• Jungle theme: A jungle or safari theme is popular for baby showers, where the room is decorated in a mixture of greens and yellows and stuffed lions, monkeys, and elephants are used to decorate.
• Movie theme: Pick the mother-to-be’s favorite childhood movie and use it as the theme of the party. For example, a “Wizard of Oz” themed party could have a “yellow-brick road” leading to the party room, which could be decorated in green for the Emerald City. You could even present the expecting mother with comfy ruby slippers upon her arrival!
  • Carnival/circus theme:
  • A carnival or circus theme could be decorated with bright colors, have popcorn and candy-floss makers, and have games like ring toss and rubber duck races.

Pick a color scheme. If a theme seems like too much effort you could simply choose a color scheme for your décor.

• Staying within a particular color scheme can help to focus your party planning, making it easy to pick the color of decorations, from tablecloths and napkins to flowers and candles, to cakes and confetti.
• You could go with a classic theme of “It’s a boy!” or “It’s a girl”, where you turn the room into an explosion of pink or blue. Some mothers-to-be will like this traditional approach, while others might prefer something a bit different.
• If this is the case (or the sex of the baby is unknown) go for a more gender-neutral color like yellow or green, or decorate with an even mixture of pink and blue.
• Going with an all-white theme is another very classy option, perfect for outdoor garden parties or understated restaurants.
• You could also consider matching the color scheme of the shower with the color scheme in the expected baby’s bedroom.

Plan your budget. The next thing you have to consider is your budget, as this will dictate (to an extent) how elaborate you can afford to be with your decorations.

• Make sure to take everything into account – food, drinks, gifts, party favors, balloons, games – the more detailed your budget is, the lower the chance of overspending.
• When shopping for decorations, make sure to shop around. There can be a huge variation in the price of baby shower decorations, depending on where you buy them. Look in party supply stores, dollar stores, and online before you make a final decision.
• Think about where you can save money – borrow any cake stands, candle holders, or other tableware from friends and family – maybe your grandmother has an old china tea set you could use for an English tea party theme?
• Even if you’re on a tight budget, you can still host an amazing baby shower — you just need to be a little thrifty by shopping around, making, and borrowing!

Give yourself time. All of this planning and preparation takes time – so make sure to start getting organized well in advance of the day itself. The last thing you want is to stress yourself out by leaving everything until the last minute.

• Being disorganized will only lead to stress shopping, where you will inevitably spend a lot more money than you originally intended. You may also have difficulty finding the things you need at the last minute, which could throw the entire theme of the party off.
• You should also be sure to leave yourself enough time on the day of the party itself. Get to the location well in advance of the starting time. If you’re hosting at the mother-to-be’s house, try to make sure she’s out of the house or at least stays in another room.
• Consider the possibility that you may need to vacuum, dust, mop, and clean bathrooms (or hire somebody else to do it) before the event, as you don’t want the mother-to-be stressing about having a clean house.

Make the table the central focus. The table is the centerpiece of the entire shower, so you should put special effort into making it look good.

• • Make sure the table is large enough to comfortably seat all of the guests and cover it with a nice tablecloth and possibly a table runner in a contrasting color. Sprinkle baby shower confetti over the tablecloth.
  • Lay any pre-prepared cakes and desserts out on the table, buffet style. Use pretty tiered cake stands to display any cakes, scones, muffins, or other treats. A layered cupcake stand filled with frosted cupcakes makes a great centerpiece.
  • Aside from the food, you can decorate the table with flowers and votive candles. The flowers can be elaborate arrangements from the florist or simple but beautiful cuttings from the garden, depending on the theme of the party and the time of year.
  • If you are serving hot food at the party, one cute idea is to place any necessary condiments, such as mustard, mayonnaise, or salad dressing, in baby bottles. Just cut the tops of the teats for easier pouring.

Make sure you have enough plates, knives, forks, spoons, glasses and napkins. Polish the silverware if necessary. Then you can either formally set the table, or stack everything to one side until needed.