baby - Preparing for a Baby Shower

Theme With any party event requires meticulous preparation. A baby shower is no exception. First and foremost, you should determine the theme of the party. Choose a theme that is fun and fits the parent's interests and personality. The more creative you get the more original the shower will be. You can choose from a favorite Disney character/movie to a nautical theme, religious, brunch theme or historical event. Theme ideas are endless and you should choose one that is appropriate. With a theme in place, it will be easier to choose the invitations, decorations, food, party favors and even games. When you choose a theme, stick with it. Changing a theme in the middle of the planning could prove to be costly. I've heard too many times, hosts changing the overall baby shower theme and to only find their costs doubling and are left with useless party supplies because they no longer fit the new theme. Decorations Once you decide on a theme for the baby shower, choosing decorations will be much easier. Decorations do not need to be over done. Depending on your theme, some common decorations used are balloons, streamers, banner signs and flowers. Decorations do not need to be expensive and with careful shopping, you can find some inexpensive decorations by creating them yourself, buying them in bulk or going to your local discount stores. If your on a budget and can't afford all decorations mentioned, than I highly suggest going with balloons. You can get a large number of inexpensive latex balloons inflated with helium. Balloons are excellent to adding color and filling up a room. Food Any good party doesn't go well without food. You have many food choices out there and you should choose foods that fit the shower theme if possible. You can serve anything from finger foods, chips, sandwiches, pizzas, pastas or any dish imaginable. Don't forget the sodas, punch, wine and desserts. Invitations Well, a party isn't a party without people. One of the most common ways to invite guests to a party is with invitations. You can send your invitations by mail give them in person or use the ever-growing Internet to send or make your invitations. Whichever method you use, you should send or give the invitations out at least one month prior to the party. This way, you allow your guests time to arrange their schedules and to select a gift for the party. There are many venues you can choose to make your invitations. You can go to your local party supply store and select one of their template designs. Remember the theme of the party while choosing a design. Add the party information and they'll send it off to their printer. If you're creative, you can design your own invitation or acquire the help of a graphic designer. Then have a printer print them or print them out on your home computer. Personally, invitations printed from a home computer usually looks cheap and unappealing. If it's in the budget, have the professional printer to print them. Favors Party favors are small gifts given to your guests showing your appreciation for participating in your event. Favors can be anything from chocolates and candles in the shape of baby bottles rattles and bears. Decorative boxes or sachet bags with gift items are also popular as well as, soaps, picture frames and figurines to name a few. Favors can range from a few cents to several dollars apiece. What ever your budget is, keep in mind there are many options for favors within various price ranges. Do your research and shop around. Games If you're going to have a party, then you will want your guests to have fun. Providing different game activities throughout the party are one of the best ways to get some laughs. There are many baby shower games out there and it is only limited by your imagination. Go to a search engine (Google, Yahoo, MSN) and type in "Baby Shower Games". You'll pull up many baby shower game ideas. Choose games that are appropriate and fun for your guests. It's always a good idea to give out little gifts to the winners of each game. Alex Plana is the owner of BestNineMonths.com, a unique baby products store offering baby shoes, diaper bags, baby accessories and more. Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alex_Plana baby - Guess Who? Baby Shower Game This is a fun activity that involves everyone at the shower. Each guest brings a baby photo of themselves. The object of the game is for each player to correctly identify who each baby photo belongs to. On the invites ask your guests to bring a baby photo of them to the shower. Decorate poster board or foam board for the baby shower. The number of guests will determine if you need more than one board. Use wrapping paper, construction paper, markers, etc. Get creative! Create a master list as your guests arrive - number a sheet of paper and assign each photo a number. Mark the back of each photo with a post-it of the guest's name. You want to return the photos in the condition you received them so writing on them is not an option. Post each photo on the board with a number next to them (not on them). Use scrapbooking photo corners to post the photos so you can return them in good condition. When the time comes to play the game give each guest a sheet of numbered paper. You can create a decorative sheet of paper using clip art in Microsoft Word. Have guests guess write the name of the guest next to the number of the baby photo on their answer sheet. The winner is the person who has the most correct answers. This activity is better for smaller showers. The more guests you have the more preparation you have to do.