I have two friends who wanted to give me a shower for my third child. I insisted very strongly to them that I did not need a shower, nor did I want one. Where I come from this is just not done! I thanked them profusely for wanting to, but I insisted on them not giving me a shower. Well, they surprised me with a shower, a lovely little dinner out with about 10 people, neighbors and friends who weren't around when we had the first two, since we had lived in a different state then. I was overwhelmed with emotion. So grateful that I had friends who wanted to do this for me, who wanted to celebrate my third child in this way. They went to a lot of trouble for me and I will never forget it. Let them throw you the shower. Amy

Rose Kennedy Louisa May Alcott's mother in Little Women Queen Victoria Old Mother Hubbard Lady Bird Johnson Virgin Mary Ma Kettle Mrs. Robinson (The Graduate)

Grumpy young woman here. I dislike showers. Honestly, the very idea of a baby shower has always seemed offputting to me. Why am I buying your baby stuff again? And if I do, I just grudingly send the gift and forgo the shower. Same thing with bridal showers. The inane games, the precious weird food, and the utter tedium of sitting and watching a grown person opening gifts forever. Not fun. I stopped going to all non family showers years ago. HOWEVER, I appreciate the fact that lots people enjoy them and the tradition,especially the mother/bride to be. I am no help regarding activities that may make it fun. I wish you luck with that. Better yet,maybe have NO silly games and make it a fun party. I think I (and many others) would enjoy showers if they did not include some pushy person or persons INSISTING that everyone take part in the games and activities instead of letting people enjoy the company. The showers in my family have always been game free,with great food and no sitting and watching people opening gifts. They were enjoyable get togethers.As Kathy mentioned, lots of people make requests for books with special messages written in them,including the last mother to be that sent me an invite to her shower. (I did not go, but I sent her a giant box of diapers, another of wipes, and 6 or 7 different baby shampoos, soap, etc. ) I did not send the book though. This was a coworker and since it is unlikely I will be close with or even have much if any contact with the child, i was unsure what message to write. My only advice would be to at least make sure the food is good. Its the least one can do for people who show up and participate in such an event. I have never had good food at a shower,except those that i did the cooking for. ;) Maybe have a raffle for a pretty gift basket or some other useful door prize rather than some cutesy trinket for everyone that likely will go to waste. I was going through a closet the other day and came upon a stash of useless cutesy garbage that i got at showers. In the trash it went. And with all things in life, I believe that the more pink one can have around,the better. A baby shower for a girl seems the perfect excuse. And sparkles. Never enough sparkles. And hearts. Pink sparkly hearts always bring a smile. To me anyway. I have seen very cute wreaths made of pacifiers and bottles that were cute. The aforementioned coworker dipped into MY stash of mod podge that I use for my halloween bottles to create very pretty glittery bottles that she turned into centerpieces for her shower. Is it an autumn affair??? Paint some pumpkins pink! Use them to mark the house. Instead if tying balloons to the mailbox, tie em to the pink pumpkins. Or, if you know the babies name, use tiny pumpkins. Paint them pink and then paint her name on them, one letter each pumpkin. Bottom line, pink.

not new. this concept has been around for things like evite and FB invitations for many years now, but I think some people choose to hide that info. I like knowing in advance who is coming and roughly how big the event will be. when I'm planning an informal party I usually add, "...message me if you think I forgot anyone". It's a great way to avoid hurt feelings -- I can just add someone later, apologize profusely, and say that there must have been some glitch in my contacts list. (blaming technology is a great excuse, lol.)