Tell me about your...

Normanmc · January 2014

Baby showers.

Okay so once again I'll be a FTM and a lot of my friends and family don't have kids yet so I haven't been to that many baby showers. I was wondering what's the norm these days? Having them at someone's house or a hall. My mother and future MIL are throwing a party for me and I feel like we're a bunch of rookies lol. We're thinking between both familes and friends 50/60 people. We're having a hard time deciding on a hall or having it at my mothers home(lots of room) lol I'm sorry I'm rambling I would just like to hear from the STM about their baby showers or future FTM plans

thanks guys

Nmooney1 · January 2014

If your host(s) want to pay to have it somewhere....let them. If someone wants to offer their home and they have enough room....let them.
I suggest to a lot of the posters who keep asking shower questions - just let your host do it

Sit back and let them do the work and worry. All you have to do is supply a guest list.
In the end, all of the details truly don't matter

keeumm · January 2014

We're having a "Come and Go" shower. DH and I work at the same school, and the person throwing us the shower is also our coworker. We have both worked at the school for 9+ years (and have been together nearly 8 of those years), so we feel like they are our family. Our shower space can't accommodate everyone at once, though, so we thought it would be better for it to be a casual, drop-in event. There are also 4 other people at our school who are expecting in May/June, so our colleagues could be a bit "showered" out. It will be co-ed, since everyone is friends with both DH and me, and DH will be there. There will be some ongoing games/activities that people can do if they want, but they won't be obligated. We'll have appetizers and drinks.

We are registered at Target and BRU. That's the only thing we're stuck on- how to open gifts. Any ideas?

MissLadyTay · January 2014

When I was pregnant with my first I had two showers so they would be smaller. Both were at the hostess' house. I think both were at 11 AM? They were brunch foods, croissants, chicken salad, fruit platter, etc. Lots of mimosas flowing for the non-pregnant attendees.

No games or anything like that. At one shower it was family friends and my mom's friends, so an older crowd. The ladies all drank loads of mimosas and shared their birth stories from the 1970s and 1980s. It was hilarious and way more fun than I expected. The other shower was a younger crowd and less "baby focused" if that makes sense, since none of my friends had kids.

I have also hosted a baby shower. When I hosted it was from out of town so I had it at a restaurant. More expensive to host but easy set up and clean up and I didn't have to plan much beyond ordering flowers and a banner and picking a menu.

ETA: I had nothing to do with either shower beyond showing up and providing a guest list. And when I hosted for my friend, same. She gave me names and that was the extent of her involvement.

dragossoul84 · January 2014

When I was pregnant for DS1 we owned a huge house and my host threw the party in our pool house. I was high risk so it was nice I didnt really have to travel to far from my bed to the backyard and back again when done. I was so glad to not have to go to a hall. I think its whatever you and your host and guests would be comfortable with.

ErikaLynn75 · January 2014

I think the decision between home or hall is mostly a financial difference. And so it should really be left to the hostesses to decide.

Mine will be at lunch time at my parents home on a Saturday. We'll probably do sandwiches and fruit/veggie trays. Only about 20-30 people.

theoryofwhat · January 2014

My best friend is throwing mine. I didn't want to do all the shower games and wanted it to be low-key so it's a couple's BBQ and there will be about 25-30 people there. I know there's going to be a beer cake as well as a diaper cake, but that's all I've got as far as details (besides it being March 3rd). I trust my friend completely with the details- she's just asked that I show up wearing comfy clothes. Haha, she's the best.

CamrynnsMommy · January 2014

My first was thrown by my mother and grandmother at my mothers home, only family was invited, we had small appetizers and drinks. My second (sprinkle) was a brunch thrown by my BFF at my home since my friend lives in a different city.

I agree with PPs, leave it up to them, since they'll be the ones paying. If I had a choice though, I'd do it at a house to avoid unnecessary cost to anyone.

