How To Plan a Baby Shower
Summary: Planning and presenting the perfect baby shower is actually quite easy, with a little bit of organization and a touch of creativity.  Anyone can host the baby shower, except the mother-to-be. The shower is for her, she should not have hands-on in the planning of the shower.

Decide when and where you'd like to have the baby shower. It is recommended that you begin brainstorming at least eight weeks in advance.  Eight weeks seems like a long time but that time passes quickly, and it's much better to be safe than sorry.  Determine who is throwing the shower, what date you're having it and where it will be held, including the time of day that the shower will take place and the approximate length of time the party will last - Avoid using a time frame like "2pm through ????".   

Ideally the baby shower should be held approximately six weeks before the mother's due date, at her 7-1/2 month mark.  When discussing the time, keep in mind that mid-day is usually the best time for people on the weekends but early evening is best during the weekdays.  You do not want to schedule the shower for a time that will interfere with the guests dinner hour, their children's homework, bedtime, etc.  Discuss your scheduling ideas with the parents-to-be, and, let them decide the best day and time for the shower.  They are the guests of honor; the party needs to work around their scheduling.  

Select your theme, determine your budget and organize your guest list.  Your theme and budget will help to guide you while you shop for party favors, decorations and games.  And your guest list will let you know how many party favors and items that you'll need.  The mother-to-be is a good source for obtaining invitees and the contact information for the same, and she might have email addresses for each person too, which will allow you to send the invitations via email rather than US Mail - saving some money.  

Ask the mother-to-be to register at two or three of the local stores, and put items that she needs or wants on her registry wish list. Most stores with gift registries will provide printed cards with the registry wish list information printed on them.  Get these from the mother-to-be and include them with the invitations that you send out, or include the information in the email that you create.  This way the mother-to-be will most likely receive gifts that she hand picked, thus removing the gift guessing game from the equation.

Determine what games you will play at the shower, if you will be playing any at all.  This is something that you can discuss with the mother-to-be to decide.  Most baby showers incorporate between two to four games, although some baby showers nix all games, so it's personal preference.  If you do have games to play, purchase prizes for those games, or bake cookies or some other treat and give baked goods for the prizes.

If you are going to offer finger foods or snacks, make sure that you have matching bowls, plates and napkins, and a table to put them on.  Make sure that you have sufficient drinks for everyone that is invited.  Borrow foldable chairs from a local church or civic association if you need seating, these are usually available from rental stores as well - Mainly, ensure that there is enough seating for everyone invited.

Finally, just before the shower, confirm your RSVP's - you don't want anyone to forget about the shower that you have been working on for eight weeks!  Make arrangements for someone to bring the expectant mom-to-be to the party.  Buy some extra film for your camera, you can even purchase some disposal cameras to strategically place around the party and have fun!