Pulling It All Together – The Final Baby Shower Preparations

August 10, 2009 by  
Filed under Baby Shower

You’ve been through the shopping, planning, decorating, and preparation of food and activities. Now, the date of the baby shower has arrived and it’s time to pull everything together in a timely and efficient manner. You should know exactly how many guests are attending, how the expectant mom will get there and transport her gifts, and have already confirmed your location. Now you simply have to decorate, pick up the baby shower cake and any flowers or balloons, and pull off an unbelievable baby shower party.

Well ahead of the date of the shower, you should have planned a timeline for the day to ensure everything goes as planned. Make sure you arrive well ahead of time to decorate, arrange furniture, prepare the food and present it, and mix any beverages that have not been so prior.

You may decide to recruit family and friends to help with this process to ensure it all gets done in time. Make a checklist and check it twice, and allow for unexpected errand runs or anything you may have forgotten. Any frozen food should be taken out the day before for thawing, and each helper should have an assigned task.

Decorating will most likely take a couple of hours, so ensure you arrive early enough to do so. If the baby shower is held at a rented location or club, you’ll need to double check with the facility to see how early you can arrive. You’ll need table decorations, favors, banners, balloons, floral arrangements, and the food table to be decorated accordingly. Streamers may also be used for a festive touch to the baby shower, and are a great way to incorporate the color scheme for a low cost.

Also allow for time to set up tables and arrange chairs and other furniture for the guests. They should be able to see the guest of honor, and mom should have a dedicated table or area for her gifts. A special table may also be needed for the baby shower cake and supplies for serving.

Overlooking the smallest of details is very easy to do, but can be very detrimental to the success of a baby shower party. Little things like having enough trash receptacles in areas that are easy to reach, having plenty of the appropriate types of utensils, ice buckets or coolers, and exterior signs directing guests to the right location all need to be taken care of the day of the baby shower party.

All of these things should be ready before the first guest arrives, which will most likely be the expectant mother. She should be able to arrive at least 10 minutes early to help you greet the incoming party guests.

Making a list and checking it twice, and allowing for the unforeseen events and needed errands will make your life on the day of the party much easier. Also remember that someone should be designated to record the gifts and who gave them to the mother for thank-you notes later. You’ll need to allow plenty of time to clean up the facility and food afterward as well, so consider recruiting a few extra friends to help at the end of the baby shower party.