Planning a baby shower can definitely feel like an overwhelming task. It is such an important day for a very excited and hormonal mom-to-be so everything has to be perfect. The secret to that is pretty simple though, just make sure it is thoughtful and makes them feel loved. My love of party planning led me to be very involved with planning my own baby shower. I was so excited to have a special day to celebrate the arrival of our new baby and I had a vision for exactly how I wanted it to be. I’m sure this did not annoy my mom and sister one bit ;)

We already knew that we were having a baby girl and naming her Isabella (Bella). My mother-in-law's maiden name is Isabella so we were excited to have a meaningful name (her middle name is Margaret, which is my mom’s middle name, so she is named after both of her grandmas). Our beautiful cake, made by my wonderful friend, said “Welcome Bella” which I cried when I saw! Hormones… plus it just made everything feel so real! I was so excited that we would finally get to meet our baby soon.

Picking a date and finding a location for the event is the first step to planning your shower. We had our shower at a wine bar in our town that had a beautiful fireplace and a glass enclosure with a beautiful view. We were very fortunate and had a gorgeous sunny day. It was still freezing at the end of March, so we had the perfect combination of being inside and warm but feeling like we were outside enjoying the weather.

You will also need to send invitations (about 4-6 weeks in advance). I found really cute inexpensive ones on Amazon. You will also want to register for gifts (Also Amazon for me, of course!) and include that information with your invitation. I also see a lot of moms ask for books instead of cards these days and I absolutely love this tradition. I love reading to my kids at night and seeing the notes from my friends and family inside and remembering who gave them to us (and a children’s book really is the same price as a card these days, so it makes sense to give something that will be used for years to come).

The next step is planning your menu. We had an amazing lunch with sandwiches, salad, chips, and fruit. I think that’s a great menu for a shower (obviously, since I picked it) since it’s light and healthy but filling. Then we had adorable cookies for favors (also made by my friend) and delicious cake. It was perfect.

Next, you will want to choose your theme. Mine was simple and traditional, similar to my wedding theme. For the decorations, I lucked out with my mother-in-law’s deals on flowers yet again since she works for a wholesale flower supplier. We had beautiful pale pink and cream flowers that were similar to my bridal shower and wedding. My sister and sister-in-law also know how much I live for balloons, so they surprised me with beautiful B-A-B-Y balloons as well as some pink and white ones to tie everything together. The restaurant provided beautiful personalized menus at each place setting which was a nice touch. We also had little Hershey kiss favors that had “It’s a Girl” stickers on the bottom scattered across the tables.

Of course, every baby shower needs games, so we had some fun ones that I actually found on Amazon. We did a word scrabble game, a silly animal matching game, and a price guessing game. I received the sweetest advice from my family and friends on becoming a new mom from these advice cards. We also received wishes for baby from these cards we had placed at each seat. I highly recommend including these place cards at your event for a really sweet takeaway. My mom bought fun prizes for all of the winners of the games which everyone loved. It was a really fun party with so many special moments that I will always remember. I really appreciated my sister taking lots of photos throughout the day so I can keep those moments with me forever. One of my best friends also wrote down all of the gifts that I received and who they were from so that I could send thank you notes, which meant my family and I could enjoy the moment. That was also so helpful.

For gifts, I registered for most of my items on Amazon, which you can find more information about here. I was not really sure if I knew what I was doing with my registry, but thankfully some of my friends were very helpful in helping me know what I would need. I actually ended up using and loving everything we received, even some items that were not on the registry. Now that I have been through my own baby shower, I like to gift something from the registry along with something I either feel like the new parents may have forgotten and may need/love or something sentimental that they wouldn’t think to register for since those were some of my favorite gifts that I received.

I don’t think there is really anything more joyful in life than celebrating the arrival of a new baby. I was so thankful for all of my family and friends taking time out of their lives to help me celebrate. I smiled the whole day and just had the best time. My husband was there for the whole shower too and spending that time together was really special.

I think as with planning any party, the most important parts are choosing a date (it is suggested to be about 6-8 weeks before your due date, in case there are any surprises!) and time (I chose an afternoon Saturday lunch). The next step is choosing your venue. I absolutely loved having mine at a restaurant with a beautiful party room, because they do this every day and have it down to a science. It went much more smoothly than my bridal shower at my home where we had the added jobs of providing plates/cups/silverware/napkins/catering, etc. Having it at a restaurant also adds the ease of not having to use outside catering. Once you have the location and food organized, you are well on your way. Just choose a theme that reflects your personal style (I helped my sister-in-law who is a huge Disney lover plan her “It’s a Boy Story” Toy Story baby shower and it had a totally different feel that reflected her personality perfectly).

Once you have your theme you can choose your cake, favors, and decorations to go along with whatever vibe you are trying to create. The internet is so helpful because you can literally just type “pink and gold baby shower games” or “Toy Story baby shower balloons” into Amazon and get pretty much any party your heart desires. It is nice to have a planning checklist to make sure you don’t leave out any important details. Hopefully, this blog post can be helpful in planning as well! As long as you are in the moment surrounded by the people who love you, you will surely have a perfect day.