By Lisa Evans
Want to plan a baby shower, but without all the stress? Using a few tips from this article, and a bit of help from friends & family will make all the difference.
Baby showers are an opportunity to "shower" the mother with love, affection, and joy, while helping her (and her mate) prepare for the challenges of parenting. Whether it be the mother's first baby, or her fifth, each new child brings new parenting challenges.
There are three basic tips I would share to help you plan the perfect shower. Select a theme, create a task list, and beg, borrow, and bride help from friends and family.
Baby shower themes can be easily found by searching online at various baby shower decoration and party supply stores. These stores stock patterns and themes from various manufacturers. The theme can become the foundation for your event, helping you and your guest by creating the perfect environment for your shower.
There are a number of different baby shower themes appropriate for a variety of situations. There are baby boy oriented themes, and themes for baby girls. There are themes that work well for twins, and themes that work well if the gender of the baby isn't yet known. There are themes that celebrate the mom, and there are themes that are purely fun.
Next, you need to create your checklist for the shower. Around six weeks in advance, you should be selecting a location, confirming the date (make sure the date works for the guest of honor!), and developing a guest list. A budget will be extremely helpful in determining the type of event you want to host. Wonderful showers can be held on a limited budget if you plan carefully. Think about the cost(s) for your decorations, invitations, food, games, activities, and party favors. A sample set of task and budget worksheets and a variety of other planning tools are available in the baby shower planning section of many party supply websites.
I recommend you next give thought to what you will serve, who will attend, and how you plan to entertain the guests. This is the best time to get family and friends to help you - everyone loves to help out at a shower. The host can easily delegate tasks such as working with the bakery or caterer. Make sure everyone knows about any diet issues, money limits, and the time requirements.
Five weeks in advance, purchase your invitations. Most places that sell baby shower decorations also sell other decorations including tableware (paper plates and napkins), balloons, banners, and games that match the theme for your event, that way you can order baby shower invitations that match your theme!
25 - 30 days before the big day, make sure all your baby shower party supplies are ordered so you have enough time for them to be delivered. Put your invitations in the mail, and start getting people lined up for help. Farm out the small projects to people who want to help.
Around 3 weeks before the big day, review your task list, and any items you have assigned to volunteers. If you need to take something over yourself, this will give you enough time to get things done.
Around 14 days ahead of time is a good time to make sure your cake has been ordered. Some bakeries may require as much as 45 days notice, so plan accordingly. You should also think about activities and games for your shower. Take another look at your check list to make sure you haven't missed anything.
The week of the event, prepare in advance any food that can frozen. Confirm the attendee list to make sure you know the RSVP status of the invitees. Follow-up with everyone who is helping out to make sure they have everything under control.
48 hours in advance is crunch time. Make sure your furniture is arranged, and the venue is cleaned.
The day before is the perfect time to get the decorations set-up (except for the balloons). Arranging all the paper goods, centerpieces, banners, and other decorations in advance allows you to focus on having fun the day of the event. Prepare any food that can be stored overnight, pick-up the cake, and chill any beverages or prepared foods that need to be served cold.
On the day of the shower itself, purchase your fresh flowers, fill your balloons with helium, prepare any remaining food items, and take pictures of everything BEFORE the guests arrive so you and the guest of honor can remember everything in it's perfect form. Take full advantage of your helpers by getting them to run errands that need to be run (such as getting balloons filled, or picking up catering items.)
Lastly, have FUN!
About the Author:
Passionate About Home Entertaining: Lisa Evans is a expert in supplies for baby showers and is involved in shower theme design at PartyPail.com. Copyright PartyPail, Inc. 2008.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment