Baby Showers

Male friendly shower

I know baby showers are usually a woman things and the thought of going near any kind of shower makes guys cringe, but due to the fact there are way more guy friends than female friends, how can I make the baby shower something the guys will attend? 
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Re: Male friendly shower

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  • If you want to have a celebration with your guy friends, have a normal party.  Don't call it a shower at all, and don't make it about gifts.  

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  • I hosted a co-ed baby shower for my friend and husband. We had it at a pizza place, so we had pizza and pop and beers, along with cake. And we played a couple guy friendly games (place a paper plate on your head and try to draw a baby on it, and one where you molded play-do into a baby).

    A lot of guys told me when the party was winding down how much fun they had, they were expecting a traditonal baby shower.

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  • Men don't want to attend a baby shower. If you do invite men that don't have a significant other, chances are they won't bring a gift (if thats what you are after).  If you really want to celebrate with a bunch of guy friends, why not do it after the baby is born?
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  • I'm not looking for gifts. I just want to be able to include my fiances friends into everything because they're excited all really excited for him. I  know its easier for women to talk about pregnancy and what happens during everything, but guys don't discuss it the same way. Even if theres an idea that the guys do something, just so his friends can show their support for him going through all of this too.
  • We invited men but had a BBQ outside for them and a traditional shower inside for the women. I live far from my family and this made the shower a great chance for all of us to celebrate together. I think it's fine, and everyone seemed to have fun!
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  • Have booze and BBQ
    Agreed.  And nix any games that involve babies.
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  • I've been looking into co-ed showers, as it's what I would like to have.  I guess why I want it is because even though I'm the one carrying the baby, it's his child too.  Why can't he have a party? 

      Also the whole point in a co-ed shower is that it's non-traditional.  The games are for everyone, or there are no games at all.  One of the things I would like (though I guess it's really not up to me), is to have the gifts unwrapped.  You display them on a table, so people that want to see can see, but you don't spend an hour (or more) in a chair, uncomfortable, opening gift after gift.  As a guest to many bridal/baby showers, this is the part I hate the most.  I want to see what people received, but I hate sitting through it, and I HATE BINGO!  LOL  The part that that becomes difficult though, is who brought what, in terms of TY notes.  Hopefully I can figure something out for that.  

    I'm a very relaxed person, and I would just rather have a get together with all of our friends and family, and even though it's a "shower", in the end it's just a party.
  • We also have a large group of male friends. My husband and I have discussed before how (if at all) we want to include his friends in the shower when that time comes. Previous showers within the same group of friends were traditional (female only). The guys in our group took the opportunity of the shower to meet for lunch and drinks. 
    I have also been to a coed shower which was done very well. The guys were able to hang out in the backyard while MTB opened presents so that worked out nicely. There was only 1 game at this shower (gift BINGO) which made it more coed friendly, but the only downfall is it also left a lot of the shower with nothing to do.
    Ultimately I think it really depends on what type of shower your hostess is throwing, and how your friends are. Only you really know this.

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  • MrsDoff said:
    We also have a large group of male friends. My husband and I have discussed before how (if at all) we want to include his friends in the shower when that time comes. Previous showers within the same group of friends were traditional (female only). The guys in our group took the opportunity of the shower to meet for lunch and drinks. 
    I have also been to a coed shower which was done very well. The guys were able to hang out in the backyard while MTB opened presents so that worked out nicely. There was only 1 game at this shower (gift BINGO) which made it more coed friendly, but the only downfall is it also left a lot of the shower with nothing to do.
    Ultimately I think it really depends on what type of shower your hostess is throwing, and how your friends are. Only you really know this.

    Are there always guided activities/games at parties you go to?  I'm guessing no.  Why isn't eating, drinking and socializing enough to do without being given some activity or task to complete?  I mean, we are talking about adults, correct?



    I am not sure why you decided to pull that one sentence out of everything I said? The point of my post was to let the OP know my opinion on the subject, and my personal experience at the coed shower I attended. IMO, the shower could have used another game or two. Doesn't mean that EVERY party I have ever been to was like that or needed to be. 
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  • We had a coed shower for my sister but it was like 95% family so it was just more convenient to invite aunt and uncle rather than just aunt. We have a small family and don't get together very often so it was nice to have everyone there. But there weren't like tacky shower games. Honestly most of the men drank beer and watched football.

