Creating A Baby Shower Theme

Incorporating a theme can give your baby shower a more pulled together feel and can make your baby shower planning easier. As well, having a theme can simplify the process of picking out your decorations and can even help dictate what foods to serve. Many baby showers have some sort of theme running through them, from very simple baby inspired decorations to elaborate luau ideas. Before you decide just what kind of theme you would like, it might be a good idea to put together a budget first so you know what you can afford.

The more detailed theme you have, the more decorations, food, and maybe even baby shower favors you'll need. If you are working on a tight budget, then you will want to choose something that won't require too many baby shower decorations or specially bought items. Alternatively, you might want to consider co-hosting the shower with a close friend or two of the expectant mom. Not only does this allow other people who really care about her to get involved, but you can also split the cost of the shower.

Common Themes
Perhaps the most common themes involve color schemes. When the sex of a baby is known beforehand, it is easy to just decorate the room with pink or blue balloons and streamers. There is also little difficulty in finding pink or blue plastic cutlery and paper plates. When the sex of the baby is not known, many hosts opt for neutral pastel colors, like mint green, yellow and soft purple.

Nursery Rhyme Themes
Using well-known cartoon and book characters are also popular baby shower themes. Finding the appropriate decorations for a Winnie-the-Pooh baby shower or Snoopy baby shower should pose no problems for most hosts. You could also use nursery rhymes or fairy tales as your inspiration. With this theme, you could have nursery rhyme trivia games to see just how much your guests remember from their childhood. You could also continue the theme in the food, serving food mentioned in children's stories. For a few samples of themed food, see Yummy Baby Shower Treats.

Noah's Ark Theme for Twins
If mom is expecting twins, you could throw a Noah's Ark baby shower. Decorate the room with cutouts of animals and use stuffed animals as the table centerpieces. For the baby shower plates and invitations, see if you can find ones with animals on them. And ask your guests to bring two of the same gift. There will be no mistaking this as a baby shower for twins.

Baby Themed Decor
Another simple baby shower party idea is to use baby themed decorations. Many party stores carry cutouts of baby bottles, rattles, storks, and teddy bears that you can put on the wall or hang from the ceiling. If you want to take the theme a bit further, you can send out bottle or teddy bear shaped invitations. You may also want to use teddy bears or bottles filled with candy or flowers as your baby shower centerpieces. You can even use bottles instead of glasses for your guests to drink out of, if you like.

Adding little children's toys around the room, like a toy train and letter blocks, and softly playing some children's music can easily transform your everyday living room into a fun place for a baby shower.

Garden Parties
If you have a large enough backyard, and it's the right time of the year, you might want to host the baby shower in your garden. A nice garden can provide the perfect backdrop to a party with minimal decorations. A tea party themed baby shower works beautifully in the backyard.

A tea party baby shower is a great idea if the mom-to-be doesn't want something traditional or involving a lot games. For this kind of shower, you will need to set up either a table long or a series of little four-seater tables, enough for all of your guests. You will also need to cover the tables with some tablecloths. Simple white ones are fine. For your baby shower centerpiece, fresh flowers are best but consider adding a small teddy bear or two so that your guests don't completely forget what they are celebrating.  

Since you want to create a very elegant feel to the shower, you'll want to stay away from paper plates and plastic cups. Instead, use proper plates and cutlery as well as teacups and saucers. Borrow from friends and family members if you don't have enough; it's okay to have a hodgepodge of dishes and cutlery. And of course you'll need a number of teapots for all the different teas you'll be serving. Also, encourage your guests to come a little dressed up.

Fairy Tale Themes
If you like the idea of a garden party but would like it to be a bit more baby oriented than a formal tea party, then consider having a fairy tale or book themed baby shower. This can be held outside either during the day or early evening. You might want to consider putting twinkle lights in any bushes or trees you might have to make it a bit more whimsical. You could also place votive tea lights all around to give your backyard a more intimate and magical feel.

