Baby Shower or Baby Shower Tea?
by Donna Gorenflo

Baby showers have come to be a very important occasion in a mother's life. A shower is a perfect opportunity to allow your family and close friends of the expectant mother to show the love they have for her. An additional option to the classic baby shower is the baby shower tea. This is usually a much more formal event that allows the mother and attendees a different form of fun.

In standard baby showers, invitations can be very informal. Occasionally shower invitations are communicated with word of mouth. Showers usually involve very close families and friends, so they can often tell one another the appropriate arrival time. A baby shower tea, on the other hand, is best served through creating proper invitations that show a lot more formality. This is not to make the baby shower tea feel pretentious, rather to help establish a much more formal atmosphere to the overall occasion. Likewise, the amount of people invited should be less. When holding a traditional shower a hostess can invite a a higher number of guests since large groups tend to work well with the classic shower games and activities. However, a baby shower tea is usually better served with a small guest list. Normally, you don't want any more people at a baby shower tea than can sit at one small table. Closeness and intimacy is the key, and games are not usually played.

A conventional shower can be hosted almost anywhere. In general the baby shower will be at your house of the hostess, but they also take place in a hall, restaurant, or a favorite hang out. The place needs to be based on what the expectant mother would prefer, so if she has got a favorite hang out or restaurant then that could be a great spot. Baby shower teas, however, are preferably hosted in a more formal place. In general this means they're held in a private home, but the celebration could also be held in a tea room. The decoration for the party location should be elegant and formal, although that does not necessarily mean the baby shower should be overly extravagant or that a house needs to be taken care of by a maid service to be appropriate.

You can hold a baby shower at just about any time during the day but they are typically held during the weekend or in the evening because most guests work in the daytime. Perhaps if none of the guests work in the daytime, showers can be held while the kids are at school. A baby shower tea is most suited for the afternoon, because the afternoon is the most ideal time for a tea party. However, some may prefer to hold a shower late in the morning. During a baby shower, almost any refreshments could be served, but at a baby shower tea, the appropriate choice is scones and tea sandwiches. Gifts and favors are usually a main part of a typical shower, but at a baby shower tea, gifts need not be exchanged and party favors should be either relevant to the tea party or cut out completely. It's common nowdays for some baby showers to include the the expectant father and sometimes guests give gifts for the dad to be, but at baby shower teas the company should be strictly women.

Both kinds of celebrations have pros and cons, but a mother to be can have both types if she wants. Celebrating the birth of a new baby can be a joyous occasion.  Whether you bring together friends and family for a baby shower party or a more formal baby shower tea, you can't go wrong if you just make it intimate, special and distinctively yours!

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Looking for assistance in planning a shower party?  Bama Babies and Birthdays offers hosts unique baby shower favors, party decorations and baby gift ideas along with other resources in helping you design a formal or fun affair.