Contributed by Natasha Kapoor, a regular Confettish customer and part of Confettish's marketing team
Two years ago, I threw a (fantastic, if I may say so myself) baby shower for my sister. What preceded the big day, were daily reminder phone calls from my sister. “Are you throwing me a baby shower or not? Have you invited my girlfriends or not? Have you settled on a date or not?” Each phone call left me gasping for breath. There was something or the other I had forgotten, and up until the very last day – nay – minute, I was caught up with something or the other.
There it is, my top five must-haves if you want to throw a “Babytastic" baby shower!
Two years ago, I threw a (fantastic, if I may say so myself) baby shower for my sister. What preceded the big day, were daily reminder phone calls from my sister. “Are you throwing me a baby shower or not? Have you invited my girlfriends or not? Have you settled on a date or not?” Each phone call left me gasping for breath. There was something or the other I had forgotten, and up until the very last day – nay – minute, I was caught up with something or the other.
All the effort paid off and the baby shower went off really well. My sister was so delighted, her pregnancy glow had quadrupled in just a few hours. And that made it all worth it.
So here’s a list of things to simplify the baby shower process for you, so that the day goes by perfectly:
1. Set a theme: My sister loves the beach (duh, who doesn’t?) and since holidaying at the beach wasn’t an option during her pregnancy (we live in a landlocked city in North India), I decided to get the beach to her. I also figured my niece (or nephew) would be a real beach bum, based on what I knew of the parents, so this theme seemed to fit the bill. Also, I has envisioned my sister in a pretty beachy dress on her baby shower, so it all came together beautifully. Personalization means everything!
2. Send the invites: My sister and I were sure we wanted a girls-only baby shower, so setting the guest list was quite simple. Even simpler when it’s handed to you! Based on the theme, I took help from a friend to design an invite. Of course, it’s much easier now, with websites like Confettish who can personalize, design and print these out for you, but back then, I had to take a longer route. I wanted my sister’s friends to have these invites as keepsakes, so decided to courier these as well as send out email invites. The invite mentioned the date, venue and time, as well as the theme, so that people would dress accordingly.
3. Plan the decor: A theme means nothing if the decor doesn’t spell it out! Back then, I had to hunt a lot for the appropriate decor – foil balloons, banners, a special sash for my sister. Actually, I didn’t find anything personalised back then, so had to (clumsily) make a lot of things by hand. Now, of course, there are a lot of options to customise the baby shower decor as per the theme. It also pays to go the extra mile by having personalized badges for the mommy-to-be and the close family members.
4. Games: No baby shower is complete without gossip and games. Games like “Mommy’s belly”; “What’s in the diaper?”; “Paint on a onesie” can bring out a lot of laughs. And everyone knows how good laughter is for the mommy and baby both!
5. Favors and return gifts: I really wanted all my sister’s girlfriends to have a special keepsake as memory of her baby shower. Small keepsakes and my speciality – choco-chip cupcakes. Each favor package has personalised notes from the baby-to-be! Prospective Aunts were delighted to get messages from the baby saying, “Can’t wait to see you!”
There it is, my top five must-haves if you want to throw a “Babytastic" baby shower!
