Your Ultimate Guide on How to Host a Baby Shower

The privilege of planning a loved one’s baby shower comes as an honor. For some, organizing skills are inborn but for others, not so much. However, if the pressure to deliver and make the day a success is overwhelming, planning the baby shower can seem more burdening than you initially anticipated.

As the host, you can’t gamble. Everything must be perfect! You want to aim for nothing less than awe and amazement on the faces of the expectant parents and guests from the moment they set foot on the venue to the moment the baby shower event concludes. To make things easier for you, here’s the ultimate guide on how to host a baby shower.

Find a Location

Whether you’re looking to host the baby shower event at the expectant parents’ residence, a conference room, party room, community center, community center, or clubhouse, of importance is to find a venue that’s accessible and convenient for everyone. Depending on the budget and number of expected guests, you could also choose the better option of hosting the baby shower in a hotel or restaurant. A restaurant rids you of the worry of setting up, catering, or cleaning up after the guests, as the staff takes care of most major responsibilities.

Depending on the weather, you could host the baby shower outdoors or indoors. In summer or fall, your local park is a superb venue option. Be sure to enquire whether you need a special permit to host the event in this public place and arrange for a backup plan should it start raining. Wondering how to host a baby shower event? Key factors to consider when choosing baby shower event locations include:

Size: Narrow it down to at least two to three event venues that can comfortably accommodate the expected number of guests.

Aesthetics: Does the venue suit the theme you’re going for? For example, if you want a Boho-chic baby shower, the venue must be outdoors, in a barn, or inside a temporary structure like a tent.

Amenities: Some event spaces have conveniences like a bathroom, dance floor, kitchen, bar, VIP area, etc. The ideal choice is one that suits you and your guests’ needs.

Price: Whether or not you have a big budget, you must consider that the venue is one of the many needs of the baby shower event that needs financing. Avoid overspending on the event, leaving little for other needs. In a nutshell, quote a price and find a venue that fits that budget.

Prepare the Venue

The nature of the venue determines what you need to prepare the venue. If you settle on a unique venue like a loft, for example, you must also consider other preparations like seating, tables, flowers, drapes, and other decorations for the event. You must also set spaces aside for the food table, baby shower cake area, DJ stand, special seating for the expecting parents, gift table, etc.

When you’re hosting an intimate baby shower event with only a handful of close friends and family members expected to attend, a garden or patio enclosure are excellent venues that are easy to prepare and decorate. The biggest task when planning how to host a baby shower is to ensure the attendees are visually and physically satisfied.

Visual satisfaction has everything to do with the optics. What can people see? Enter, baby shower venue decorations. From colorful balloons to artificial grass installation, if it complements the baby shower theme and adds more interest to the venue’s look, feel free to use it. It helps to be creative and add personal touches to the décor by printing and setting up pictures of the expecting parents on the tables or on a board for people to sign and write their well wishes. Some people use cute tiny baby clothes to decorate the venue.

This is also your chance to pick a dress code for the guests and decide on the color of the theme. Avoid doing the cliché color theme of pink or blue unless it’s what the expecting parents specifically suggest. Depending on what the expecting couple prefers, pick a neutral color that oozes warmth and class for such an event. Ideal, out-of-the-box examples of baby shower colors include white, brown, black, metallic, burnt orange, emerald green, ruby red, pastel, and so on.

On the other hand, physical satisfaction has more to do with ensuring the guests have comfortable sitting areas, are well-fed, and are safe from foreseeable external factors.

Build Your Registry

Building a registry sounds exciting but can be tricky to execute if you don’t know how to plan a baby shower. Hacking how to host a baby shower comes with the responsibility of thinking about everything the expecting mother would want. As the host, you’re likely close to the mom-to-be and have an idea of what she’d like to include in her baby shower registry. You must consider factors like whether she is a first-time mom or has other kids. Does she have her own miniature registry? Has she already done a bit of her own baby shopping?

If the expecting parents have other kids, they have most basics in storage, like their old car seat, baby clothes, baby stroller, baby cribs, toys, and so on. In this case, aim to build a registry that supplies them with what they will likely not have. A baby registry is important because you can add items to the list as time advances, and guests can choose to purchase what hasn’t been picked by someone else to avoid duplicating gifts.