Normanmc · January 2014

I love the co-ed party idea. My fiancés best friend is throwing him a "beer and diaper" party. I didn't even know it was a thing but I think it's neat idea for the guys. I wish I could just sit back and relax and let my mother and fMIL figure it out but it's kinda hard to explain. I'm kind of the middle man? Which sucks right now cus the more I read about everyone else makes me wish I was less involved. But I'm sure once the shower approaches I will be less involved.

ajsweeton · January 2014

My mom and sister are working with my SIL and mil to plan my shower. My SIL is the primary planner, there was some drama in the beginning, but I quickly pulled myself out of the middle. I have enough to stress about without worrying about how we're going to manage a onsie, bib, hair band and blocks decorating station. I told them the only thing I wanted to worry about other than the guest list was what to wear and what kind of cake I'd be eating. You know the important stuff! I'd try to pull yourself out of the middle as much as possible.

Ladiebug30 · January 2014

My baby shower was thrown by my sister and best friend. They decided to have it in a hotel conference room and decorated with a little monster theme. It was really cute. Mine was co-ed in as much as DH was there and his cousin ... none of the other guys showed up. So ... there were about 50 women and 2 guys. They were pretty cool with it though because the whole thing was pretty informal. Just food, cake, a few "games" that were pretty low key, visiting and presents. Easy peasy.

yvanehtnioj · January 2014

My MIL and good friend are co-hosting. It's going to be in a private dining room at a pub (!)

Bootsie327 · January 2014

I'm having two; one with my mom, sisters, family friends, and my close girlfriends (40ish people invited, at my sister's home), and my MIL is throwing me a separate one so her friends don't have to travel an hour (20-25 people at a hall). I have been to all kinds of showers...big, small, at a hall, in a home, and I think there's no wrong way to do it in terms if size and location. It's up to the host and guest of honor as to how big, fancy, etc you want to make it!

talkthewholetime · January 2014

keeumm said:
We're having a "Come and Go" shower. DH and I work at the same school, and the person throwing us the shower is also our coworker. We have both worked at the school for 9+ years (and have been together nearly 8 of those years), so we feel like they are our family. Our shower space can't accommodate everyone at once, though, so we thought it would be better for it to be a casual, drop-in event. There are also 4 other people at our school who are expecting in May/June, so our colleagues could be a bit "showered" out. It will be co-ed, since everyone is friends with both DH and me, and DH will be there. There will be some ongoing games/activities that people can do if they want, but they won't be obligated. We'll have appetizers and drinks.

We are registered at Target and BRU. That's the only thing we're stuck on- how to open gifts. Any ideas?

My husbands family is obsessed with "display showers" - you bring your gifts unwrapped with just a bow or a little tag so everyone can peep the goods without you having to open them all.

Maybe that might work in this situation?

alphalyrae · January 2014

I know nothing about it. I was asked for a list of DH's family and our friends. I provided a list of thirty people and bolded DH's family members and two really close friends, so that if my aunt and grandma needed to make any cuts for budget (my family is huge and wasn't included on the list), they could do so. It's sometime between now and the end of March. They won't even tell me the date.

I missed the last few family baby showers because I was in college and my memory of any I went to before that is super vague.

keeumm · January 2014

talkthewholetime said:

We're having a "Come and Go" shower. DH and I work at the same school, and the person throwing us the shower is also our coworker. We have both worked at the school for 9+ years (and have been together nearly 8 of those years), so we feel like they are our family. Our shower space can't accommodate everyone at once, though, so we thought it would be better for it to be a casual, drop-in event. There are also 4 other people at our school who are expecting in May/June, so our colleagues could be a bit "showered" out. It will be co-ed, since everyone is friends with both DH and me, and DH will be there. There will be some ongoing games/activities that people can do if they want, but they won't be obligated. We'll have appetizers and drinks.

We are registered at Target and BRU. That's the only thing we're stuck on- how to open gifts. Any ideas?
My husbands family is obsessed with "display showers" - you bring your gifts unwrapped with just a bow or a little tag so everyone can peep the goods without you having to open them all. Maybe that might work in this situation?

I like this idea. How do you word it on an invite?

A friend of mine suggested that I could just stay seated the whole time and let people bring me gifts, which I open as they arrive. While I love being seated the whole time, I think this may be a bit much.

