Baby Shower Checklist (2 Months, 15 Steps)
Every baby shower task in order, from two months out to the morning itself, with what to decide at each step when you are the one hosting.
A baby shower is usually organised by someone who is not pregnant, for someone who is — and that changes every deadline on the list. The party has to be finished before the third trimester turns travel and standing into work, which in practice means holding it between weeks 30 and 34 of pregnancy, or 32 to 36 weeks counted from the last period. This checklist puts the fifteen steps in the order the due date imposes.
- D-50
1.Date with parents
Aim for weeks 30 to 34 of pregnancy, which is 32 to 36 weeks counted from the last period: late enough that the bump is real, early enough that an early delivery does not cancel the party. Ask the parents-to-be for the one weekend they will not be travelling and whether they want a surprise or a date they can plan around — most want the second.
- D-45
2.Theme & colors
Settle the theme before anything is bought, because the cake, the decorations and the invitation all inherit it. Ask first whether the sex is known and whether the parents want it referenced at all; a neutral palette avoids repainting the whole party if they change their mind.
- D-40
3.Venue
A living room with a sofa the guest of honour can actually sit on beats a rented hall. Check step-free access, a bathroom on the same floor, and somewhere she can lie down for twenty minutes without leaving her own party.
- D-35
4.Guest list
Send the draft list to the mother-to-be for veto before you invite anyone. Twelve to twenty people is the range where she can talk to everyone; past thirty, the shower becomes a reception she has to host.
- D-30
5.Invitations
Go out about a month ahead and ask for an RSVP two weeks before the date. Put the registry link, the start and end time, and the parking or transit detail on the invitation — every question you leave out comes back to you as a message.
- D-25
6.Baby registry
The registry belongs to the parents; your job is to chase them for the link and check that the cheap items are not all gone. Keep a spread of price points, and if guests are pooling for a pram or a car seat, name one person to collect.
- D-14
7.Themed cake
Order two weeks out — custom cakes need that lead time, and supermarket bakeries need three days. Confirm no raw egg, no unpasteurised cheese and no alcohol in the filling, and ask about nut content for the guests, not just for her.
- D-14
8.Decorations
Buy everything in one order rather than three, and check the ceiling height before committing to balloon arches. Helium deflates within about twelve hours, so time the inflation for the morning, not the night before.
- D-10
9.Baby Shower games
Pick three, not seven, and keep each under ten minutes. Avoid anything that measures the bump or comments on her body; the ones that work best have guests write advice or guess dates, and can be played sitting down.
- D-10
10.Guestbook
Set out a book with a prompt — a wish, a piece of advice, a prediction — so the parents have something to reread once the baby is here rather than a list of names. Leave several pens; one pen means a queue.
- D-7
11.Game prizes
Small and useful beats novelty: candles, chocolate, a plant. Buy one or two spares for ties, and keep them out of the gift area so nobody mistakes a prize for a present for the baby.
- D-3
12.Drinks & snacks
At least half the drinks must be non-alcoholic and worth drinking — sparkling juice, not just water. Skip the soft cheese, cured meat and raw fish entirely rather than labelling them, and plan on food that can be eaten one-handed.
- D-1
13.Gift area
Choose the table now and think about how the gifts get home: someone has to load a car with a pram box and a bag of clothes. Have a pen and sticky notes so each gift is labelled with its giver as it is opened.
- D-0
14.Set up decor
Allow two hours on the day and recruit one other person — hanging a garland alone takes twice as long. Set the guest of honour's chair with a clear path to it and a small table for her drink.
- D-0
15.Camera
Charge it the night before and hand it to a named guest, not to yourself: the host never gets the photos. Ask for the gift-opening and one group shot before people start leaving.
How to adapt this checklist
The fifteen steps hold for most showers, but three things move them.
The due date. Everything counts back from the birth, not from a date you chose. If the pregnancy is a twin one or has been flagged as high-risk, pull the whole calendar four to six weeks earlier — twins arrive around week 36 on average — which compresses steps 1 to 6 into a fortnight.
Whether the parents want to be involved. A surprise shower means steps 4 and 6 have to be run through a partner or a sibling, and the registry may not exist yet. A planned shower is easier and, for most late pregnancies, kinder: she can pick the date around her own energy.
Guest count. Under fifteen people, steps 3, 8 and 13 barely exist — a home, a cake and a corner of the table. Above thirty, the venue stops being optional and step 12 turns into catering rather than shopping.
The steps people underestimate
Step 1, the date. It is not a scheduling question, it is a medical one. Booked too late, the shower competes with the hospital bag; too early, and half the registry has not been decided yet.
Step 4, the guest list. Inviting a colleague or a relative she would not have chosen is the one mistake she cannot fix on the day. Show her the list.
Step 12, drinks and snacks. A table where the guest of honour can eat almost nothing is a small humiliation at her own party. Build the menu around what she can have, then add the rest.
This is the same 15-step plan DraftLine generates, with real dates counted back from the shower.
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