A baby shower is a fun way to celebrate the upcoming arrival of a new baby, which is usually organized and hosted by a female friend or family member of the mother-to-be. When it comes to decorating for the event there are so many fun options, each more adorable than the last. To plan the perfect décor for a baby shower, all you need is some time and creativity! This article will give you some helpful decorating ideas, suggestions and tips for a unique and memorable baby shower!
Decide on the location of the shower. Before you begin planning, it is necessary to decide on the location of the shower. Knowing how much space is available and what facilities you have to work with will help you to plan your décor.
- Showers are often held at the mother-to-be’s house, as this makes thing more convenient and comfortable for her (especially if she is heavily pregnant). This leaves you plenty of decorating opportunities, but you may need to discuss your ideas with the mother-to-be and her partner – especially if you plan on doing anything crazy!
- If you are hosting the baby shower in a restaurant, be aware that some restaurants will put a limit on how far you can go with decorating or rearranging the furniture, so make sure to speak with the restaurant manager before you make plans.
Choose a theme. Having a theme for the baby shower can help you to focus your ideas and make your décor look professional and well thought-out. What theme you choose is completely up to you, but here are some ideas:[2]
- 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. 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.
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- 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’s 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.
Decorate the walls and ceiling. The walls and ceiling are the next thing you’ll need to think about. Things like streamers, wall hangings and mobiles can really transform the look of the room and make the baby shower extra special.
- Themed baby shower streamers are available from most party supply stores, in a vast array of colors and designs. Alternatively, you could make your own flag garland from scraps of colored or patterned fabric, for a more personal, traditional touch.
- Another very cute idea is to hang a clothesline from one side of the room to the other and use safety pins or old-fashioned clothes pegs to hang baby clothes such as baby grows, booties, socks and bibs.
- Another option is to hang mobiles from the ceiling – these can be actual baby mobiles, or paper ones in the shape of flowers, hearts or baby accessories like rattles, baby bottles and pacifiers.
- For the walls, you can hang more banners or flag garlands, put up framed photographs of the mother and father-to-be as babies, or hang posters related to your theme, such as stills from specific films (for movie themes), or images of baby animals (for jungle themes).
- Another great idea is to hang swathes of tulle along the walls, from floor to ceiling. This creates a pretty, almost ethereal effect which transforms the entire room. Stringing fairy lights across the tulle will add to this effect even more.
Ensure that the mother-to-be’s chair is special. As the mother-to-be is the guest of honor, it is important to place her at the head (or center) of the table and to ensure that she is comfortable.
- Put her in a larger, more comfortable chair — preferably one that reclines or has a footstool — and provide her with as many cushions or pillows as she needs. She will really appreciate this, especially if she is heavily pregnant.
- One thing that is frequently done at baby showers is to hang or stand an open umbrella above the mother-to-be’s chair. Then blue streamers or ribbons are attached to the edges of the umbrella to make “rain”. It is a baby “shower” after all!