How to throw a surprise baby shower

If you know someone who is expecting a baby, hosting a shower for her is a fun way to celebrate the upcoming arrival as well as provide her with some of the supplies she and her partner will need to care for the baby. Throwing the shower as a surprise can be especially fun as you work hard to prepare the shower without letting her in on the secret.

Step 1 Make Sure the Expectant Mother Would Welcome a Surprise Baby Shower

You first need to ensure that your friend, family member, or co-worker would welcome this type of surprise before moving forward with your planning. Asking the spouse and closest friends of the mother-to-be if she would enjoy a surprise shower is the best way to go about it. You may want to ask these people in person as opposed to email, text, or phone call as it’s less likely the guest of honor would accidentally discover your plans.

Another take on the surprise baby shower is to inform the mom-to-be a few hours before it takes place. That we she can prepare to be around many people for the afternoon and feel like she has time to dress appropriately.

Choose a Date and Make Sure the Guest of Honor is Available at That Time

There’s no rule about whether to have the shower before or after the birth of the baby. However, throwing the shower one to two months in advance ensures that the parents have most of the equipment they need when welcoming the baby home from the hospital. Be sure that you have some flexibility with dates in case one of them doesn’t work out for the guest of honor. You will need to come up with a date and location as well.

The challenging part can be making sure the honoree is available on the date and time you choose and would have no difficulty getting to the location of the baby shower. You will probably need to enlist her spouse or close family member to let you know her schedule and whether the day and time you want to throw the shower will work. You can even make faux plans with your friend, family member, or co-worker on the date and time of the shower so you know for yourself that she will be available.

Considerations When Choosing a Venue for the Baby Shower

You will probably need at least an hour to set up the decorations, food, drinks, and other shower essentials. With this in mind, make sure you select a location that’s easily accessible and where the guest of honor won’t be there to see what you’re doing. Unless you can ensure that she will be away from her own home for at least a few hours, that probably isn’t the best location for the baby shower. A restaurant, another friend’s home, a conference room at work, or an outdoor area with weather protection readily available would make better alternatives.

Encourage Your Guest of Honor to Create a Gift Registry

If the honoree has already created a baby registry, you can include a link letting guests know where to find it or print it out and include it with the invitations. You may want to gently encourage her to do so if she hasn’t, especially if she’s getting near the end of her pregnancy. Remind her that people want to share in the joy of the new baby by presenting a gift but also want to give her something she can truly use. If she still prefers not to create a gift registry, enlist her partner’s help to solicit several gift suggestions and share those with shower attendees.

Don’t Forget to Plan How to Get the Mother-to-Be to the Shower

The benefit of making plans with the guest of honor on the day of the shower is that you can just pick her up and drive to the location. You may need to spill the beans when she sees that you’re obviously driving somewhere other than where she originally thought you were going. Otherwise, you will need to enlist someone else’s help to get her there and let them know to keep the shower under wraps for as long as possible.

Create the Invitation List and Make Sure Guests Know It’s a Surprise

When creating a list of who to invite, consider it from the guest of honor’s viewpoint and include those you know she would want to be there had she planned the shower herself. You may need to check with the father-to-be to get a better idea of who to invite or someone else who knows her quite well.

The invitations should make it obvious that the shower is a surprise. You may want to state that a few times using words, pictures, or a combination of both. The RSVPs should come back to you and not the guest of honor so it doesn’t spoil the surprise. You will want to send out invitations by postal mail approximately four to six weeks before the big event.

Choose a Theme and Plan Your Food and Games

Once you have gotten to this point, planning for the surprise baby shower will be just like planning for any other shower. You should choose a theme, purchase decorations around the theme, decide if you want to include games, and plan your menu for the shower. Now all you need to do is wait for the RSVPs to come in and have fun honoring the mother-to-be at her surprise baby shower.