Baby Showers

Coed BBQ Gift opening etiquette

My mother in law is hosting a shower for my husband and I. At her suggestion and our agreement, it's going to be a casual, coed barbecue. Most of our friends are couples and mutual friends, and none of my family lives in the area, so this is what makes sense. 

I also know that baby showers are gift-giving occasions, and it's nice to acknowledge the gifts by opening them so people can see them. I've never actually been to a shower before, so I'm not sure how gift-opening would/should work at the type of event we're having. 

Has anyone done a similar style shower, and if so, how do you recommend doing the gifts? I've heard some people say the men don't want to sit around watching gifts be opened, but others say it's rude to not open gifts at all. I think because of the casual style it might end up more "open-house" with people coming and going rather than all arriving at a set time, so I don't know if we should plan a time to open gifts or just go with the flow.

I'll probably defer to my mother-in-law if she has an idea of how she'd like to do it, but I was just wondering what other people have done for this sort of thing.

Thanks! 

#1 7/2013
#2 3/2015
#3 3/2017
#4 10/2019

Re: Coed BBQ Gift opening etiquette

  • I've only been to one coed shower. They opened the gifts the same as at a traditional shower. Guys didn't seem to mind since everyone was chit chatting throughout. I'm not sure if this helps at all.
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  • If men don't want to watch gifts being opened, then they shouldn't attend a baby shower.
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  • It's a shower. People expect gifts to be opened. I don't understand why MEN being invited means that the whole shower needs to be changed for them. If they don't want to watch the gift opening, then they don't have to.
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  • I'm glad you asked this- I had the same question! I figure the hostess will probably have me open the gifts inside in the a/c (mine is in July) and people can stay outside or come in to watch. At other coed showers I went to, this was pretty much how it w
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  • Since it is being billed as a shower then yes...it is expected to open gifts.

    I've been to 4 co-ed showers and the gift were always opened and it would have been very rude not to.  Granted the guys did not watch the gift opening (for the m

  • My shower was a co-ed backyard event and my hostess had us open our gifts after everyone was done eating. The men were fine.
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  • imageEstwd2:
    Usually the hostess generally has an order of events, like apps, then main course, then gifts and dessert. Something l
  • imageEastCoastBride:
    It's a shower. People expect gifts to be opened. I don't understand why MEN being invited means that the whole
  • We did exactly this.  My sister and her best friend threw DH and me a Baby-Q. It was coed because most of our friends were couples and both families live out of state. It was pretty fun!  We had an outdoor picnic, came in an opened presents,

  • imageEastCoastBride:
    It's a shower. People expect gifts to be opened. I don't understand why MEN being invited means that the whole
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  • I had a co-ed bbq, I was on the porch opening stuff later after we had all eaten. It was during football season so guys were able to sit in the house and watch a game or we also had horseshoes and cornhole set up in the back yard. There was other stuff to
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