Baby Shower Timeline Week-by-Week Planning before the baby shower: Week 10 Week 9 Week 8 Week 7 Week 6 Week 5 Week 4 Week 3 Week 2 Week 1 For the day of the shower, see step #10 of our Good Hostess Guide to Surviving a Baby Shower Planning worksheets Free baby shower planning worksheets For a complete planning guide 8 Steps to the Perfect Baby Shower

Questions about Baby Shower Planning Timelines Please read through the timeline sections in the blue column and then email us if there is an item we have not addressed. Wedding Anniversary Anniversary Gifts

Ten Weeks Before the Baby Shower

A Baby Shower Timeline to Simplify Your Shower Planning
© baby-shower.com

You have decided to host a baby shower, or elected to host, for a close friend, family member, distant relative or co-worker.  At this point, you have nothing planned, nothing figured out, and you may already be receiving the odd request for specific things such as a specialty themed party.

The baby isn’t due for another 16 to 18 weeks - remember you want to set the date for 8 to 6 weeks before baby’s arrival - so you aren’t feeling that frenzy of nerves with having to get everything done before the birth.

Now is not the time to sit back and relax since much of the main planning needs to be done right now.  You will have time to put your legs up around the middle of the planning stage, so save your quiet moments for that time.

This is the week where you will be figuring out your budget, deciding on your theme, and thinking about your venue.  If you are deciding to do it at home, you will also have to decide on whether you will have a caterer to deal with your menu or to make it all yourself.  This is all the “set up” stage, and it is one of the more challenging parts of planning a baby shower.

Things you need to do:

Download the Baby-Shower.com Planning Timeline, plus any other worksheets that you might find useful, and fill them out.

Decide on the type of shower you are having, whether it is a women’s only shower or a couple’s shower.  Also decide on whether children will be allowed.

Decide on a venue; if you are having it outside of the home, phone around for prices and also check the reservation policies and availability.  Many places can be reserved a few weeks or even a week ahead of time, but a good rule of thumb is to have all the reservations done by week 8.

Plan out the budget.  This does not have to be a horrible task, but it can get pretty sticky if you have to ask other people to contribute ... even if initially they have enthusiastically volunteered.  The best plan is to have simple mechanism to store your funds. This could be a piggy bank (if you prefer to work with cash), a bank account, or online payment facility like PayPal. Just something which people can readily or easily contribute to.  By collecting the funds now, your money is sitting there ready and waiting for when you need it.

Try to avoid having to go back several times to people for contributions.  Approach people who have volunteered to contribute early on, when they still remember and are comfortable with contributing. That way you won't have to worry about contributors backing out at the last minute, and you will know exactly what kind of budget you have to work with.  A helpful tool for planning your budget, besides a calculator, is our Budget Plan worksheet.

It may help to figure out your theme early on and do a little research into how easy or hard it will be to accomplish ... and of course, what it might cost.  Many childhood favorites come and go in popularity, so a shower centered around a particular theme may be easily achieved one year, but next to impossible the next.

Good planning however, can save you a lot of grief, whereas procrastination will be the most likely cause of it.

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