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!
Re: Coed BBQ Gift opening etiquette
Mama to 2 girls - H&I
~Benjamin Franklin
DS dx with celiac disease 5/28/10
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
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,