Baby shower hostess gifts?

jasonsgirl92

I'm a FTM and I have no idea about baby shower etiquette apparently. I know you are supposed to give out thank you cards to everyone (I'd like some pointers on that too...I'm having it at church and already some of the ladies who've come up to me I don't know their names and also how do you remember who gave you what without looking weird writing it all down after you open it?) but I didn't know you were supposed to give gifts to those who are hosting it for you. 
What did you give to your hostess or what are some good ideas? Thanks! 

supercoolstephy

Wine and flowers. Haha. That’s what I did for my last shower. This time mine was a surprise that my husband put together so I’ll give him some lovin when I’m off bedrest and pelvic rest. Bahaha. 

sierra2020

At my showers, the friend who was hosting them took notes on my behalf to write down who gave me what for thank you cards. If the host is busy you can ask someone else you feel close to to keep a log for you as you are opening the gifts so you can focus on that and reflect back to the list later.

For the hostesses of my showers, I am getting them each a gift card to a local restaurant so that after I’m no longer pregnant we can all go there together for Brunch and endless mimosas!

gusgus14

Typically the host keeps track of who the presents came from as you open them. For my shower, I got my hostess a six pack of her favorite beer. I think it just depends on who is hosting but I've seen/heard people do a bottle of wine, a gift card, spa stuff, a nice scented candle, etc. 

KatieEl

My standard hostess gift is usually wine + something (a scarf, a candle, some cute coasters, flowers, whatever you think the hostess might like).  And +1 as all the ladies said above usually someone takes care of writing down what the gift was/who gave it to you for you and then you'll get the list at the end of the event.

jasonsgirl92

Well there's no drinkers at the church I go to lol
But I get it, nice girly stuff. Im glad they'll be taking down who got what because I really didn't know how many people knew me and I didn't know them 

supercoolstephy

With my work shower last time I did flowers and a Starbucks gift card. I used the short wide mason jars and bought these to make floral arrangements for them  

JuliaGoolia719

I did engraved wine glasses and a small bottle of wine (like the individual sized ones) for my 2 friend showers, for the family shower I got the hostesses hand made coffee cups and Starbucks gift cards bc neither drinks much.  

sbishop426

Bath and body works usually has good sales on the mini lotions/sanitizer packs/candles, etc so you could get 3-4 items a person and they can package them individually for you. Who doesn’t love bath stuff? 

jasonsgirl92

Oh this gave me a good idea! Travel mugs with Starbucks gift cards inside. I wanted to do something homemade but honestly I've been planning a lot of homemade stuff for Christmas so I'll probably be all worn out by the time December comes 

bkbaby18

I have to admit I hadn’t thought of hostess gifts!! My sisters are throwing my shower, I will now get them some wine, thanks ladies! And yes, every shower I’ve been to someone volunteers to write down the gifts and who they are from. If no one volunteers don’t be shy about asking! 

whitta1015

I took a notebook with me to my showers and my sister-in-law sat beside me as I opened gifts and wrote down who it was from, and what the gift was.

For my baby showers, I had a couple of hostesses for each, so I bought really nice fall scented candles from TJ Maxx, and tied a little printable around them that said "Thank you for being a light in Liza's life!"
For my bridal showers last year, I bought hand/tea towels from Target for like $4 each and had them monogrammed for like $6 each.

jasonsgirl92

whitta1218 the candles sound adorable! Also your tea towels reminded me that Target and Walgreens both have lots of stuff you can get customized with photos, so I might lurk their FB's and do that. 

jcbh2018

@jasonsgirl92

When my Grandma threw my baby shower for me. We set out envelopes for each person so they could write their address. It was definitely a time saver. And all I had to do is look at the note pad of who gave what and write it on the thank you card. 

kelk5

I went to a shop that had items made by locals. I got my hostesses hand made bath bombs, shower bombs, and soap. They loved it.

Someone at my party wrote down presents. I also had my niece and nephews open my presents for me. We had a co-ed/families welcome shower.

texasbaby714

Exciting times! Congrats on your shower...my family is very traditional and Southern etiquette is in my blood, so here are a few tips:
Given this is not my first child, my (very southern) family threw me a Sprinkle as opposed to a shower last weekend. It was smaller than a shower and there were more hostesses, so I kept the gifts under $20. 
I did gift bags of small holiday scented items from Yankee Candle Company. They were a huge hit.
For a more expensive gift church ladies will adore, order a personalized casserole dish from personalcreations.com. They will print their name or a Bible verse right on it! These are great for potlucks, they will be sure to get their dish back.
As far as the keeping track of gifts, you will need a designated writer.  Pick a friend or relative to sit near you and carefully write down who gave you what. Some baby books have a place for this. If yours does not, come prepared with a pen and a nice journal. 
Also, you should ask another friend to sit by you on the other side...this one is for trash/paper control. So, basically you open a gift, show it and announce who it is from for helper #1, then pass trash out of the way to helper #2. This keeps things moving smoothly.
Don't forget to ask your hostesses for a list of the addresses they used to send out invites to this shower. This will save you the trouble of hunting them down later.
Hope you have a great time!

jasonsgirl92

@texasbaby714 Oh that's an awesome gift idea! If I could hug you right now I would 

Reneebollin

I had a shower in FL (I'm from GA). I gave a nice jar of locally-made apple butter each to my hosts, two of which came from out of town. I thought it was seasonal, and something small so they could pack in a suitcase.