So I know there is tons of information out there on throwing baby showers: color schemes, themes, food, gifts… But how often do we get advice on what NOT to do when a baby shower is in the near future… I would like to tell you just a few things today that you might want to consider NOT doing…
So 1st and foremost.. let the baby shower be a baby shower
Let it be enjoyable for the mommy to be as well as for the guests. DO NOT. I repeat DO NOT have a salesperson trying to sell anything at the shower. A baby shower is meant for ladies to gather together, to relax, eat, and have a good time chatting, playing games, giving advice… upon advice lol… to the mommy to be. Baby showers are NOT meant for ladies to gather together to listen to a sales pitch. Fine. If you’re guests are aware of the sales pitch they will endure and they are ok with it, go ahead. But please. Do not be a sneaky party planner and just “sneak” a sales pitch in there. That’s pretty lame. And a waste of most of the guests time. Most women now a days are on major time crunches. Be respectful. They are taking time out of their busy life to come celebrate this new life that will soon enter the world… not to listen to the latest sales pitch on something they couldn’t care less about.
2nd of all… please make sure you have plenty of food
A baby shower is a party. And what do parties have? Food. Lots of food. Don’t let your guests go hungry.. it’ll definitely ruin the mood. It doesn’t have to cost too much. If you can’t afford it, see if you can get some of the guests to pitch in. Almost like a pot luck style. But fill the table as much as possible… cheap stuff will do too.. like chips, dip, fruit or veggie trays. Pinterest is an amazing place to browse for ideas and inspiration.
3rd on my list. Have a cake
A beautiful delicious cake for your guests to adore and enjoy. One of the things that I (and a lot of ladies I know) do when I enter the party home/location is look for the cake. Now a days, people go all out and create these beautiful pieces of art that are as delicious as they are gorgeous… and I wanna see what the host came up with… I think the baby shower cake is like the icing on the cupcake… everyone looks forward to eating the creation.. and well, if you don’t serve a cake at the baby shower… people are going to be bummed out. I know I would be ( and have been).
4th thing not to do… don’t let it be awkward
I know you can’t control everyone… but try your best to break the ice at the baby shower. In the very beginning play some sort of a game or do something to introduce everyone who is there and let others know how it is that you know the mommy to be. I know I’ve been to way too many baby showers where I’m kinda just sitting around wondering who the heck all these people are and how in the world do they know my friend. I’d rather get that over and out of the way at the very beginning and just enjoy the rest of the party chatting it up… At my baby shower, I think it could have / should have been done earlier, but at least it was done before the shower ended. As I was opening gifts, whoever the gift was from would come and sit by me and would introduce themselves to the crowd and explain to them how it is that we knew each other or how we met.. I must tell ya, that was pretty fun! Some of my friends had some very different stories of how we met and it was interesting to see our friendship from their perspective instead of mine…
And last but not least… my 5th do NOT do item… don’t drag it out
I know there’s plenty of people out there who will just not leave a party.. but the rest of us have a life. Try to make the party short and sweet…but at the same time, don’t make it feel rushed and do make people feel unwelcome. A lot of people dread baby showers, but they still come out of common courtesy.. be nice. Basically have it all wrapped up within 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours.. and maybe have an “after” party for a few of your friends that just won’t leave.. lol.. but most of us have things to do.. such as take care of our families and we just cannot sit around for too long… as much as we’d love to sit and relax for hours on end…
And that my friends is my top 5 Do NOT do list… I hope you enjoyed it and I hope it cleared a few things up for you…
—
Photo Credits:
http://www.cmlor.com/blog/are-you-a-sales-person/
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/05/23/whats-the-difference-between-wall-st-banks-and-used-car-salesm/
http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/a4/53/12/a45312f781e5b439482c6fe9f83aa6e2.jpg
http://blog.hwtm.com/2011/05/farmhouse-brunch-baby-shower/
http://7thhouseontheleft.com/2012/12/baby-cold/#.UsD6nrRnAfk
http://cakecentral.com
http://www.millersbakeshop.com/all-products/fall-baby-shower-sheet-cake
http://funcheaporfree.com/2012/03/savvy-saturday-idea-host-craft-party/
http://www.potterybarnkids.com/design-studio/celebration/around_the_clock_baby_shower.html