Traditional Baby Shower or Baby Shower Tea?
by Donna Gorenflo
Baby showers have come to be an extremely important occasion in an expecting mother's lifetime. A baby shower is always a fun way to allow your close friends and families of the expectant mom to display her they are excited about her new baby. A clever option to your standard baby shower is the baby shower tea. A baby shower tea is usually a much more formal affair which gives the attendees and mom an alternative kind of fun.
When holding classic baby showers, invitations can be pretty informal. From time to time shower invitations are communicated with word of mouth alone. Baby showers generally involve intimate friends and families, so often they can tell each other when they should arrive. A baby shower tea, on the other hand, is best served when distributing proper announcements that display a lot more formality. This is not to make the baby shower tea feel ostentatious, instead to help design a more formal atmosphere for the whole occasion. Also, the amount of people to attend should be smaller. With a more classic baby shower the host generally chooses to invite a a higher number of people since larger groups tend to work better with standard baby shower games and activities. A baby shower tea, on the other hand is usually better served with a smaller number of guests. Usually, you don't want any more guests at a baby shower tea than can be seated at one small table. Intimacy is the key, and usually games aren't played.
A traditional baby shower can be held just about anywhere. In general the shower is in the home of the hostess, although they can be held in a simple hang-out-spot, restaurant, or a hall. The locale really should be dependent on what the mother to be would most like, so if she has got a favorite hang out or restaurant that could be the great spot. A baby shower tea, on the other hand, needs to be hosted in a more formal, quiet location. Usually this means in a private home, however it can also be held in a tea room. The decoration of the location should be elegant and formal, but that does not necessarily mean the event should be pretentious or that a home needs to be kept by a maid service to be appropriate.
Showers can be held at almost any time of day but they are generally on weekends or in the evening because many people work on weekdays. Perhaps if no one has to work during the day, the shower could be held while kids are in school. Baby shower teas are more appropriately held during the afternoon, since it is the most ideal time for a tea party. However, some may choose to hold the baby shower late in the morning. During a baby shower, pretty much any cuisine may be served, but at a baby shower tea, the proper choice is scones and tea sandwiches. Presents and shower favors are a huge part of a typical shower, but at baby shower teas, gifts don't need to be given and party favors should be either relevant to the tea party or cut out completely. It's becoming more common nowdays for baby showers to include the the soon to be father and often the guests give gifts for the expectant dad, but at a baby shower tea the guests should just be women.
Both celebrations for an upcoming birth have pros and cons, but a mother can have them both if she wants to. Celebrating the birth of a baby can be a joyous experience. Whether you bring together friends for a baby shower party or a formal baby shower tea, you can not go askew when you just make it intimate, special and distinctively yours!
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Looking for assistance in planning a baby shower party? Bama Babies and Birthdays offers party hosts unique shower favors, baby gift ideas and decorations along with other resources to help you design a fun or formal affair.