What did you do for your baby shower?

I didn't get to have a baby shower for my pregnancy last time due to DF's family being stupid and refusing to come if our friends came, however this time around I'm determined to have one!

So considering I've never done this before nor have I ever gone to a baby shower before I have no idea what I'm meant to do for it, at it or anything surrounding it lol.

Help me out here, what did you do or what are your fantastic ideas?

I never had a baby shower first time around either so a friend organised mine for DS2, it was just a morning tea get together...so light food & tea/coffee, punch and a few games.

Things I thought were great, since it was for bubs #2 she put on the invite pls bring something for the Mum to be as bubs already has so much. It was awesome, got a facial voucher, foot massage voucher, hand cream, body cream etc & so on FANTASTIC!!!!!!! There were also enough small gifts so even if you didn't win any of the games you got to take a gift when you left & everyone got a lolly bag.....that was lollies put in one of those nappy bags you use for stinky poopy nappies, that was my DH idea, a nice touch.

Erin- that sounds fun, I like the stinky bags idea. lol funny and cheap too. I'm not sure which games you play, think I might do a bit of a google for it lol

My DH and My Mum worked together on a surprise baby shower for me as I wasn't going to have one since i didn't feel I had enough friends here to warrant it! Well, the lovely thing is I well and truly did have enough friends, and even family and friends came from Adelaide to be there too! It was great :)

My baby shower was a lunch at one of the hotels on the waterfront, and we had a great meal, played some games (I found some great ones after googling 'baby shower games' just now) and there is an article on BellyBelly about games for baby showers by Kelly. We had a gift table and then once we'd all finished eating I opened the gifts in front of everyone and of course we all gooed and gaahed over every little thing - especially the socks!! So tiny and gorgeous!! I loved the hotel idea because it meant no dishes or mess for anyone to pack up and it also meant that every diet was catered for and anything and everything was available...lovely!

My Mum got some little nicknacks from the local party shop to decorate the tables and she made up some little metal containers with clear lids that had M&M's in them (my fav!) with a ribbon around them that had a flower on top and a leaf shaped tag saying thank you for attending my baby shower. Mum used them as seating cards too. I still have my container, and it lives in our DD's bookshelf as a memento of the celebration that was all about her :)

I loved it - it was awesome and so much fun and the surprise was GREAT!

Kel- what a nice touch! I hadn't thought of having it anywhere other than home. Hmm more to think about lol

Aww im so excited hun i wanna help, just have snack light foods available and beverages

heres a game idea(randomly just came to when i remembered my baby shower lol), everyone attending the 'BS' should bring a photo of when they were a baby and everyone has to guess whos baby pics whos, and who ever gets the most right guesses wins.

every one gets string and has to guess how much big ur belly is, they cut off the amount of string they 'think then you take the string at the end and measure and who ever is the closest wins

theres more but ill be back hun gotta check the veggies lol

I had mine at home afternoon tea and a few games.
I went to one though not long ago where they played guess that baby food and guess the poo. It was different choc melted into nappies and you had to guess what choc it was.

What great games BF and Sunshine! Wow I'm really looking forward to it now!

Also have another question. As we already have one bubba we have heaps of the stuff that we need and the things we need might not be something people would usually think of. How do you go about helping people to get something that will be useful without being one of those people that makes everyone uncomfortable by handing out a list lol. I was thinking of maybe just waiting to see if people asked us what we need then let them know heaps of different things so its still up to them? Is that tacky? I just don't want to end up with 10, 000 baby blankets lol

A couple of games I have played are, guess celebrity baby names, finish off nursery rhymes, pin the bubba on the mummy, name the baby animal to its mum ie. cub to bear, pup to dog, cygnet to swan etc etc oooooh there's heaps and heaps available as for food, just keep it simple, and I have also attended one in a park, just loaded up the food and drinks into boot of car and took it to the place, heaps of space and loads of fresh air - was a winner with everyone! And then the ladies that bought their kids, was most happy because they were able to play on playground equipment....

I have been to one baby shower and my friend had a gift registry, it was with a speciality baby shop, but Im sure you could organise one with the bigger chains - I thought it was a great idea, saved me wasting money on a gift she might not have even used if I picked it out myself IYKWIM!?

Tan- yeah I get what you mean. I didn't want to do a registry but perhaps I could put on the invite that if you're not sure what to get, don't hesitate to ask as there are a few little specific things we need? Does that sound ok?

My baby shower was a surprise, and held at a neighborhood italian restaurant at lunchtime. The only thing I had to do for this was create my wish list on MyrRegistry.com. My sister accessed my MyRegistry.com account and created eCards right on the site and sent them to share my registry with family and friends. The actual event was lovely...but nothing too fancy! There was about 30 people there, we had a buffet lunch, played some baby games that my sister obviously found on the internet, and I opened my gifts (and I was so lucky because I received so many gifts from my wish list!! Even the Zen glider bassinet that I REALLY wanted)!

Mommy- that sounds nice, like something I want to do, but I think I will have mine at home as there are lots of the girls I will invite that have kids so its important to have somewhere for them to play.

we had a baby shower for ds, and we did it a bit differently, we had a huge afternoon tea in the state forest, with all our family and friends, male and female, to celebrate the impending birth of our baby boy.
we didn't play any games, but all the kids ran around madly, and df and i thanked everyone and said how excited we were etc.
it was a great day, and we got heeeaapps of stuff for the boy!;)

Boobaloo- I think I like that idea, I was wondering about inviting the guys cause I think it would be fun for them to play all the silly games with us lol

Baby showers are usually just a casual thing, I'd be a little put off by a gift registry, but that's just me. I would get them another present when bubs is born & you know the sex etc....so usually a baby shower is just small things. I'd be inclined to be happy with anything, it usually all gets used anyway and anyone who knows you already have a child would think of that first.....also often you get creams, nappies etc it all comes in handy. Or as I mentione previously you could have the "bubs has got enough, something for Mum would be great".

Yeah thats true Erin, I'm not going to do a registry, but I will put in the invite that if you're not sure what to get you can always ask what we still need. Was just a bit concerned as with DS we got so many blankets and half of them never got used.

I am having my "it's a girl" baby shower on saturday. My SIL has organised the games, I am only having 15ppl here but we are doing finger foods, and about 3 games.
Just going to decorate the house with girly type things and thats about it. It doesnt have to be very formal etc....

I have had some friends ask what i want/need and i just say the usual things, Nappies/wipes/toiletries/clothes etc. Whatever you need really. Alot have not asked me though which is good coz i felt rude saying it LOL

Goodluck

Thanks everyone for your replies, just wondering if there is anyone else with some ideas? I'm making my invites this weekend and so need to get planning as its getting close now! Also does anyone know where the thread that Kelly has done with ideas is? I'm probably blind cause I can't see it...