Have any ideas to help me pull together a baby shower?

[gatorsmom]

Our nanny was hired by our school to be the preschool teacher this year. It has been fantastic- particularly for Greenbean. All the preschool parents love her and I'm so grateful for all her work with Greenbean. When I asked if anyone was planning a baby shower for her she just said, "I hope so!". I took that to mean no. I offered to help if someone was planning one for her. So far though, I don't know of anyone spearheading this so I guess I will. It's her first baby!

At first another mom offered to help but today I just found out that when she offered to help, she only planned to make a few dishes to bring. Ok, whatever, I guess I misunderstood. So, after I found that out I freaked a little bit because im not sure i can pull together a nice party in the next few months. One mom just offered to have it at her house if her son can play with mine at my house during the party with our husbands babysitting. GREAT! So we have a location. She also offered to arrange for a cake.

So, we have a location and a cake. Here are my questions:

Can I ask some of the other preschool parents to bring a dish to serve? When I mentioned it today, they all kind of offered to help in a vague, sympathetic way. If you don't think that's a good idea, I might have the shower catered.

What is an easy way to get some cute invitations out? My computer is still packed and I'm not sure where our printer is. Etsy? Another service?

The babyshower is in 2 months- when should I send the invitations out?

Ideas for decorations besides a table cloth and vase of fresh- cut flowers?

Ideas for drinks?

And lately, do we have to do games? Would it be ok to just eat and open presents?

What am I forgetting?

[SnuggleBuggles]

Don't have it at meal time and you can get by with simpler food and not do it potluck.

What about an electronic invite like the pretty ones like Punchbowl? Target has really nice baby shower invites, fwiw. I'd send them out in the next week or 2.

I'd do at least something like gift bingo...it's kind of full watching someone open presents and the bingo makes it more interactive. I like games though. :)

Drinks? Non alcoholic mimosas, perhaps?

[Momit]

For drinks, what about Italian sodas, nice bottled waters (Pellegrino etc.) and/or the punch with sherbet and pineapple juice.

I was not big on games for my baby shower but the hostess wanted to do something - she found one that was baby trivia (how many diapers does a baby use in the first year and that kind of stuff, it was actually pretty fun).

Do it late morning or mid-afternoon and you can get by with less food. Maybe some quiches, a fruit salad, and a couple of other dishes?

[TxCat]

Do it late afternoon and you can get away with less food. Some cut fruit/berries/fruit skewers or fruit salad, cheese & crackers with fig jam, and maybe some cookies. Agree with the Italian sodas, sparkling water, or prosecco if you think that crowd might want an alcoholic option. Fruity herbal iced tea is a good option too. If you have some pretty glass bowls or vases, you can do a candy station in whatever colors you're using for the shower, and that can double as additional edible treats and decoration.

Other decoration ideas - seen a lot of people use a clothesline across the room - you can pin letters to spell out baby's gender or name, and then have clothespins to hang up baby clothes that she might receive during the shower, or a few outfits that might be gifts from the hostesses. Pinterest will have tons of ideas.

I'm not a fan of games and there haven't been any at the last 4 showers I've been too, and they weren't missed at all.

[WatchingThemGrow]

That's awesome your nanny got to transition into school with your DC!!!

Something that would mean SO much to your nanny is a homemade book from your DC. You could set them up with some ideas, then just give them some time to create one. whatever they come up with - just staple it together with a cute cover drawing, and I'm certain it will be the hit of the party. My Kindergarten classes have done this for our assistant, and they did one for my DD. They can title it something like "How to take care of a baby" or maybe a Mo Willems spinoff "Don't let the baby drive the bus" or something they decide. If the younger ones would rather dictate it, just have them draw pictures (pages facing the right way) and have the older boys write down what they say. I promise. It will be a complete hit.:applause:

[gatorsmom]

I'd do at least something like gift bingo...it's kind of full watching someone open presents and the bingo makes it more interactive. I like games though. :)

Drinks? Non alcoholic mimosas, perhaps?


Tell me more about gift bingo- how does that work?

So many good ideas here- thank you all !

[alexsmommy]

Tell me more about gift bingo- how does that work?

So many good ideas here- thank you all !


Not OP, but you make up Bingo cards with things you know she is likely to get/registered for. Everyone gets a card before she opens gifts, then you have small prizes as people get Bingo based on what she opens. So a row might be "Stroller/Wipes/Free Space/Burp Cloth/Monitor"

It's the only "game" I really don't mind at baby showers. You can find print out templates online if you google "Baby Shower Bingo."

[SnuggleBuggles]

At showers I have been to, we have been given blank bingo templates and take a few minutes to fill in the items- the filling in of the items is a good time filler and I enjoy it. So you'd just need to print of a bingo grid and then have some writing implements available. The game gets nice and competitive, thus keeping guests more into the process. :)

[gatorsmom]

At showers I have been to, we have been given blank bingo templates and take a few minutes to fill in the items- the filling in of the items is a good time filler and I enjoy it. So you'd just need to print of a bingo grid and then have some writing implements available. The game gets nice and competitive, thus keeping guests more into the process. :)

What kind of prizes did the bingo winners get?

Any suggestions?

[jjordan]

When I plan something and have vague volunteers, at some point I just assign them things. So make a list of people who have said something like, "well, good idea, let me know if you need help" or whatever, and call them and tell them what to bring. "Amanda, can you bring something chocolate?" "Jane, can you bring some sort of chips & dip?" or whatever. Alternately you could ask each person, "would you rather help with decorations or food?" and then give the decorations people each other's names and assign foods to the food people.

I agree that if you time it well then no one will be expecting a meal. A brunch-y shower can be fun, and then drinks are easy (coffee, tea, hot chocolate, juice). Or mid-afternoon, with snacks. Even then drinks can be easy - even just lemonade and iced tea is fine. Keep the drinks simple - a few choices is plenty.


At showers I have been to, we have been given blank bingo templates and take a few minutes to fill in the items- the filling in of the items is a good time filler and I enjoy it. So you'd just need to print of a bingo grid and then have some writing implements available. The game gets nice and competitive, thus keeping guests more into the process. :)

This is how I've done bingo at baby showers.


What kind of prizes did the bingo winners get?

Any suggestions?

My favorite baby shower prizes were jars of homemade ice cream sauce. There were a few kinds to choose from. YUM! Other prizes I've seen are things like candles, packages of notecards, or lotion/bath products.

Another nice thing that is common here at baby showers, but may or may not work well in your situation depending on the feel of the community, is having a sign-up for people who are willing to bring the family a meal within the few weeks following the birth. (Check with the mom before you do this.) On the sign-up sheet you can ask someone to put an asterisk next to their name if they are willing to coordinate the meal effort (which usually consists of finding out what food allergies or dislikes the family has, communicating this to the meal-bringers, and setting up a schedule. There are websites to help with this, I think one is something like take them a meal .com).