The main goal of holding a baby shower is to not only celebrate the joy of a new life that is about to come, but to make the mom-to-be or parents-to-be feel special and loved by showing and giving them the support that they need.
Parents-to-be, specially for the first timers, it is very important to have that emotional support from family and friends, to help them prepare with the responsibilities of parenthood, among many others.
While it is fun to have face-to-face baby showers, one can also organize them virtually. It may seem a little strange and unusual, but they make a great option especially when parents-to-be have lots of family and friends who are miles aways but really wanted to share with the joy. Also, for those family and friends who cannot physically come for health reasons.
Here are some few tips on how to put together a virtual baby shower.
1. INVITATIONS
Just like any baby shower, the very first thing to do is make a list of invitees. Since, this particular shower is going to be virtual, then make sure that those on your list are either far and or have health reasons. Once you have your list, the first thing is to send out invitation to your guests.
The cool thing with virtual baby shower is you can have the option to use paperless invitation. It is practical, but you can actually do more with it that paper invitations. The only thing you need to ensure is to have correct email addresses. You can also send thru social media sites, so you need their accounts. You can ask the parents-to-be for help on this.
On the other hand, eventhough it is going to be a virtual party, you can still send printed invitation if that is what you prefer. Some guests still love to receive printed invitations for keeps. Or you can do a mix of both.
2. DECORATION
Well, this is a significant part of baby shower. Although it is virtual, the decorations can’t be put aside. Like the usual baby shower, you MUST have decorations. First, you need to decide on a theme. I have shared various baby shower theme ideas in my previous posts. Once you have your theme, select a place where to set-up the party. Since it is virtual, you need not have a bigger venue for your set-up, all you need is enough space for you and the parents-to-be and perhaps a few family members or closest friends. Pretty practical huh?! Leaves you enough room budget-wise, so you could go grandious with your decor.
You can set-up in a room, living room, or you can also have an outdoor set-up like in your garden, by the pool or beachside perhaps. You can get creative by putting some props to give your guest the feel of whatever theme you decide on.
But, if you really want to save on the budget and give that amount for the decor to the parents-to-be instead, then you have wide range of virtual decors or backdrop you can play around with. Most ZOOM and other other virtual meetups platforms these days are so fancy, you can use cool backdrops and many other artsies. So much stuff you can learn online on youtube.
3. GAMES
And ofcourse, a baby shower is not a party without games. Make sure you organize games that you and your guests, specially the parents-to-be will enjoy. You can have guessing games, and even some mental or challenging game ideas, like the ones I have shared in my previous posts. You just need to do a little tweak and turn it into virtual format. I will be sharing baby shower virtual game ideas in my next posts.
4. SHOW SOME LOVE
At the end of the party, the best part is to have a round of congratulatories and special words from the guests to the parents-to-be. For this, give each guest time to write down what they wanted to say, if they wanted to. Give them like 5 minutes to prepare, and while they do that, the parents-to-be can start opening their gifts. Once guests are ready, give each one atlesst a maximum of 2 minutes to say their piece of advice or some sweet words. One guest at a time. Then, give time also for the parents-to-be to express their gratitude.
IMPORTANT THINGS TO PREPARE:
– computer
– camera (for the computer)
– monitor or overhead projector
– microphone (for computer)
– sound system/speaker
– internet connection
Finally, a party need some food and snacks. You can arrange for food delivery to each guests. And you know what, guests always love to have a part in the baby shower. They can arrange their own snacks and bake some goodies. You can also prepare few snacks for you and the parents-to-be. What you need is to have prior communication with your guests on this matter. You will be surprised that many of them would volunteer to share for the foodies.
Virtual baby shower can be as much fun as face-to-face or the usual baby showers. And it is more practical. The only challenge is if there’s connection failure or interruptions, and if there’s bad weather. Other than that, it is going to be awesome. Have fun!