How to host a virtual baby shower

Hosting a virtual baby shower isn’t something many of us have previously considered. 2020 has been hard. We’ve had to learn to be more independent. We’ve developed new ways to stay connected to our friends and family. If we thought we were gaining some of our social freedom back and were able to make plans for celebrations any time soon, the latest lockdown restrictions will make us rethink. Our dreams of gathering our nearest and dearest together for the celebration of a special milestone are still just dreams.

As we head into our second lockdown, we know there’ll be so many parties cancelled. Moving from a face to face baby shower to a virtual one may be different in execution but the sentiment is the same. All coming together to celebrate mum and baby. Here’s our tips for hosting a virtual baby shower.

Choose the Right Video Hosting Platform For Your Virtual Baby Shower ‘Venue’.

If you weren’t familiar with video conferencing before the big Covid lockdown, you will be now. Zoom family quizzes, girl’s facetime nights in and work team meetings on google meet have been thrust upon us.

Choosing the right platform for your virtual baby shower is possibly the most important decision of the day. Stick to the option that allows all of your guests to partake that you are most familiar with.

• Facetime allows up to 32 participants, but all need an Apple device.
• Zoom allows up to 100 friends to talk for free for up to 40 minutes. Longer if anyone has a premium account.
• Google hangouts welcomes up to 25 friends, but all need a gmail account, and facebook messenger up to 50, but only 6 will be visible at once.

Prepare and Assign Tasks Ahead of Time.

Remember, not everyone will be familiar with the platform you choose. Send the invites out with plenty of notice. As well as the date and time, include step by step instructions for how to join your virtual shower.

Have the guests deliver their gifts to mum’s house ahead of time. Remember though, not everyone feels comfortable making the baby shower about the opening of gifts. Leave that decision of when they are opened to the guest of honour.

Ask Your Guests to Dress Up.

I’m not talking black tie or fancy dress. But, we’ve all been spending so much time in loungewear and pyjamas in 2020. So, like you would for an in person baby shower, make the virtual shower an excuse for everyone to make themselves look and feel their best.

A nice touch may be for the guests to wear neutral colours whilst the mum to be wears something bright. This will make her stand out on screen amongst the virtual crowd.

Arrange to Surprise the Mum To Be.

Whilst her guests may need to be socially distanced and their presence only virtual, you can still arrange for something special to be delivered during the shower. A gorgeous bouquet of flowers mid party, or her favourite dessert from a local baker are good places to start. Having something physical to enjoy will add a real life element to the day.

Keep it fun with virtual baby shower games.

You may not be pinning the dummy on the baby, or taking part in a nappy changing relay race, but there is still room for some organised fun. Opt for more trivia based games. Work with the soon to be grandparents to create a quiz on the mum to be.

If you’re really organised, have each of your guests send a picture of themselves as a baby to the host before the big day. This can make for a fun “Name that baby” picture round for your quiz. Have everyone write their answers down rather than talking over each other.

Another fun idea could be a “Name that baby song” game. Compile a playlist of songs with ‘Baby’ in the title or popular nursery rhymes and have your guests guess the tunes as quickly as they can.

Having to cancel a baby shower is disappointing. Embrace the change and enjoy the variety that comes with hosting a virtual baby shower