It’s 2020, the beginning of a new decade and little did we know that we would spend majority of it under lockdown! COVID-19 has changed the world as we know it and has created a new normal. Although it’s a bit different, it works for me.
I was really looking forward to having a traditional baby shower, with my family and friends gathered in one place celebrating new life. When I got the dreaded cancellation phone call from the booked venue, I was devastated so I cried. I cried hard. Cried like a baby! After drowning myself in tears for a couple days, I put on my big girl panties and pulled it together. I knew I had to get creative because this was my rainbow baby (a baby born after a miscarriage) and she deserved to be celebrated – by any means necessary.
After a few website searches, I created my version of the perfect VIRTUAL baby shower! Check out my complete guide below:
STEP 1 – CREATE A BABY REGISTRY
Before you ever sit down to plan a virtual baby shower, you need to create a baby registry. As a first time mom, I had no clue what to put on my list. Now that I have a few months as a mother under my belt, I know a little somethin’ somethin’.
I registered at Walmart, Target, and Buy Buy Baby. They are great options, but my favorite experience was with Amazon. Surprise right? LOL! Amazon had different categories for me to choose products from, which included cribs, car seats, apparel, books, and toys. It was also broken down into specific age ranges for me to select appropriate items.
Amazon also had an option for a diaper fund. Since the shower was virtual, guests were still able to get me diapers and wipes by simply contributing to the diaper fund. With this being available, you have the freedom to pick the correct size and your favorite brand of diapers. It’s also much easier to return an item on Amazon than the other options.
The last benefit I liked about Amazon was the option to select a check box if a thank you was sent. Sometimes I would get multiple deliveries a day and couldn’t remember if I had told the person who sent it thank you. With the Amazon option, I was able to utilize that feature quickly and stay organized.
STEP 2 – PICK A DATE
Decide what the best date will be for you and for those you plan to invite. Will it be on a weekend? Weekday? AM? PM?
Make sure your date is far out enough for you to have time to receive your gifts in the mail. It may be beneficial to include a deadline for the guests to mail your gifts if they want them opened live during the baby shower.
STEP 3 – CHOOSE A THEME & HOST
You can’t throw a party without a theme! Choose a theme that will be consistent with the decorations. I chose a theme that matched my baby’s nursery, that way I could recycle the decorations. You can also apply a virtual background, depending on the virtual venue you select.
My parents, two best friends, and decorator were my hosts. They split up the tasks of recording, passing gifts to open on camera, cooking and making plates, writing down who sent what gifts, and game time.
STEP 4 – PICK A VIRTUAL VENUE
Now this seems strange, but there are several virtual venues to look through. I chose to use Facebook and YouTube. Facebook is a good option if most of the people you plan to invite are on there. That way you can create a private event and send them an invitation to the event.
Zoom is a great option if you plan to invite less than 100 people and will be done within 40 minutes. Zoom also had a paid option to allow for more attendees and a longer time frame.
YouTube is another option for those who may not have social media, such as grandparents. Create a YouTube channel and do a practice recording to make sure you know how to work everything.
STEP 5 – SEND OUT INVITATIONS
You can do this two different ways. I sent physical invitations by mail because at that time I still had a physical location booked for the shower. After the cancellation, I sent an update to the guests I invited through text message. I would recommend using a service like Evite, Paperless Post, or Punchbowl if you choose to send an online invitation. I would also recommend using Canva, PicMonkey, or Adobe Spark to create a graphic to be used for physical invitations or on Facebook. If you want someone to make the invitations for you, Etsy will be your best friend!
If you chose to create a private event on Facebook in Step 4, then you can also use the graphic as a background on the event page. Don’t forget to include a link to your baby registry!
STEP 6 – GAMES
This is probably the most important step because this will make or break your baby shower! People looooove to play the traditional baby shower games. Although it won’t be in person, you can still play them – with a twist. Winners also like to receive a prize, so providing virtual gift cards is probably the best option.
I chose to have myself, my husband, and my parents play a couple games while the guests watched. The next few games were played solely by the guests.
My husband and I played “What WILL the baby eat” and “What DID the baby eat” with my parents. For the first game we had to guess the baby foods that were on our plates. For the second game we had to guess what chocolate candy was melted in a diaper. It was fun to play against the parentals – new school vs. old school parents. This was entertaining for our guests because they tried to guess the food and candy as well by writing their thoughts in the comments! And of course they reacted to our facial expressions… baby food is disgusting!
The first game played by the guests, Finish the Nursery Rhyme, was conducted by having the guests race to be the first person to respond in the comments with the correct answer. The winner received a virtual gift card.
The next game the guest played involved a few sheets of toilet paper! That’s right! We used toilet paper to play a game in the midst of a global pandemic and toilet paper shortage, what in the world were we thinking?!?! The object of the toilet paper game was to determine how many sheets fit around my preggo belly. Whomever was closest to the correct number of sheets won a virtual gift card.
In next game the guests had to predict how many diapers it took to make the diaper cake that was displayed before them. The winner received a virtual gift card.
The last game guest played was Name that Baby Tune. We played 10 seconds of a song that had the word ‘baby’ in the title and the guests had to write the correct title of the song AND artist. The winner, of course, received a virtual gift card.
Here is a list of other games to play that you might find interesting:
The Price is Right – hold up a baby product and have the guests determine the correct price for the item.
Rock the Baby – each guest (with their camera on) will cradle their arms as if they were rocking a baby. Start a timer and see who can rock the baby the longest.
Bingo – guests will download a card with different baby items that could be received as gifts written in each box. As you open gifts, they mark the items off their card.
What’s the Baby Animal – show a picture of an animal and let the guest write the correct baby name (ex. Baby goat is a kid).
STEP 7 – THANK YOU
This is your last step! Determine how you want to thank your guests for attending and participating in your virtual baby shower. You may also want to send a special thank you shout out to those who took the time to mail you gifts. The same method that you used to create the invitations should be used to create thank you’s as well.
I hope this list has been beneficial to you and your virtual baby shower needs! If so, please share with others! If you are looking for more first time mom and parenting tips, tricks, and secrets, make sure to follow this board! Also, check out my virtual baby shower!
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