Throwing a Baby Shower

Invitations

Let friends and family know about the baby shower.

There are many options when it comes to invitations. No matter what you choose, the invitation should include the shower information, and reflect the mood you want to convey.

You can create an electronic invitation to email out to the guests. This might require extra work because it can be hard to get everyone's email addresses. But it will be cheaper because you won't have to pay for the printing or the postage of the invitations. People with a more traditional mindset might not appreciate an email invitation and could see it as a lack of personalization. People who are "green" will appreciate an email invitation because you will not be wasting paper.

If you are skilled enough to make an electronic invitation yourself, but don't want it to seem insincere, well, you might think about printing the invitation that you created and mail it out.

There are countless companies who create baby shower invitations. They will likely look better than an amateur's creation, but could cost more than your budget allows. If you search long enough, you will probably find a company that offers unique, cheap baby shower announcements. Some companies even offer printable baby shower invitations.

You can also make your own scrapbook baby shower invitations. No computer is required with this option. There are several ways to do create your own invitation. You can get some baby shower rubber stamps and nice paper to decorate the invitations. You can even use embellishments like glitter, brads, stickers, beads, circles, layers of paper, vellum, etc to add interest to the card. The recipients will appreciate the time spent on the card. If you decide to make your invitations, keep in mind that cards that are scrapbooked could take up to 45 minutes per card. A less time consuming option is to find someone to make them for you. The internet is filled with companies who make custom baby shower invitations.

You can also find generic baby shower invitations at most party supply stores. They are inexpensive, and you will just need to write in the when, where, who, and why information.

You should plan out the guest list with the guest of honor. Even if you think you have a good idea of whom she would want to invite, it is better to let her in on this than make a mistake. Having someone at the shower that the guest of honor doesn't want to be there could be very awkward for everyone.

Try to mail out invitations as soon as you can, usually two weeks is enough. You can have the RSVP contact be you, or the guest of honor. Just make sure that your contact phone number has an answering machine or voice mail so that you won't leave anyone out.