Finding yourself in charge of planning a baby shower, but have no idea how long it should last?
If you’ve never been to a baby shower before, you may not know how long one may take. Baby showers are a somewhat recent phenomenon as far as parties in general are concerned, and every one is different so there’s no way of knowing exactly how long one may last. With that being said, there are a few common things that happen during baby showers that can help to give you a timeline of how long one may take.
General Timing
On average, a baby shower will usually take around 2 to 3 hours. Of course, there’s always the chance that one may last for longer but this is a decent amount of time to get everything done while not tiring out the mother with an excessively long party. Baby showers longer than 3 hours can drag on a little sometimes, meaning guests will get bored or tired after this.
It’s always better to opt for a shorter time frame if the mom-to-be is getting presents that are unwrapped or if they aren’t fond of being right at the center of attention for long periods of time for the gift opening section.
Baby Shower Timeline of Events
As with any other party, baby showers can very in terms of what happens from one to the next. With that being said, there are some baby shower staple mini events that you can look out for.
If you’re planning a baby shower, you should wait around 15 to 20 minutes from the designated time of arrival for all of the guests to arrive. From there, you may wish to start with some general conversation for a while. You may also want to get started right away with games. After a while, you can start serving food and then it’s time for gifts! Some extra fun things you can do is to set up a bodysuit designing station or a photo booth.
Gift Opening
The amount of time that the gift opening process takes can vary dramatically depending on how long the shower itself is. There are many mothers that don’t actually like having gift openings to begin with because they either last too long or they feel uncomfortable for the mother (and the father, if you’re having a co-ed shower!).
If there are a lot of guests attending it may also make sense to not have a gift opening at all, as it can take a lot longer to get through all of the gifts from guests.
If you are planning on having a gift opening as per tradition, then it’s important that there is a plan in place to make sure that things move smoothly. In order to cut down on time, you may want to have the gift opening take place at the same time as the food is being served. You could also allocate a set amount of time for each gift.
In general, it is recommended that the gift opening section lasts one hour or less.
Baby Shower Games and Activities
Perhaps one of the most exciting parts of a baby shower for most guests is the games and activities. Of course, not all mothers are going to like the idea of doing games so you will need to check with her first.
Once you’ve decided that you are going to have some games, you will need to choose which ones. Take some time to look online at other baby shower games and make a list of all of your favorites and the ones that you think the mother is going to enjoy. Then, consider whether they can all fit into the timeline of your baby shower.
If you find that you have a list that is too long, then it’s time to cut your list down a little. Think about the activities and games that you would like to do the most and what ones the mother likes. You may also find yourself with the opposite problem where your list is too short. In this case, it’s worth asking the mother what she would like to do during the shower and you can brainstorm some ideas together!
It’s always worth making sure that you do have a little bit of time free so that it doesn’t feel like an overly regimental affair to your guests. Try to figure out how long every activity is going to take and then you should be able to think about how long the shower is going to last based upon those and any time that you have free.
Baby Shower Activity Ideas
If you aren’t sure about what activities to include in your shower, here are a few potential options!
Baby Photo Matching
This game is a pretty fun trip down memory lane! Ask each of your guests to send over a current photo and a baby photo. Try and divide the group into a few teams, 2 or 3 is usually sufficient.
Once you have done this, allow the guests to have five minutes to match the photos up together. After that time has elapsed, go through all of the groups and confirm which matches are correct, changing any photos around where needed. Whichever team has the most matches is the one that wins.
This should only take around 20 minutes, so it’s a short but fun activity to enjoy while you’re waiting for gift openings or for food!
Baby Gift Crafting
Why not have some fun creating things for the mother of the baby? You can buy a couple of plain clothing items such as onesies or bibs and decorate them with fabric paint supplies you can get from a crafts store!
Printable Baby Shower Games
You can download Mod Baby Showers printable baby shower games that include Baby Shower Scrabble,
Baby showers can vary in how long they last, but one thing is for sure – having the right length baby shower is important for making sure that every guest gets the most possible enjoyment. Before you have the shower, make sure that you’ve thought through everything that’s going to happen during the event to make it go as smoothly as possible!
