Baby Showers
iristony
member
Non-traditional baby shower ideas needed- cocktail/mocktail theme party
iristony
member
in Baby Showers
Helping a friend plan a shower- the Mama to Be wants it very non-traditional- more of a last hurrah with all of her girlfriends. It is going to be a late afternoon gathering with appetizers, desserts and cocktails. Very modern and non-babyish. Also, she does not want to open presents. Do you think people will be insulted? Looking for other fun ideas. They are probably hiring a fortune teller to come to party. Any other fun ideas that are not too babyish?
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Re: Non-traditional baby shower ideas needed- cocktail/mocktail theme party
I know this isn't very original, but we had mimosas and bloody mary's at my girlfriend's brunch baby shower. It was great!
As much as I hate watching people open gifts, I do think the guests may be a tad insulted if she doesn't open them in front of everyone.
I think I would be a little insulted if I took the time to buy, wrap and bring a gift that she registered for and then the time wasn't even taken to open it in front of me. One of the things I enjoy most about gift giving in general is to see the person's face when they open the present. If she doesn't wan't to take the time to open the presents she can have a "display" shower, where the guests bring the gifts unwrapped and everything is displayed with a card stating who it is from for all to see. Then the guest of honor can see all of the gifts and acknowledge the gift giver at that time.
As for ideas, you can use brights instead of pastels to make it more modern. Geometric shapes are great mod decorations. If it's all women about the same age you can skip the games and activities and just make it a gab session. If there are older family members, (ie. grandma, aunts, etc.) you may want to throw in some of the traditional stuff.
This.
If she doesn't want to open gifts, then she should not register & it should be spread word-of-mouth that she is not expecting gifts. It's rude to have guests 'shower' her with gifts and not take the time to open them.
Otherwise it sounds like a lot of fun.
I hate opening gifts in front of people. But I am in the minority. I don't want to open gifts at my shower. I didn't want to open gifts at my bridal shower. I also hate sitting through watching other people open gifts. Ok, now here comes the really unpopular opinion:
I think it seems even less grateful and appreciative when gifts are just opened assembly line style with the goal being "I want to get through all of these gifts within 20-25 minutes!" I would rather have my gift not opened in front of people, taken home, opened up, have the card read, and have the mother really have time to take a look at it, etc. Write me a nice thank you note later. That's fine. Paper in one pile, card in another, gift over the head, gift down, yelling "thank you", and then gift carted off by someone else to a table seems even tackier than not opening them at the shower to me.
Flame away.
I don't think there's anything flammable about your feelings, but as you said you know you are in the minority.
I don't have strong feelings one way or the other, but I know that most people prefer to have their gift opened and aw'd, so I would not risk offending them because I'm not comfortable being the center of attention (my issue, not saying it's yours). The last thing I'd want is to hurt the feelings of my loved ones that took the time and money to shop for me and want to see my reaction when I open the gift. As long as you take a moment to actually look at the gift and appreciate it I don't see what is offensive or tacky about letting others help.
Lulling,
I completely agree with you. I think it's really boring to watch people open gifts, and I also think it's rude to breeze through them as quickly as possible and fake a smile when you hate what your mother-in-law bought you. Is the gift really for the mother-to-be, or just the gift-giver's way of showing off what they bought?
I think the mocktail party is a really cute idea. I know I would have a blast at something like that. And to whomever said "opening the gifts is what a shower is all about," I think that's completely wrong. A shower is about spending time with family and friends - something that might be hard to do once the baby arrives.
I wouldn't have a problem with any of the ideas...but don't call it a shower if she isn't going to open gifts and don't expect gifts from everyone invited if it is not called a shower. I'd say that 95% of the guests will want her to open gifts.
My niece had a shower that was almost like a wedding reception except there weren't any guys there. Oh...and she opened the gifts. Champagne, wines, plated luncheon, fru-fru desserts, chocolate fountain with fruit/cakes and no games. It was boring...probably because I wasn't even seated (yes - there were table numbers) with any of my relatives (just her DH's relatives and I didn't know them at all. A fortune teller would have been fun.