As my daughter’s pregnancy progressed, there seemed to be an expectation that I would organise a baby shower for her. After all, I was good at organising things like this.
I’d never organised a baby shower before though. Only ever been to one before. So my first question was –
What exactly is a baby shower?
Traditionally, a baby shower is only held for the first child. Phew!
And it’s usually organised by the child’s grandmother. Yup, that’s me!
A baby shower is a way to celebrate the expected birth of a child by presenting gifts to the expectant mother at a party.
Simple.
Choose a venue. Invite family and friends. They bring gifts. Sorted.
In fact, the term ‘shower’ refers to showering the pregnant woman with gifts. This tradition became popular after WWII to serve the economic function of providing the mother-to-be with the goods needed for the baby’s arrival.
We actually chose a theme. We created a library for the baby by each bringing a favourite book, either from our own childhood or one we’d enjoyed reading to our own children. Everyone seemed to love doing this – it made them remember all those books they hadn’t read in years. We chose ‘Six Dinner Sid’ and ‘The Bear Under The Stairs’. My friend made a pair of book ends with cross-stitch decoration. My new grandchild already has a library of over 50 books and she isn’t even born yet!
So how did I go about organising this baby shower?
Keep it simple
I chose a venue close to home – a local cafe, Watergate Cafe, renowned for its fab baking, which catered for us. We ordered matching baby shower decorations and games from Party Delights.
2. A couple of games
We played ‘Guess the baby food’ – which met with mixed reactions, especially when I got muddled up and fed a chicken meal to vegetarians. I was mortified!!
We also had a game of ‘Pin the dummy on the baby’.
During the event, we passed round a ball of string and some scissors and everyone guessed the current circumference of the baby bump. Most of us over-estimated by a long way – ‘How fat do you think I am?’
3. A couple of activities
There was a decorated box – decorated with unicorns, obviously! – in which to put advice and best wishes for the new parents which is not to be opened until the baby is born,
We also had a sheet where everyone could guess the date, time, weight and length of the bay on arrival. That’s one we won’t know the winner of for a few weeks hopefully!
4. Lots of time to chat over a cup of tea
Family and friends had come together from quite a distance. Many hadn’t seen each other in quite a while. They didn’t want me organising too much. They wanted time to socialise.
5. Creating a library for the baby
I mentioned it before but that was a great idea. Those books will accompany the baby on the first few years of her life. If she develops a passion for books like her grandma, I’ll be happy.
So that was my first baby shower to organise. I’m so glad it went well. With five kids of my own, I have a feeling it may not be my last!
what a lovely event. you are the organiser extraordinaire x