PART 2: HOLDING THE SHOWER

Okay. You’ve figured out when to hold the shower, who to invite, and whether or not to use a gift registry. So that’s all there is to it, right? Hardly!

Actually, you’ve done quite a bit of work (applaud yourself!). But there’s still more work to do. Now you’re really into the zone, and it’s time to figure out what you’re going to do at the shower.

Now, this may seem like a strange section. After all, people will show up at the shower, they’ll hug, smile, laugh, cry (joyfully, of course), and have a good time. That part is taken care of. Yet there’s more to it than this.

In addition to the natural events that are going to occur at the baby shower, you want to continue managing during the shower. In other words, you want to have things for your invitees to do, and for them to drink/eat.

Let’s look at each of these important aspects below.

Things to Do: Themes

In case you haven’t been a baby shower lately, here’s some useful information for you: themes are in!

This means that more and more people are opting to create a certain style, or theme, of baby shower. Do you remember those high school dances that were built around a theme? Like oldies theme, or rock & roll theme, or something else? And the decorations and so forth all reflected the chosen theme? Well, that’s the same deal here with thematic baby showers.

Now, the sky truly is the limit on what theme you’d like to use. Really: anything that you can imagine, provided that it’s realistic and within your budget, is fine.
To create a theme, simply have the following items reflect what you’ve chosen:


þ the invitations should themselves reflect the chosen theme (e.g. Alice in Wonderland)

þ the baby shower room should be decorated with items reflecting the theme (e.g. colors, posters, props such as stuffed animals or balloons)

þ the refreshments and food (discussed further in this book) should reflect the theme.


Now, just in case you want to get your creative juices flowing, some suggested themes are provided to you below. They’re all from the website www.babycenter.com, and from real people who held successful baby showers (just like yours will be!).