Using Baby Shower Themes To Plan The Perfect Event
Lisa Evans
Need to plan a baby shower, but don't want the stress? With proper planning, and some help from a few friends or family, you can create a very special day for the mother-to-be.
A baby shower is a gift to the 'mother to be', and a wonderful way to express your feelings toward her. This event can help the new parents prepare for the changes about to occur.
There are three helpful guidelines to assist you in planning the perfect baby shower. Firth, select a theme. Second, develop a checklist for your tasks. Finally, find some help!
A great way to find a theme for your baby shower is to look at suppliers of baby shower decorations to see what is available commercially. These suppliers have patterns, also known as themes, that can assist you in the planning of your shower. These themes can provide a basis for decorating your event, and can add a professional flair to the style you exhibit for the guest of honor. They don't only benefit the host of the shower, but also the guests by creating a festive atmosphere for the celebration.
There are a number of different baby shower themes appropriate for a variety of situations. There are baby boy oriented themes, and themes for baby girls. There are themes that work well for twins, and themes that work well if the gender of the baby isn't yet known. There are themes that celebrate the mom, and there are themes that are purely fun.
With your theme selected, you can now create your task list for the baby shower. Starting around 45 days in advance, you might want to select a location, and date for the event. You should also start finalizing you guest list. Figure out how much money you want to spend, so you can invest wisely in invitations, favors, catering, a cake and such. There are some great planning tools available online at some of the online baby shower suppliers.
Start working on your menu, your invitee list, and your activities. This is an opportunity to start getting friends and family involved. Everyone loves to make the new mother feel special, so ask everyone if they want to help - you'll get lots of offers! Then, have a list of small projects for each person to choose from. These smaller projects can be things like coming up with a centerpiece, addressing the invitations, brining an appetizer, finding and ordering the cake, and other tasks. When you give someone a task, make sure you've given them enough specifics to keep everyone's stress down. Make sure they know when it needs to be done by, and if there are any budget constraints.
30 - 35 days ahead of your event, buy your invitations. Most invitations are available with matching decorations and tableware in a theme. You can buy stock, or custom printed baby shower invitations that match your theme, and get your decorations at the same time.
25 - 30 days before the big day, make sure all your baby shower party supplies are ordered so you have enough time for them to be delivered. Put your invitations in the mail, and start getting people lined up for help. Farm out the small projects to people who want to help.
21 days before the shower, check in with everyone who is helping out. Answer any questions, and make them feel appreciated!
Around two weeks before the event is a good time to order your cake, and purchase any non-perishable food items. This is also a good time to finalize any activities or games, and review your check list for any items that still need to be purchased.
The week before the shower is a great time to prepare in advance any food you are cooking, so long as it can be easily frozen and then thawed, heated and served the day of the event. Review the RSVP list to finalize the amount of food, drinks, etc., you will need.
48 hours in advance is crunch time. Make sure your furniture is arranged, and the venue is cleaned.
The day before is the perfect time to get the decorations set-up (except for the balloons). Arranging all the paper goods, centerpieces, banners, and other decorations in advance allows you to focus on having fun the day of the event. Prepare any food that can be stored overnight, pick-up the cake, and chill any beverages or prepared foods that need to be served cold.
On the day of the shower itself, purchase your fresh flowers, fill your balloons with helium, prepare any remaining food items, and take pictures of everything BEFORE the guests arrive so you and the guest of honor can remember everything in it's perfect form. Take full advantage of your helpers by getting them to run errands that need to be run (such as getting balloons filled, or picking up catering items.)
Then you can enjoy the festivities.
About the author: Lisa Evans has fun assisting people with
http://www.partypail.com/ party supplies for baby showers and has the best job in the world working at
http://www.partypail.com/ PartyPail.com. Copyright PartyPail, Inc. 2008.
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