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  • Invite everyone over for beer, BBQ, and lawn games. Have a fun party/gathering with all your friends. Does it have to be "baby" themed or does it have to be a baby shower? Could you just have people come over, hang out, have a good time, and enjoy each other's company?  
  • It was decided to just invite the ladies but inform close male friends that if they wanted to stop by and hang out with my fiance that they were more than welcome to. Its going to be at the fire hall we are members at and we are close with the members who are the current live ins. They'd be at the hall anyways. If guys show up, they can all go watch a football game together and hang out while all the girly things are going on in the social hall.
  • I didn't ask for a shower. I don't like knowing that this whole ordeal is about people buying things for me for the future of my baby. I'd rather be showered by love and support from the people I care about most than by having people brings me supplies that I should be buying. Its not up to other to provide for my child. That responsibility is up to me and my fiance. The people on the invite list to my shower are people I love and can't imagine my little boy not having in his life. They are the people I turn to whenever I need a bit of advice, for a laugh, or to just spend my free time with because being around them is such an enjoyable time. I am not trying to offend anyone here. I get the point of a shower, I just don't like it. My experience with showers has been horrible. People get mad if you don't make a registry because then they don't know what to buy. Others judge you based of the items you put on your registry or criticize because of a brand or style and force their opinions on you. Some people get upset that others got the same item they had purchased. Its just insane!
  • Oh they do. It happened at two different showers.One was my little brothers girlfriends baby shower. She was 19 I do believe when she got pregnant. Her mom passed away a couple years ago and her dad wasn't very helpful  with the whole situation. She didnt know she had to make a registry. 3 different people made comments while she was opening her gifts. Someone even said after that had she made a registry they could have gotten her a more practical gift but they didnt know what she needed and that made her shopping harder. At the time of the baby shower, I wasn't making a whole lot of money due to hours being down at work and was between paychecks. I told apologized to her for not being able to get a gift for the shower but as she got closer to being due or even after he was born, if she needed anything to let me know. She was told I should have never been invited to the shower and that it was in horrible taste that the babys aunt couldn't even bring a gift. Grown adults can be worse than high school girls.

    I understand the point of a shower. I understand the gestures and everything. I am just the type of person who doesn't like getting gifts or being in the spotlight. I'm going to be the same way come next year when I'm going through my bridal shower and wedding. 
  • As long as there's good food there, the guys wont mind. Men arent as complicated or hard to impress as women sometimes are lol. There ended up being more men at mine & my spouses shower anyways because his workplace threw it for us. It was like a regular shower...balloons, cake, pot luck (big table filled with great food!). Really not different than any other shower I've attended.
  • As long as there's good food there, the guys wont mind. Men arent as complicated or hard to impress as women sometimes are lol. There ended up being more men at mine & my spouses shower anyways because his workplace threw it for us. It was like a regular shower...balloons, cake, pot luck (big table filled with great food!). Really not different than any other shower I've attended.
    Yeah, that's a pretty big generalization. My husband would not be thrilled about a baby shower even if they served beer and wings.

    Yeah, same here. It would have to be an EXTREMELY close friend or relative (read: his brother's baby) for my DH to want to go to a shower, and even being as close as that would be a stretch.
     
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  • What I said about the shower is being misunderstood. I know I don't need a shower or a wedding. I am the only girl so I won't take the shower away from my mom. This means alot to her. I am also not going to not have a wedding. Its something I've dreamed about for years. My biggest issue is I am not an attention seeker. I dont like having all the focus on me. 
  • leela02leela02 member
    edited September 2014
    The thing is if you invite people to something called a "shower" or any sort of "baby" party you are going to get gifts and attention. So if you're going to have one you're just beating yourself up by dwelling on your issues with it. It also seems rude to accept someone's offer to plan and host a shower for you and then complain about it being such an ordeal, but maybe that's just me. Anyway, I would just suck it up and have a good time, and make sure not to accidentally say anything about not wanting everyone's presents and attention in the first place. It can be done.

    My MIL threw a traditional shower for me so my DH and FIL organized a separate low-key outing for guys while my shower was going on. It was called "stay out of Mom's house for a few hours because she's having a ladies' party." They went out for lunch and bowling. No formal invitations were sent, just the normal emails/calls to get a count of who wants to go. After the shower they all came back to my in-laws' house to hang out. I think something like that is a good idea for entertaining guys without making them think they're going to a shower or supposed to lavish you with attention. You still get to hang out with them in a normal setting.

  • I am by no means trying to complain about my mom throwing me a shower. I'm just trying to find a way to be more comfortable about it which was why I wanted my fiance there. I do like that idea though. The guys can do something fun while all the women are being well, women and know that they are people we want to be apart of the babies life
  • I think it's absolutely fine to have a co-ed shower. They are much more "in" than they used to be. I've been to several in the past few years, and they're more fun for everyone in my humble opinion. You can have beer, bbq, pizza, games that are ACTUALLY fun, etc. A baby shower doesn't have to be prissy and frilly. Personally, I get uncomfortable in a room full of women who only talk about "girly" things. It drives me nuts. So I'm definitely going with a co-ed shower when the time comes and I love @vibound's idea of calling it a "baby celebration."
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