Create an online baby registry with a local baby shop or general store like Target or Walmart. Design a baby registry list on their website that marks everything on the list that’s already on the list/registry that’s already been bought and shows what’s pending. Ensure that all the guests have access to the online registry and that it’s well-updated as time progresses. Important items to include in a baby registry include:

Baby crib complete with a mattress and bumpers

Diapers (different sizes) and baby wipes

Diaper bag

High chair

Baby carrier

Stroller

Infant car seat

Baby-safe sanitary products like body wash, baby oil, shampoo, mild antiseptic, cotton buds, nail cutters, thermometers, diaper rash cream, etc.

Baby formula

Breast pump

Feeding bottles

Sterilizing machine for baby’s utensils

Baby monitor

The best way to figure out how to host a baby shower involves a lot of back-and-forth communication between the host and the expecting couple. Check-in severally with the mom, who is soon to have a baby, to see if they would want to add or remove anything from the registry.

Consider Live Music

Games are excellent for keeping guests entertained and in high spirits. But how do you maintain a nice mood when the guests interact, eat, or spend quality time with the expectant mom at the event? Most people prefer hiring a professional photographer, renting a photo booth, inviting a psychic, hiring a DJ, or a caricaturist. While you may still opt for the mentioned entertainment options, suppose your budget allows it; nothing beats live music in the entertainment options for a baby shower event.

Find out which type of music the guests of honor like. You could choose to have a live band that performs their original music or is happy to do their renditions of known songs suitable for the event. Arrange to have pianos at the event as one of the instruments the live band will use or as part of the decoration. Curtains also add fun to the setup and create an element of surprise should you want to unveil the band dramatically. Top reasons why you should consider having live music as the baby shower host include:

Live Music Makes People Want to Dance

The performers in a live band are experienced enough to set the mood and keep the guests entertained. They may choose lively, upbeat songs for the moments before the expectant parents arrive or after people have had their meals. Live music prompts the guests to clap, tap their feet while on their seats or get up and dance. If you’re wondering how to host a baby shower that people will repeatedly refer to as one of their best experiences, you must get the entertainment right, and live music is your best bet.

Live Music is More Engaging

A DJ is great for baby shower entertainment but can be more passive than a live band, complete with a set of performers. A live band means having four or more people whose sole responsibility is to work the crowd and stay in the zone. A live band will have rehearsed and created a fully customized list of songs they’ll perform before the event date. They’ll not only enjoy performing but would love the experience of making the experience unique by accommodating the guests’ entertainment needs.

Live Music is More Intimate

Music has the magical ability to set the tone and predict how well the event turns out. A live band is the seasoning you need to host a successful event where the entertainment is super engaging and appeals to the hearts of those in attendance. The performance in a live band can switch to different songs choosing a sentimental song or acoustics for when, say, the expecting mom gets emotional while making a speech. They make the experience intimate by adding a little twist, like mentioning the name of the expecting mom in the songs, making the moments special.

It Adds a Personal Touch

You know everything about how to host a baby shower if you can effortlessly appeal to the guests’ emotions. And what better way than to get a little help from live music? Personalize the event by hiring a musician or live band and ask them to perform songs that hold special meaning for the guests or the expecting couple. Live music adds a personal touch because you can pick music to match the event’s theme and tailor a performance that maintains a warm and friendly atmosphere from the beginning to the end.

It’s an Excellent Way to Create Lasting Memories

If they are that good, the guests at the baby shower will swing and sway, dance, or marvel at live performances by the live band during the baby shower. They will sing along to their favorite songs, take pictures and chat with loved ones while the music continues in the background. Live music has an edge key to creating a truly memorable experience that few will forget soon. Live music brings personality, adds positive energy, and sets the mood for any event’ take your time finding the right live music performers with an unparalleled track record performing at baby shower events.

Prepare for Clean-Up

Nothing leaves a bad taste in the mouths of those who own a venue when they have to clean up after you when the event is over. Top guides on how to host a baby shower or any event always advocate cleaning up after yourself and leaving the venue as clean as you found it. Whether yours is a small gathering or a substantially large one, where there are people, things will get messy. Litter tends to accumulate fast.

To avoid handling too many responsibilities as the baby shower host, consider delegating by hiring a local trash pickup company to clean up after the event. Otherwise, strategically set up trash bins throughout the venue to encourage the guests to dispose of litter appropriately. Organize the right cleaning solutions before the event to avoid the overwhelming experience of doing the clean-up yourself after the baby shower event concludes.

Remember, as a host, you are a guest too. While ensuring everything runs smoothly throughout the event and that all the guests are well catered for, you are also one of the guests and must give yourself a chance to savor the moments of this one-of-a-kind milestone in your loved one’s life. Picking trash pours water on the whole experience, but you won’t have to worry about that if you already have appropriate clean-up measures in place.