Virtual Baby Shower- Thoughts & Opinions

goosemoosecaboose

How do we feel about virtual baby showers- enjoy, indifferent, or think they're tacky?

Husband and I have big families that we currently live far away from- too far for more than holiday visits. We are very close to our families and I'm sad that they don't get to be involved at all in our first pregnancy. I know some of them will want to buy gifts, but it feels weird to not have a baby shower for family to celebrate at. Kind of like we're just being greedy by posting the registry with nothing in exchange? Maybe I'm overthinking this. MIL suggested a virtual baby shower as an option but I've never been to one and have mixed feelings. What are your thoughts?

embee515

I was wondering the same thing… I haven’t attended one before and it feels a bit odd. I have a pregnant friend whose mother is hosting one for her next month. I think I’ll decide after I attend that. 

knottie_knottie1

I don't think it's tacky, especially if all your far distance friends and family are interested in doing one. I think you'll just have to be strategic with games and things 

msd15

I don’t think it’s tacky at all. I’ve been to one. The mom of the mom to be hosted at her house so everyone got together, and the mom to be was on video chat for most of it. Everybody sent their gift ahead of time and she opened them on the video chat. I thought it was really nice because they got to see her opening and enjoying everything and some she doesn’t speak to regularly got to say hi

sarahsays25

I personally don't think it's tacky, it's actually nice that you're trying to do something for them to help celebrate with you. I'm states away from all of my family and my family was just going to send me stuff, fortunately I'm able to go down and see them next month but honestly everyone was okay with just sending stuff. Even family I haven't heard from in years is going to send stuff without me asking. Every family is different, but this just kind of reminds me of sending gifts to your nieces and nephews when they're kids and live far away🤷‍♀️ I think it's sweet that you're trying to make it work for everyone. No one is going to care that it's virtual because everyone loves a reason to celebrate! Not to mention now they get to do it without having to leave the comfort of their own home 👀😝

reasespeaces

I've attended/planned a few virtual showers and plan on having a virtual baby shower with family and hybrid with friends. (Also had a hybrid bridal shower and first wedding celebration was virtual, so my family and friends are used to it!) There are games that work in that setting and/or you can open gifts. Some people even offered tips on the gifts they sent since there were many new parents. We also had people say how they know mom-to-be. I would schedule it for only an hour (people get tired of Zoom quickly) but be willing to stay on if others still want to chat.

cutemomof2

Personally, I've never attended nor hosted one but I think it is a good way of showing that distance doesn't matter. They may not be present physically but at least you know they are there for you.

bookmaiden17_

I had three with my first pregnancy (May of 2020). It was the only option at the time with the start of the pandemic. My mom, mother in law, and work all hosted one for the different groups. My husband and enjoyed it more then We thought We would. The best part was family and friends from out of state could participate. I’d say go for it! Your families will enjoyed getting to celebrate with you. 

Some suggestions: remember time zones when planing the time, do one for each side of the family (keeps the zoom call smaller and people will know each other), keep it to an hour, invites were sent with evites with the zoom link and registry info, we opened gifts as we got them in the mail then showed some of the cool stuff to the different showers (would have taken too much time to open while people watched), everyone enjoyed sharing advices or thoughts for us as new parents. My work shower played a couple games since it was a smaller group then the family ones. We played a guess the cost with a slide show that some one shared on the screen and the other games was a scavenger hunt in your own house. The host of the game read a prompt like find something you should take the hospital or something you would need to quite a screaming baby then everyone had a 1 minute to go around their house to find something they thought fit. Then we came back on and shared. They were fun games but I would only do games if the group is smaller. 

janinegb

To be honest, with the rising cases of c19 it would just be best to do a FaceTime/zoom event