Virtual Baby Shower Made Easy & Fun

Considering we’re in a pandemic my first priority was keeping everyone safe while being able to celebrate the joys of bringing a new bundle of joy into the world. I did some research to see what would work best my family and budget. Check out these easy steps to see what I did to create our Virtual Baby Shower that was practically free and painless.

Step 1 – Create Your Registry

Creating your registry can seem overwhelming but I promise it’s really fun and easy. Some people like to use universal Registries like Babylist that allows you to register from many different stores on one site. However, I guess you can call me old school because I enjoy making them at multiple places. This time around, I registered at Amazon, buybuy Baby, Target and Walmart! Now I know you’re probably thinking why so many. Well because, not everyone shops at the same stores. Plus they each will send you a registry gift bag filled with baby items for you to sample and coupons too! We recorded our unboxing video of the boxes so you can see what I mean. Click here! What I love most about using a baby registry is that the gifts can be delivered directly to your home.

Step 2 – Choose A Date & Hosting Place

When choosing the date for our shower I wanted to make sure I picked a date our calendar was clear. Be safe to look at dates for big events for example my first date I selected was Super Bowl Sunday and I had no clue until my dad told me. He said, “Pookie, you may want to change your date so you’re not the only one attending your shower.” I changed the date immediately lol. I highly suggest asking your core family and friends if their available on the day before you commit to a date and time. This way they can go ahead and block their schedule and that way if no one else shows up virtually they will be present for you. For me choosing a place to host our Virtual Baby Shower was easy since we’re already social distancing having it at home made perfect since.

Step 3 – Choose A Website To Host Your Shower

We went with Zoom.US however there’s many sites for hosting a shower. You can literally do a Google search for “virtual baby shower hosting site” and get multiply results to check out. Some sites have a fee so be cautious before falling in love with a hosting site. I wanted to keep it simple and use a site that was familiar to our guest so Zoom was the way to go for me. I created the meeting room and it was free (up to the first 40 minutes)!

Step 4 – Create A Facebook Event

Since so many family and friends are on Facebook it was easy to invite guest and share our Virtual Baby Shower details with them on the event page. All the information from the date, time, how to join virtually and baby registries was all listed. This is the perfect place to share sonogram photos, weekly pregnancy updates, photos or whatever your heart desires. This keeps your shower on their mind and who doesn’t love seeing baby updates! I shared everything from our gender reveal video, current family photos and a video of our baby’s heart beating during our doctor visit to name a few. It was super sweet because, he gave us a kick! You can even get the party started by playing a game on your event page. We played “Guess The Birthday!” Our guest could list in the comment section what date they believe our baby will arrive and to make it more fun we asked them to write AM or PM beside the date. The winner(s) will win an Essential Prize Pack (Lysol Spray To-Go & Lysol Wipes To-Go) mailed to their home. Don’t be afraid to engage with your guest before the big day, I promise you’ll enjoy it!

Step 5 – Decide On Invitations

I love snail mail! I really enjoy sending greeting cards for all occasions. I knew I would order invitations for guest that are not on social media and for the elders in my family. Plus they make a nice keepsake and are great for scrapbooking. There’s a lot of places you can order from online or create your own. I waited for weeks for a 50% off photo cards coupon from Walgreens. I picked them up the same day, purchased thank you cards and went to the Post Office to get some Celebration and Thank You stamps.

I spent $9.90 for 20 invitations from Walgreens

Step 6 – Select Decorations, Food & Games

At first I wanted to make a balloon garland like I did for Juliette’s 1st Birthday party. Then I realized that’s more work for Johnathan and myself. So, I decided to keep it simple and grab a Tiara that said, “Oh Baby” and a decorative garland in shades of blue and silver from the Walmart party section. It was simple, still festive and got the job done for about 6 bucks. Food wise, I wanted some of my party food favs like rotel, barbeque smokies, charcuterie board and cupcakes. I really wanted to play a game with our guest that would be easy to play with a large amount of guest. I love watching “The Ellen Show” and thought to play a game similar to her famous “Drawer Dash” where the player has a find items in their home that Ellen asks them to find. I named our game “Drawer Dash Scavenger Hunt” and created a game board to screen share it with our guest. I held my breath hoping they would actually play. They loved it and everyone was so competitive! It was fun to watch. We also gave a gift to the first person to join the shower. Below you’ll see our game board in pink and blue if you would like to use it for your virtual shower.

Step 7 – Create A Shower Timeline

You’ll want to start on time to respect your attendee’s time and get the most out of your time together. Here’s our Baby Shower Schedule I used to keep us on track.

2:55pm – Open Meeting Room

3:00pm – Thank guest for coming

3:02pm – Start video of opening gifts (see note below)

3:20pm Open live gifts (cards, gift cards emailed, etc)

3:23pm – Scavenger Hunt Game (2 mins)

Find our winner

3:30pm – Final Thank You’s

Note: We recorded opening gifts as they came in so we could get them ready for when baby Jesse’s arrival. This is great because, I didn’t feel overwhelmed with doing it all after an in-person baby shower.

I also suggest doing a walk through if your new to running a Zoom meeting room. Open a new meeting room and practice sharing your screen and other tools you may use. You’ll rather be prepared than scrambling around trying to figure things out as you go.

Step 8 – Remind Guest Of The Shower

You’ll want to remind your guest of the baby shower as it could easily slip their mind. Even though I was making post in the Facebook event page I followed up with a post two days prior. For the guest not on social media I sent them the direct link for logging on to make it swift as possible. Remember not everyone is computer savvy so be patient and willing to help them out prior to your shower.

Step 9 – Login & Enjoy

Ya’ll remember that food I was talking about having? Yeah, that didn’t happen and it’s totally okay. As the day came I was way too tired to prepare food or get cupcakes. We ate McDonalds right up until it was time to login. However, I did have my wine glass and Sparkling Welch’s in hand for the shower. Our Virtual Baby Shower was done in 40 mins and we recorded it in Zoom so we can look back at it. We had so much fun and it was enjoyable without the stress of having to clean up or reset the venue space before leaving to pick baby items away. I can’t express how good that felt!

Step 10 – Thank Your Guest

Always remember to say thank you! Whether you decide to pick up the phone and call them or write a thank you card be sure to do something to show your gratitude. Nowadays you can scan your gift receipt and email the sender a virtual thank you card. Personally, I love sending thank you cards via snail mail! A few people received thank you cards written upside down because, I let Juliette pass me the cards. Lol However, the message was written and they knew we were appreciative of their gifts and the time they took to celebrate with us.

Click link below to see our video for Unboxing Baby Shower Gifts!

Unboxing Part 1

Unboxing Part 2

I hope this helps! Tell me if you considering having a Virtual Baby Shower or Virtual Event coming up!

Thanks for reading,

Tiarra

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