close friends host the baby shower for the new mom. Colleagues can also host the shower. Anyone except the new mom because it is going to be her day. She needs to be relaxed and not to fret over the arrangements and other stuff. It is her day, and she deserves the best attention and pampering.
Venue of baby shower
You can host a baby shower at the mom's house. Backyard or living room of the house is a cozy and private place to host the shower. People can get comfortable easily, and you will have access to the kitchen full time. It also helps when you have a limited budget.
However, if the guest list is big, you can also host the baby shower at a good restaurant. The priority must always be addressing to the interest of the new mom's favorite restaurant. Further, if the party is in a hotel, the restaurant staff will manage everything perfectly, and all you have to do is to give them instructions by calling them or paying them a visit once or twice.
You can also host a baby shower at some spa, park or a bar. If the weather's nice, you can choose to have a backyard picnic with paper lanterns to give it a stunning look. If you are worried about the budget, you can ask other guests to contribute some money so that a beautiful baby shower party can arrange without much difficulty. Though it is a good option, it would better to avoid this kind of dependency and lead a worry free life.
Planning the menu and decor of baby shower
You can choose to have theme based baby shower party. The theme should be focusing on the new mother and her personality. The emphasis should be on what she likes. If the gender of the baby is a known fact, your theme for the party can depend on that. For instance, if the baby is a girl, you can have a pink fairytale themed party with a castle shape cake. If you are hosting a shower for a baby boy, you can try casual arrangements of hydrangeas, bluebonnets or blue sweet peas.
Alternatively, if the gender of the baby is unknown, you can skip the gender revealing themes and try something new to create a buzz! Choosing a "What'll It Be?" Theme into your shower party is a sweet and very creative idea.
Baby shower activities
The baby shower usually includes activities like eating, drinking, playing games and gift opening. You also have to decide on the parting gift that you would like to give to your guests as a token of thanks for coming to the party. The parting gift does not necessarily have to be something costly. Homemade chocolates, CD's, picture frames, scented candle, and soaps make good parting gift, which will not burn a hole in your pocket.
Since most of the baby showers held in the mid afternoon, your food menu does not have to be huge or even a full meal. Just, place emphasis on fun, easy-to-eat-with finger foods that your guests can enjoy at their pleasure. The menu of the baby shower should also focus on the new mom's choice. Include food Items and beverage that she loves and would be happy to have. Less alcohol should be on the menu, as pregnant women should not have it.
Invitation for baby shower
Ideally, baby shower invitations shall have to send to the guests six weeks before the party. A casual invitation can send through an email while a more formal invitation should send as a paper invitation. Keep in mind the theme of the party while designing the same. If there is a budget constraint, you can take help of some online website which design fantastic baby shower invites for almost no cost.
Is it necessary to have baby shower games?
No, there is no need to have baby shower games in the party, but these games help the guests to mingle with each other in a fun and relaxing way.
Some of the games that you can play at the baby shower are:
- Start with few simple icebreaker games, which would help the guests to relax and enjoy the moment.
- You can organize a race with marbles kept on a spoon. In the game the spoon held by the guests in their mouth. The one who finishes the race without dropping the marble wins.
- Ask the guests to bring their childhood pictures. Pin everyone's picture on the wall. Now ask each guest to guess which picture belongs to which guest.
- You can also ask the guests to draw baby sketches on paper plates with markers. However, it is not that simple. The paper plates need to keep on the guests' head while drawing. The one who draws the best sketch wins.
- You can fill baby bottles with a preferred beverage like beer or fruit juice for kids. On a count of three, the guests have to suck the beverage quickly from the baby bottle. The first One to finish the bottle wins this game.
You can add similar naughty games to make the event lively and entertaining.
Wrapping it up!
Never think, hosting a baby shower party is a burden. It is an honor to conduct baby shower party, which will leave you with cherishing memories. It does not matter if a woman is pregnant with her first kid or her fifth child; it should conduct for her with the same excitement. Baby shower party is a fun way of welcoming the new baby and letting the new mom know that how much you love and adore her. Planning the baby shower in a right way will make her euphoric and leave her with memories that she will treasure for life.