Encourage the book theme with your guests by asking them to bring books as a gift for the guest of honor. You can ask them to bring their favorite childhood tale or to bring a book for a particular age so that the baby can enjoy the gifts long after they are born. For food, you can serve items that are inspired by the children�s stories. You may also want to serve a cake that is in the shape of book.

Not So Traditional Baby Showers
If the mom to be is not the traditional type, she may enjoy having a Hollywood glamour baby shower. If you really want to go all out for this, you can ask guests to come dressed for the Academy Awards. As guests start arriving, you can set up a paparazzi pit near your front door. Take pictures as the guests come towards the house. If you have an instant camera, use it! Your guests can take home a copy of their "paparazzi photo" as a party favor. For a great keepsake for the mom-to-be, get hold of a video camera and interview your guests as they arrive. Ask them if they think the baby will be a boy or a girl and have them say a special message for mom and baby. Afterwards, you can present mom with the videotape.

Be sure to serve some celebrity sounding hors d'oeuvres, like canapés and shrimp cocktails. For the cake, you might want to make one in the shape of a star or decorate a square cake to look like a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. And don't forget the (non-alcoholic) champagne! 

Retro Baby Shower

One fun theme that will allow the future mom to relive her childhood is a retro theme. Use the guest of honor's childhood as your frame to shape the baby shower. For example, if mom was a child in the early 1980s, then try to find relics from that era. See if you can dig up any old Cabbage Patch Dolls or Star Wars figurines to display around the room. You might want to adorn the walls with some cheap posters of popular children's television shows or movies of the time. Create a quiz about what was going on back then to test your guests' knowledge of their childhood.

'This Day in Baby History' Shower
If you're hosting the shower after the baby is born, then you can have a 'This Day in Baby History' shower. Do a bit of research about the baby's birth date and find famous people who also have the same birthday; any inventions that came to be on that day; and other significant events that happened on the baby's birth date. You can use this information to influence the design of your baby shower invitations.

As well, you can create quizzes to test your guests' knowledge during the shower. If you want to use this theme for a shower before the baby is born, it might be a good idea to research the month that the baby is expected, since few babies are actually born on their due date.

Showers for Not So New Parents
If the expectant mom already has a child, she might not want another shower with the same baby themes. Instead, consider throwing a freezer filler shower. Instead of bringing gifts, ask your guests to bring one homemade meal that can be kept in the freezer. New parents will love not having to worry about dinner for a few weeks.

If mom already has a lot of baby essentials, you might want to throw a baby shower that is geared towards celebrating mom's life after the pregnancy. Guests can give gift certificates for a spa treatment or video rentals; a nice bottle of wine; some coffee; homemade coupons for free baby-sitting services or anything else they think mom will appreciate.

For both of these types of showers you might not want to have a lot of traditional baby shower decorations. Instead, consider decorating the room with fresh flowers (they easily brighten a room without a lot of effort on your part) and scented candles to create a very calm and soothing setting. If you are throwing a couples shower, then both of these showers are good choices.

Tropical Baby Shower
Another great theme for a couples shower is a tropical baby shower, especially if you can host it outside. Like most garden parties, a tropical shower requires few baby shower supplies. Just buy some garden torches and colorful patio lights; maybe even some leis for your guests to wear. Put on some reggae and calypso music to really help your guests feel like they're in the tropics. When you're buying the invitations, look to see if you can find some with palm trees to help set the tone before the big day.

The food you serve can also continue the tropical theme. Put out a platter of strawberries, passion fruit, mango, and pineapple slices along with some punch. If the shower runs into lunch or dinnertime, then consider having a barbeque.

Overall, your baby shower should be fun and enjoyable. Since you're throwing the party for someone else, keep in mind what they like when you decide on a theme. Also, consider the number of people you invite; it is hard to have an intimate tea party shower if you've invited 50 guests. And finally, don't feel burdened by tradition. Sometimes the most enjoyable baby showers are those that don't follow every rule in the book.

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