Hellobee Boards

I haven't had a baby shower, but I've hosted/planned two, and they were like you said-- the guest of honor gave us a list of names to invite and we agreed on dates, then I left them out of it and planned a shower I thought they would like. If you have theme or location ideas, I guess you could suggest them, but I think this is a case where you are better letting the hosts come to you if they have questions. You can also request games or no games or whatever, but too much and it gets a little pushy, I think.

Because of the way my circle of friends and family are if I didn't plan my own shower I wouldn't get one..... I didn't get a bridal shower because of this small detail.

SOOOOO..... my mom & a couple friends "hosted" my shower by paying for and making arrangements I directed. I designed my invites & they got them printed & sent them out... I made the decor & made the menus & they helped me set up (I'm totally type A) and they ordered, made, and delivered the food. Once at the shower they were in charge of everything we did. Basically I told them what I wanted and they did it. lol

My MIL and good friend hosted and planned it. They both asked my opinion in colors & schemes etc. If they asked, I responded.
I tried not to give too much input.

I think about this too... amongst my family and friends, I am the planner of the bunch (hello, I'm a wedding planner by trade!!). So I'm wondering who is going to plan my baby shower...

I've planned 3 great bridal showers for others in the past, but my own bridal shower was kind of blah, and I was sad about it for a long time. I wish it wasn't considered bad manners to plan my own baby shower, because I would plan an awesome one! HAHA!

Like a few of the mamas here, I've been more involved in the planning of our coed shower, since we have so many different groups of friends, we're having it at our new home as a pseudo "housewarming," and because we're not having a traditional "shower" (no games, no watching us open presents- it makes me feel so awkward!). My best friend is "hosting" by planning the decor, activities and treats, but we sent out the invites and will be helping out with the food (it's a BBQ and the hubs is manning the grill).

I agree with you. In my opinion, it's rude to plan a party where people are expected to shower you with gifts. I don't have an issue if the expecting mom (or bride) is involved in some aspect, but someone else should really be taking on the brunt of the planning and hosting.

My friend planned her own shower in its entirety but slapped her moms name on it to make it look like she was hosting. In her case, her mother was a very simple woman and probably wouldn't even have sent out invitations let alone decorated. I didn't love that she controlled the whole thing but what're ya gonna do? It's not like I'd ever decline an invite just because the guest of honor has more input than she probably should.

Well, it depends who's throwing it. My mom insisted on throwing mine and asked for a ton of opinions on what I wanted. It was kind of annoying because I essentially felt like I was planning it, but she lives OOT and wanted names of restaurants and such, so I made a list of nearby places and gave them to her. She keeps asking for my opinion on *everything*, and sometimes I give it (ie the cake flavor or a game that I refuse to play, like the one where we all guess how big I am.....no thanks, I don't think ANY pregnant woman wants her measurements shared with 30+ people) but sometimes I just tell her to do what she wants because I don't really want that big of a hand in it! But there's plenty of room for input, had I wanted to give it, ya know? So if your mom or sister is giving is, you probably have more leeway to make a suggestion.

Ultimately, all I really cared was that there was cake that I liked and we didn't play too many games, LOL. And that's mostly b/c I know that between lunch+presents+games, 99% of the guests don't want to hang out with me for 5 hours