A special little being is coming into this world. Everyone is excited and you want to celebrate the expectant parents and help them get prepared. Time for a baby shower! Baby showers can be indoors or outdoors but with Spring around the corner we thought we would write about planning a backyard baby shower. Planning a backyard baby shower can be a little over whelming. It’s not exactly rocket science but it’s not a regular walk in the park either. Important thing to remember is that it should be fun for all. Here, we give a few tips.
- Tips to planning a backyard BBQ baby shower
- Decoration ideas
- Menu Ideas
- Games and Activity ideas
PLANNING
BALANCE: A lot of baby showers focus on the mother-to-be and ignore the father-to-be. We suggest that the planners of the baby shower should be a team comprising of at least one guy. The focus should be on both parents of the baby everyone is waiting for. Grand mothers, aunts and girlfriends are always invited. We suggest that you invite Daddy-to-be along with some of his friends and family. Remember this is a big deal for him too!
LOCATION: We love the idea of a backyard baby shower. It poses a fun and relaxed atmosphere. You can rent a tent if rain is expected or just let people have fun under the sun. This backyard atmosphere definitely calls for a BBQ theme which fits well in enhancing the relaxed atmosphere.
GUEST LIST AND INVITATIONS: Before sending out invitations make sure you check with the closest friends and family of the expectant parents, if they are available on the day you are planning to have the shower.
One cute idea is sending your backyard baby shower invitations with a recipe card asking your guests what their favorite barbecue recipe is . This way you would have a variety of grilling recipes handy and your guests feel special too, like they have contributed in some way.
Be sure to include all the fun games and activities that would be happening on the invitation.
FOOD IDEAS: Since this is a BBQ baby shower the menu is obvious. Food brings people together, why not have a candy/dessert table with candy jars, cup cakes and mini desserts. You can also have a beverage stand with non-alcoholic mixed drinks served in large juice dispensers. Some popular drinks are Cranberry Sparkler, Ginger Lime Fizz, Pomegranate soda…the mixes are endless. These food stations can be as colourful as you like and can actually be tailored to match the colour scheme.
DÉCOR IDEAS
Balloons, centrepieces, streamers, flowers, teddy bears are all used to decorate a baby shower.
Typically folks will use a themed décor that often suggests the baby’s gender : blue or pink. However a neat idea is to keep the colors of the theme very neutral, such as white, green, yellow and reveal the gender while cutting the cake. It will keep the guests guessing and be more fun.
GAMES AND ACTIVITIES
BABY STROLLER RACE: The baby stroller race is just like having a car race but with the baby stroller. Power walk while pushing the stroller. Winner gets a prize!
DIAPER RAFFLE: Chances are that some of your guests would come with diapers to the baby shower. With the diaper raffle, guests who come with diapers are rewarded with gifts. This must be advertised before hand so if someone wants to partake in this raffle they know to bring diapers .
BABY BOTTLE DRINKING RACE: In this game, participants get a baby bottle filled with any non-alcoholic drink. The first participant to finish the contents in their bottle becomes the winner and gets a prize.
FEED THE BABY: This game requires that guests are paired up in two’s; decide who the baby is and who the mom is; the “mom” would then be given a baby spoon to feed her “baby” with baby food. The first team to finish their food wins.
We hope you got some good tips here to get you started. The ideas are endless. Most importantly make this event relaxed and fun!
