Hosting a Virtual Baby Shower

We know that baby showers are different right now. We can no longer congregate in large groups, we’re required to maintain social distancing, and we must do everything we can to help protect the most vulnerable population. Although it doesn’t diminish your sadness and hope for a different kind of celebration, it truly is a small price to pay to keep those we love alive and healthy. It’s been 9 months since parents have started making alternative arrangements for their baby showers, and we can’t stop now. So moms and dads, here’s what we’ve heard from you, and here’s how we can help you:

Online baby showers just aren’t the same. We know, but we can help make them more engaging!
Email invitations are boring. So true. So we’re giving you 16 different options for email headers - for free!
People don’t buy the gifts we registered for. Ugh! We all have that one aunt! Use our blurb to help your guest get you what you want.
I don’t know which video conferencing app to use. We break down the top 3 so you can chose.

Ideas for Virtual Engagement

We know they aren’t the same, and the experience being online vs. in person is drastically different. Here’s some ideas you can incorporate to make the experience more fun and engaging:

Use your baby shower to announce the gender
Why not turn a Gender Reveal into a fun, competitive game? Raise money for your bundle of joy by having friends and family (or the whole damn internet) guess the baby’s gender.
Sound fun? Visit our friends over at Gender Reveal Game here.
If you’re going to chose this route, reminder to build a gender neutral baby registry list. We can help with this!
Enable the Polls feature to engage the online audience
If you are the host of the baby shower and you’re using Zoom, you can poll these suggested questions:
Do you think the mom will deliver before or after her due date?
Will the dad faint in the delivery room. Yes or No?
Open a few gifts in front of the online guests, and poll them to think who go the mom what gift. Did her sister or mother-in-law her her this gift?
Guess the baby in the picture.
Mail all of the guests small, wallet sized images of the mom, dad, and their immediate family members. Number the back of each image & have your guests try to guess who each person is. You can reveal who the babies are by pulling up their photos on the video conferencing screen.

How to stop receiving rogue baby gifts

Do you have that family member that always goes rogue and buys you random gifts? Are you concerned that all your friends and family will veer off your baby registry list, and buy you whatever they want? This has happened to me, and it’s so annoying. Despite making lists for Christmas, birthday’s, weddings and baby showers, it’s guaranteed that someone will buy you something that you didn't ask for, and likely that you don’t even need or want.

So let’s limit this from happening to you. I’ve crafted a response that you can copy/paste into your online invitation for your baby shower. You can include this blurb in all your email correspondence so that guests see it more than once.

*[insert the option that best applies to you]

Dear Guests,

[We are / I am] excited to see all of you online to celebrate [our journey into parenthood / my journey into motherhood / my journey into fatherhood].

While your online presence if more than enough, [we’re / I am] making a specific ask in regards to gifts.

To best help [us / me] prepare, [I am / we are] asking that you please use the baby registry link [here] as your only gift guide. [We’ve / I have] spent a lot of time researching products that’ll best fit into [our / my] home, and [we’ve / I’ve] selected items that will allow [us / me] to welcome [our / my] baby home to a safe and nurturing environment.

Thank you for honoring this request.

With love,

[your name]

Selecting the right video conference app

Skype. Free video chats with friends and family without having to download an app.
Advantages: With Skype, you can simply create a link and share with people you want to join the call. No sign ups required, and guests can access the video call using their browser. Up to 100 people can join your meeting.
Considerations:: No ability to mute guests. No features like a chat box to ask questions without having to speak.
Zoom. Free video conferencing with interactive features.
Advantages: Simple sign-up process, includes basic recording, supports 100-way calling, Mac and Windows apps.
Considerations: Requires a downloadable application, calls on Basic plan are limited to 40 minutes or less, no capability to control spam or bandwidth.
Google Meet. Free and secure meeting platform.
Advantages: Ability to admit or deny entry to a guest, and mute or remove participants. Guest do not have to have a gmail to participate.
Considerations: The creator of the meeting must have a Gmail. Video calls will have a 60-minute cap.

We’d love to hear from you! What’s made your virtual baby shower a success, and what are the do’s and don’t that you’d recommend?

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