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I love to throw baby showers for my friends. It’s a way to channel my excitement about a new baby coming into the world and honor my soon-to-be mama friends. However, I’m no Martha Stewart. Decor and detail are not my strong suit. I’m not a good organizer. I hate party games. I don’t have a large house to host parties and I’m not a stellar chef. But, I can throw a super simple shower in my small house with a few tried and true recipes and a lot of love for my friends. Down the road, nobody’s going to remember what appetizers were the pinterest fad that year. But your friend will remember being honored and loved and a few hours spent with people that care about her and are celebrating her entrance into motherhood.
I also love throwing showers because I don’t have much of a budget for gifts right now. I simply can’t afford the baby gifts I would love to gift my friends with but I can put time and effort into planning, organizing, cooking, cleaning, etc.
I recently had the honor of throwing a dear friend a baby shower. It was a Saturday morning shower so I served brunchy foods like quiche, fruit, and cheese straws. If you don’t know what cheese straws are, that’s ok. You’re just probably not from the deep south. They are amazing melt-in-your mouth buttery/cheesy crackerish delights. And I made a chocolate cake and the grandmother-to-be made a scrumptious chocolate chip pecan pie. Mmmm. For beverages we had coffee, iced tea, juice, and water.
The mama-to-be is a fellow bibliophile so I made a cake stand out of pretty hardback children’s books. My mom’s gift was the amazing set of natural wooden toys we used as a centerpiece.
Here’s my super simple shower throwing tips:
Make tried and true recipes. Now isn’t the time to scour Pinterest for the most impressive, trendiest appetizer ever. Do you make really good Spinach Dip? Have a dessert recipe that’s a family favorite? Now’s the time to whip out that favorite recipe. You won’t be stressed out about whether it will turn out or not and making it will be second nature.
Making guests feel at home is more important than making them impressed.
Accept help if it’s offered. I was actually feeling a little under the weather the weekend of this shower and my husband was out of town (ya know, running a 35 mile race in the mountains. what?!). Whenever anyone offered to bring food or flowers, etc. I said ,’yes!’ And I was so glad I did.
Just keep it simple and don’t spend too much time on Pinterest looking at perfect shower set ups. I know Pinterest is inspiring to some. For me, it’s usually just a time-waster and makes me feel overwhelmed. Keep it simple and remember the goal: celebrating new life, enjoying fellowship, eating snacks, and ooing and aahing over precious baby things.
What are your tried and true shower-throwing tips?
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