If you do have a garden party baby shower, you may want to rent a tent or two just in case it rains.
Depending on the number of guests you expect, set up either one or two long tables or several four person tables to provide seating for all of your guests. A garden party baby shower is generally a more elegant affair than the usual baby shower.
Use real table cloths if possible and forego paper and plastic tableware. Instead opt for real tea cups and saucers, plates and utensils. Even if they don’t match your guests will still feel special. Serve finger sandwiches, fresh fruit and of course the cake. The cake should also be elegant with maybe a rolled fondant icing and decorated with delicate sugar flowers, and miniature baby charms.
Rarely do baby showers mention the way guests should dress. However for an elegant shower, you may want to invite your guests to wear their Sunday best.
Have a separate table or stand of some sort for the presents and have a comfortable chair available for the expectant mom to sit in while she opens the gifts.
Have someone write down each gift and the giver because often the cards get separated from the gifts and the new parents don’t know who to thank for what. At this type of shower games are rarely played but that is up to you.
There is an old tradition that the giver of the seventh present to be opened will be the next person to get pregnant. You can give that person a prize, something simple like pretty bath soaps or a scented candle.
There is little need to decorate at a garden party baby shower since mother nature has already taken care of that with your lovely garden. You may want to decorate the chair where mom-to-be will sit.
A small bowl of flowers or floating candles on each table will enhance the atmosphere of elegance that you have worked so hard to create. You guests will be impressed and this shower will be remembered for a very long time by all who attend, especially the expectant mother. I attended a garden party baby shower where each guest was given a small flowering plant in a china baby bootie or ceramic baby block vase. Both were offered and passed out randomly.
Everyone was thrilled it was such a unique favor that the guests could possibly have for many years. Even if the plant died we still have the beautiful vases to remember the great baby shower.
Your invitations for this kind of shower need to be a bit more formal than the stork or baby carriage invitations we normally see. You might want to set the tone of the shower by borrowing the formal wedding invitation phrase:
The pleasure of your company is requested
At a garden party baby shower
For Jane Doe
Day-date-time
At the home of your name
Street address, city, county
RSVP to your name, phone number
Come dressed for the occasion
(Sunday best)
Another elegant baby shower theme could be an old fashioned tea party. Again you will need to provide enough table space for all of your guests. You will also want to use real tea cups and teapots. Serve cookies, small pastries, and cakes. Decorations should be simple but memorable, such as floral arrangements for centerpieces or a simple rose containing one bloom and some greenery with a pink or blue bow attached placed on each table. You will need more than one teapot because of the variety of teas you want to serve. Maybe you have teapots and pastries, etc. on one table so that guests can choose the tea and goodies they’d like to try. You won’t have to have or enlist friends to serve.
Real china, exotic teas actually brewed in teapots, cookies petit fours, pastries etc., cloth table cloths and napkins, what more would you need to cal this an elegant baby shower?
Unless you bake and decorate cakes on a professional level I would have the baby shower cake done by a local bakery known for its beautiful cakes. A shower like this will make even the guests feel special and the mom-to-be will feel like a queen.
How often nowadays do we get the opportunity to dress up and sip tea or coffee from real china with our friends and family. You should probably have some coffee available for guests that just don’t drink tea.
The table where the gifts are stacked and the mom’s chair can be decorated with the party store baby shower decorations, streamers and balloons. Whether you have a garden party shower or an indoor tea party baby shower, everyone will enjoy the sophistication and elegance that we don’t often experience in our hurried, always busy society.
This type of shower may seem like a lot of work, but if you get a couple of other people to help you set up, pay for and clean up afterwards, it could be fun for you too.
Borrow teapots and cups from friends and family. Check with the older members of your friends to see if they have teapots and or teacups that you can borrow for your party. Relax and enjoy your garden or tea party shower. We hope you find these elegant baby shower ideas helpful.
