If you decide to take on the responsibility of hosting a baby shower for a friend or relative, you have quite a few responsibilities. Try to give yourself at least four weeks, or better yet six weeks, to do the planning and preparation. You'll need to calculate how large a budget you have and how many guests you can accommodate in your home or in another facility if you'll have the shower in a restaurant or elsewhere. You'll need to decide on the date with the mother-to-be who is being honored. In addition you'll need to go over the guest list with the honoree.

You'll need to decide on a theme or whether to have a shower without a theme. Having a theme sets the tone for many things, including gifts and certainly décor, perhaps even music to be played during the shower. Examples of common baby shower themes are the Snoopy shower theme, Baby Boy or Baby Girl shower theme, Frog shower theme, Winnie the Pooh shower theme, or Christmas baby shower theme if your party falls near that date. Recently the Baby Diaper Cake shower theme has been popular. A number of web sites offer large multi-layer "diaper cakes". The diaper cake is not a cake that can be eaten, but it is made out of diapers and can make an excellent conversation piece and be the center of attention for the party. Baby diapers are wrapped with cloth and placed in layers to resemble a cake. Baby decorations like teddy bears and rattles are attached to the "cake". These can be easily shipped because the cake is not perishable. Finding the right baby diaper cake can make your theme decision for you. After the party is over, the expectant mother will have the baby toys that were attached to the cake and also a large supply of exactly what she will need: diapers! Some diaper cakes are large and made of up to 70 diapers or more! Your can learn more by doing a simple internet search for the term "baby diaper cakes". Having decided on a theme, the hostess will need to choose invitations and send those to the guest list. She should let the guests know which stores the mother-to-be has registered for gifts, or if there are particular needs that guests can give as a group, such as an expensive piece of baby furniture or car seat, for example.

The hostess will greet guests as they arrive and offer a warm welcome and thanks for having come to the shower. She will then need to keep the party moving and lively so guests are not bored. She will need to decide on the food and beverages to be served, considering whether to keep it simple with tea and cake, for instance, or whether a sit-down meal will be served. The natural activity for a baby shower is the opening of gifts, but many showers also include some sort of game or other group activity. There are a great number of books on the market which offer ideas for shower activities, so some of these will need to be researched. After the gifts have been opened the shower will end, and the hostess and the honoree should both help guests to the door and thank them for having come. A typical shower should last from about two to four hours. A thoughtful hostess can help the mother-to-be in a number of ways, including perhaps asking each guest to fill out an envelope with their name and address to make it easier for the pregnant mom to send thank you notes. She can also keep track of who sent what gifts so there are no mix-ups in that regard.

Going It Alone or Having Co-Hostesses

The advantages of having co-hostesses are having more input on ideas for themes, decorations, food, etc. as well as a way to divide up the party budget and divide up the work. One disadvantage is making sure the lines of communication are solid and that all the hostesses are up to speed and aware of who is responsible for doing what. These are not insurmountable problems, however, and you might feel that having help in the hostess role is a confidence builder and stress reliever, especially for someone who is hosting a shower for the first time.

Above all, the baby shower hostess should enjoy the experience and gratification of having honored a friend or relative with a baby shower.

Walt Ballenberger is webmaster for Baby Shower Favors. To find great party favors and other resources for your baby shower visit Baby Shower Favors.