Lild09 · January 2014

MIL and good friend are putting it together and holding it in a private room at a local restaurant. They can bring decor and small centrepieces for the tables so they are doing that

deanna1313 · January 2014

My friends and family have a mix between restaurants, houses and restaurants. I really feel like there are good points to each one and it also depends on what the people hosting can afford. For the amount of people you are having I would say a hall because a lot of restaurants can't accommodate that many people and it would get pricey!

Every shower is different from snacks to being catered and etc. it's all about what you want. My Mom and Aunt are doing decorations, a full meal, and not many games, but more things like guess the date baby will arrive and stuff like that. We are having a candy Buffet as favors:)

BeesKnees181 · January 2014

FTM and my mother is throwing me a shower. We are having it at my home because she lives out of state. We have invited 40 ish people, but expect about 20-25 (mostly local, some travelling and staying at a nearby hotel). We are offerring a late lunch fare...hot sandwiches, salad/sides, drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), appetizers, and dessert (my best friend does amazing cakes, so she has offerred to bake and decorate the cake). Favors are bath bombs (found an online deal for $1.50/bomb) and homemade sugar cookies. (I am in charge of favors. Though usually it is the hostess/host of the party that takes care of that for you.) We also have family from out of state who will be skyping in for the gift opening. Because so many people live out of state, we have a garage full of gifts now. Hubby and I are trying to at least build one of everything (we are expecting twins) so that guests can see. We are quickly running out of room and time, though. I am so grateful for all the help; our family has bought all of the large items from our registry. My mother said she would keep track of gifts and who bought what at the shower - this helps when it comes time to write your thank you's.

ns1 · January 2014

We don't see family a lot since we live a ways away, so I hated the thought of having only women when DH would want to see everyone and we'd want to see more family. My parents did a cookout at their house for all family and friends. It.was more of just a get together. I'm not a cutesy baby games kind of person, so just that was great!

lauralou3x3 · January 2014

I'm a FTM. I recently moved out of state. My best friend wants to throw one for me in my home state, that will be at my brothers house. And then My MIL is throwing one for me where I currently live. It's actually going to be at my house because of distant issues for some people. We decided not to have them at a restaurant because they wanted to be able to do whatever food they wanted. And they didn't want to pay to rent something. So that's why we are doing it this way.

Jillzy86 · January 2014

My Cousin is hosting my shower. The guest list is 80+ people. My Dad's side of the family is 62 that's just including aunts and first( girl) cousins. It's going to be very big and my cousin is amazing for taking this on. We both live out of state from our family so she is absolutely wonderful for throwing this crazy big shower. She calls about little things like invites and colors but I just tell her I love everything because I feel so blessed that she is taking this on.
My MIL is hosting another shower for my DH's side in town where we live. It will be around 10-15 people.
I registered at amazon, babies r us, and Jillian's drawers for cloth diapers.
My total amount that I've registered for is 100 things. I keep getting phone calls from my cousin and SIL's that I need to put more things on my registry. I can't image needing anything else. I just figure that my family will go in on some of my big ticket items. I've also been blessed by hand me downs from family members so we have a lot of clothes, toys, and essentials.

NorthernGal248 · January 2014

keeumm said:

We're having a "Come and Go" shower. DH and I work at the same school, and the person throwing us the shower is also our coworker. We have both worked at the school for 9+ years (and have been together nearly 8 of those years), so we feel like they are our family. Our shower space can't accommodate everyone at once, though, so we thought it would be better for it to be a casual, drop-in event. There are also 4 other people at our school who are expecting in May/June, so our colleagues could be a bit "showered" out. It will be co-ed, since everyone is friends with both DH and me, and DH will be there. There will be some ongoing games/activities that people can do if they want, but they won't be obligated. We'll have appetizers and drinks.

We are registered at Target and BRU. That's the only thing we're stuck on- how to open gifts. Any ideas?

Open them as they come.. I love to see the look on people's faces when they open something I got for them. If there are some guests that you miss just PLEASE make sure to send thank you notes

RedInLove · January 2014

My sisters are hosting a shower for me, with involvement from my Mom and MIL. I don't know any other details about it yet.

A friend of mine is having a shower hosted for her, and they are having it at an Elks lodge. My BFF has used a church function room. My Mom used a small hotel conference room for my sister's shower years ago.

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