The most exhilarating feeling after finding out that you’re carrying a baby in you is probably sharing the news with your loved ones. It’s only fair that you do so through a beautiful baby shower. If you’re stumped and don’t have any clue as to where you should start, when to get party tent rentals onboard, then these planning tips will be your savior.
Set A Budget
Now that you guys are about to become parents, you can certainly use this time to polish off your budgeting skills. Regardless, it’s still important to budget for any type of party that you’re throwing. A budget gives you a guide as to how much cushion you have on spending on certain things and where you need to pump those brakes.
If you have no idea how you will make a budget, it’s relatively easy. First, you will have to do some research. Go on the internet and find out prices, rents, and fees of different venues, vendors, and other things that you will need for the baby shower. You can even ask your friends if they’ve hosted similar events in the past and how they planned everything.
Once you have a rough estimate on how much things could cost, then you can grab a pen and paper, or you can do it on a spreadsheet on your PC or phone and write down the things you need for the baby shower on one side and the respective prices on the other. Sum it all up and you have yourself a budget for your baby shower.
Make The Guest List
The next important thing to do is to create a guest list. This is crucial because you need to make a consolidated list of how many people you’re going to invite to your baby shower so you can choose a venue accordingly. So, before doing anything else, get this thing over with.
Choose A Venue
The next order of importance is the venue selection. For a baby shower, venues can be pretty forgiving and you don’t need to go all-out and go to a banquet or reception hall. You can easily host a cozy baby shower in a restaurant or even in your own home if you have the space.
Regardless, if you’re going for a venue for your baby shower, then you need to make arrangements as soon as possible because if you like a certain restaurant or a park, then you better bag the opportunity before someone else book that place for that date.
Pick A Theme
There are two ways in which you can go about your baby shower theme. First, there is a baby shower where the décor will be according to the gender if you have previously revealed it. If you haven’t, then you can throw the guests a surprise party with décor that has both possibilities. This is going to throw the guests in for a loop that’s equally wonderful and exciting.
Whatever you choose to do, try to keep the theme baby-related because that’s going to be the highlight of your event and it’s also going to look adorable.
Include A Gender Reveal
This idea is perfect if you want to get two things over with in a single event. Gender reveals are just as common as baby showers and if you haven’t done one yet, then this is the perfect time to do just that. A gender reveal is pretty self-explanatory.
You either have a cake or something climactic like a confetti pop or balloon pop where the gender is revealed to the guests. It’s either blue for a boy or pink for a girl. Of course, you can only execute this idea if you know the gender yourself. Duh!
Decide On The Menu
This is the most fun part and moms-to-be will have a field day with this one once those cravings surface. The menu is probably the most important thing in any party or event and you want to nail it in a baby shower as well.
Depending on the party timing, you can go for a hi-tea style menu or a full-on lunch/dinner buffet. Whatever you do, make sure to include lots of adorable foods that are catered towards the theme of the baby shower like small cupcakes, finger foods, and treats that people will enjoy in both the literal and visual sense.
Make & Send The Invitations
Now that you have most of the planning down, it’s time to make things come to life and that’s done by making and sending out invitations to the people you’re inviting.
First, you’ll need to craft those invitations and that can easily be done on a graphic design app or you can simply come up with a text template and send it to your friends and family. If you’re choosing to send out physical invitations, then the process might be tedious, but you’ll get there.
Your guest list will also play an important role during this part of the planning and you can use it as a reference.
When Is The Perfect Time?
Most parents-to-be will ask this question and that is: When is the perfect time to throw a baby shower? Well, the general answer to this is that you can throw it whenever you want. Ideally, you want to throw a baby shower somewhere in between the 2nd and 3rd trimester because that’s when things are really getting serious and the baby is big enough to show that lovely baby bump and you can even find out the gender.
You also want to keep your energy in check because planning for a baby shower while being pregnant feels like running a marathon. So, host it at a time when you feel energetic and good enough to get through the tedious planning process.
Personalize The Décor
This is also another fun thing that you can do to make the baby shower look different from others. There’s nothing more sweet than adding personal touches to the décor and you can do it in this case as well.
You can have pictures of you and the baby bump hanging from the walls. You can even share ultrasound pictures of each doctor visit and you can also ask the guests to leave sweet notes for the baby. All of these things will give your baby shower a statement like no other. However, be careful with this because for some people, it may be too on the nose. So, keep in mind your personal preferences and your guests.
Small Favors
You can’t forget about the baby shower favors. Favors are given to guests as a token of thanks and appreciation for making time out and coming to your event and if you have a bit of room in your budget, then you can certainly squeeze it in, but it’s not at all necessary.
You can make goodie bags with scented candles, body washes, socks, candy, homemade treats, cookies, etc.
Conclusion
It’s time to pop that confetti and celebrate the coming of a new life with your family and friends. These tips will make baby shower planning a breeze and you’ll get everything done in no time. Remember! Plan and book party rentals Northern VA and the venue early on so you don’t have to resort to secondary options.