Hosting a surprise baby shower is a fun exercise in empathy. You need to put yourself in the shoes of the expectant mother - her feelings, her personality, her character, and her schedule. You also need to make it a fun experience for her; if there are tears, they should be tears of joy.

Pre-Baby Shower Preparations

Carefully plan the baby shower. Since this is usually given on the third trimester, you should have plenty of time for party planning. Prepare a checklist of the things you need to do, and procure including an initial list of baby shower gifts you need your attendees to bring.

Decide on the party theme, number and gender of invitees, and the date and venue. Decide if you want the party to be a surprise or not; you want a pleasant surprise for the honoree, not unpleasant shock. Prepare the guest list, which should include everyone close to the expectant mother.

If the expectant mother is registered for gifts, inform the guests should they inquire. Just like the wedding, send the invitations at least three weeks before the party. Prepare the menu to reflect the theme; you can prepare the food, order takeout, or engage a caterer. Make sure that the food is prepared and delivered as agreed.

If possible, prepare the venue a day before the party. Harried preparations have a way of ruining what could have been a great baby shower. If possible, rehearse the flow of activities to ensure smooth transition.

You also need to coordinate the attendees’ baby shower gifts. You need to ensure that there will be no unnecessary duplication of gifts. A diaper cake is a great gift - attractive and usable - but discovering that almost all the guests brought diaper cakes and nothing else is impractical.

During the Baby Shower

Make sure that the party activities are followed as closely as possible. However, remain flexible as baby showers are meant to be relaxed fun, not a military drill. Just ensure that the food is served satisfactorily, the guests and honorees are comfortable, and everybody is having fun.

Keep track of the baby shower gifts being opened. Sometimes, guests will bring extra gifts aside from the coordinated baby shower gifts. This is perfectly acceptable and the expectant mother will appreciate these extra blessings. Keeping track of these baby gifts will help you and the mother write appropriate thank-you notes.

After the Baby Shower

When the baby shower is finished, expect a lot of discarded gift wrappings, take-home gift baskets and diaper cakes and an assortment of baby equipment from bathtubs to cribs. These baby shower gifts must be organized and brought home, assuming that the venue is outside the expectant mother’s house.

Help in making the venue as tidy as possible. You want your honoree to feel relaxed from start to end of the baby shower, not act as the cleaning maid.

Assist the expectant mother in making thank-you notes to the guests for their participation and their gifts. Your tracking list should guide you in thanking the guests for the specific items they brought. Avoid social faux pas due to negligence.

When you host a baby shower, just remember that you are celebrating motherhood and a new life. Make the baby shower a celebration filled with good cheer and a joyful gathering of family and good friends.

If you are the host of a baby shower, ensure that your guests will bring coordinated baby gifts. Encourage them to bring personalized baby gifts to reflect the mother’s personality. These baby shower gifts can be found at BabyLandGifts.com in various themes that will please any expectant mother.

Article Source: ArticleSpan

What better way to celebrate the coming of a new baby than to host a baby shower party. Better yet, make it a surprise for the expectant mother. The following tips should help you host a baby shower party just like a real pro.

Choose a Good Date

It is important that you choose a good date for the baby shower party. What good is the party if the mom is not around? So do make sure that the important participant makes it to the party. Be creative with this. You can schedule a dinner with the expecting mother. Stress the importance of her showing up. And you should indeed ask somebody to show up at the dinner so somebody can redirect her attention while you are at the venue welcoming the guests.

Send Out the Invitations

You should be ready with your invitations early on so that you can have them sent at least two weeks before the actual event. This is to give the people time to prepare. They do have to have enough time to go shopping for baby shower gifts.

And oh, be cautious with those written invitations. Your guests might carelessly leave them lying around. You don’t want them falling into the wrong hands - the mother’s that is. It will totally ruin the surprise. Personal invitations and phone calls are still the best way to go.

Baby Registry

Ask mothers who just recently borne a baby about the usual stuff new mothers need. You will need the information to fill up a baby shower gifts registry. Yes, you got that right. You can make the baby shower gifts registry yourself. No need to ask the mother to make her own. She might speculate that you are planning to throw a baby shower party. This is another great way to ruin the surprise.

You can also ask the mother’s close relatives and friends to give their own ideas for baby shower gifts. Make sure that you come up with a worthwhile baby registry and that it is properly distributed so that the guests have a clear idea on which baby shower gifts to give the mother.

Baby Shower Decorations

Come up with a baby shower theme. It’s always fun to stick to a specific theme when planning a party. The added bonus is that it makes the rest of the details easier to handle. With a theme at hand, choosing baby shower favors, baby shower gifts and other party items will not be too hard anymore. Be creative when choosing a theme. Think of something that has yet to be done before. And do make it match the personality of the mother. Remember that the party is thrown in her honor (and the baby’s too!).

Baby Shower Favors

Do give your baby shower favors the attention they deserve. They are your way of showing the guests how grateful you are for their participation.

Catch the Mother Off Guard

To make the ’surprise’ party a really effective one, make sure that you catch the Mom off guard. How about throwing the party in the morning or after lunch? And do watch over your guests. Make sure that nobody goes blabbering about the party in the wrong places and at the earshot of the wrong person (the mother of course). And on the day of the party itself, assign somebody to play the role of a valet so that there are not too many cars nearby to arouse the mom’s suspicion.

You are well on your way to hosting a blasting baby shower party. Have fun!

Make sure you show up at the party with the best baby shower gifts. Don’t settle for anything less than a unique baby gift like a baby gift set. Visit BabyLandGifts.com today.

Article Source: ArticleSpan