Your best friend or sister just shared the great news – a little bundle of joy is on the way! With so many new and exciting things to look forward to, a new mama is going to need all the help she can get! Throwing her a baby shower is a great way to gather friends and family to help your mama-to-be get a jump start on all the baby essentials she will need and to celebrate the coming of baby.

Planning a baby shower does not have to be overwhelming, and in fact can be a fun and rewarding experience. No matter how simple or extravagant you envision this baby shower, there are essential basic steps that everyone should follow to make sure everything is ready for the big day.

Keep reading to learn the five basic steps you can follow for planning a baby shower. Need an easy-to-use printable checklist? Download our Baby Shower Planner & Shopping Checklist here:

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5 Simple Steps for Hosting a Baby Shower

1. Determine Baby Shower Details

Before you can begin making the big (and fun) decisions like décor, you’ll need to nail down the essential details with the mom-to-be first. This includes details such as:

• Date of the Baby Shower
• Guest List - get a rough idea of how many people you’ll be inviting/ hosting so that you’ll know how big of a party space is needed. If you have time, you can create a list together.
• Location – are you hosting at your home, or will you need to book a restaurant or event space? Discuss a few options in case your preferred location is unavailable on the date you’re planning the shower.
• Choose a Shower Theme – often times decorations, favors and games are centered around a theme, so deciding on this early on will help you be able to get what you need for the shower. Also, be sure to ask if your mom-to-be wants games or anything special for her shower.
• Will there be food – are you planning a luncheon, or afternoon tea? Any food, drinks, and dessert will need to be decided so that you know what needs to be ordered vs. purchased and prepped.

Bonus: treat her to a coffee or pedicure while you talk through the details for some extra special time together!

2. Coordinate Venue, Food, and Décor

Once all the details have been determined and approved by your momma-to-be, it’s time to get everything coordinated and booked. In you need to book a venue, table & chair rentals, decorations, or catering, this is the time to do it – don’t wait to get these booked! If you need to ask friends or family to borrow items for the shower, ask now. Trust me when I say you do not want to be caught the week of the shower scrambling for chairs or to find someone who can make a cake!

3. Send Invites to Guests & Collect RSVPs

Now that you have everything coordinated and booked, it’s time to let guests know. You’ll want to give your guests plenty of time to save the date, so try and send invitations roughly two months in advance of the shower. Whether you send out text or printed invitations, be sure to include these important details:

• Who the baby shower is honoring
• Date
• Time
• Location
• Registry Information
• How to RSVP

A week prior to the shower, reach out to anyone who hasn’t RSVP’d to get a final count of guests who will be attending.

4. Shop & Prep

As the date of the baby shower approaches, start creating a shopping list of everything that you’ll need to buy in advance. This may include decorations, tableware, favors, games, game prizes, and of course a gift for your mom-to-be. The week of the shower, get your shopping done so that it’s not a last-minute rush if you can’t find something you need.

If there is anything that can be assembled or needs to be put together, also do this in advance – it will make the day of the shower much more relaxed if you aren’t assembling party favors as guests walk in the door!

Finally, if you need to contact some friends or family members to help set up and clean up, be sure to ask them in advance so that the day-of you have extra hands ready to go.

5. Complete Day-of Host Duties

A few hours prior to the shower, it’s go time! Once you have everything set up and ready to go, during the shower it will be your duty to host the day and gently guide guests through the party. Typically, a shower lasts 2-3 hours, so be mindful of this and help keep the shower moving. For example, you might start by making sure everyone signs the guest book and takes a picture with the mom-to-be upon arriving. Then it might be a light lunch, followed by games. After games, you can have dessert served while mom-to-be opens her gifts.

Other duties may include taking pictures, helping serve food and desserts, keeping track of gifts for thank you notes, and cleaning up afterwards. Be sure to designate help if you need it!

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I hope that this was helpful for your baby shower planning journey! As you are planning, be sure to get our easy-to-use Baby Shower Planner is here to help! Designed to walk you through from start to finish, this complete planning timeline and shopping checklist will help you coordinate all the details so that you can host with ease.

At the end of the day, the most important thing to remember is that everyone is there to celebrate and love on mama and baby. While decorations, food and everything else can be beautiful and perfect, the love your mama-to-be will feel from the gathering of friends and family is what makes a baby shower so special!