The right baby shower etiquette
can help your event run smoothly

In a sense, the right baby shower etiquette is what this whole site is about! My objective is to help you put on a wonderful event no one will forget for a long time to come. To achieve that, these pages are filled with various facets of planning, organizing and conducting showers. Of course, baby shower etiquette is also about what is supposed to happen when, what things are most appropriate at each stage, etc. So let's look at that.

As with other aspects of these events, there's no cast-in-concrete, unbendable baby shower etiquette list or rules. The whole point of any of these party ideas is to create the right spirit, have fun and treat the mom-to-be to tons of love, pampering and attention. That means, evolve your own methods and way of doing things to suit the people involved.

Here's a popularly followed order of doing things at the shower, a sort of generalized baby shower etiquette about the sequence of events.

• Have a core group of a few close friends arrive early for the shower. This will help to create a bit of noise and action so that if many of the other guests don't know each other, it will not feel too awkward. This can often by a nice touch - and makes for great baby shower etiquette.
• Greet everyone as they arrive. Serve appetizers.
• Introduce people to each other, if they don't know many folks. Or you can have everyone introduce themselves to the group, but many people find this quite awkward.
• If you plan to have games, then go ahead and play them now. Sometimes just one single game will be enough. Normally, two to four games are played. This is a real ice-breaker, plus everyone has lots of fun!
• Directly after the games, let everyone get hold of the food. This provides a great way to relax after the fun and high spirits.
• The mom-to-be is sure to have received lots of gifts. Now's the time for her to start opening them. And for everyone else to watch her delight at each of the wonderful presents she's received!
• There's usually lots of conversation going at this point. Let the guests mingle with each other as well as the mom-to-be and enjoy themselves.
• A few of the guests will start leaving, either individually or in small groups. Give them an opportunity to say goodbye to the mother-to-be. As the hostess, thank them for their time and contribution.
• Make sure the thank you cards go out a day or two later - handwritten ones (preferably), individually thanking the guests for their presence and gifts.

This is the generally followed sequence of events - a sort of default baby shower etiquette. Use it as a starting point for your own party ideas.

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