When to send out baby shower invitations
A baby shower is a joyous occasion where friends and family gather to celebrate the mom or parents-to-be, offering gifts and support for their new arrival. Whether you’re organizing an extravagant party for a first-time parent or planning a more low-key baby sprinkle to welcome a second child, choosing your invitations and sending them to your guests can be a fun and exciting process. But what’s not always so easy is knowing when to send out your baby shower invitations.
Read on for all the details and tips on baby shower invitation timing and etiquette so you can plan a sweet and memorable celebration to welcome a precious new arrival.
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When to send baby shower invitations
Whenever you choose to host the baby shower, it’s a good idea to send invitations out six to eight weeks before that date. This gives guests enough time to mark their calendars, plan accordingly, and hopefully RSVP “yes.” It will also give guests plenty of time to pick out the perfect baby shower gift to bring, which you can help them out with by including a Registry Block on your Paperless Post invitation with links to one or multiple baby shower registries on the web.
How early you send out baby shower invites also depends on the type of invitation you choose. Digital invitations—like those sent with Paperless Post—make inviting guests easy, and they arrive instantly or at a scheduled time of your choosing. However, if you’re sending physical invitations in the mail, you’ll want to mail them a little earlier to allow for transit and delivery time.
Paperless Post lets you send and share baby shower invitations your way, via email, text message, or a shareable link. Our online invitations cover every baby shower theme and party aesthetic you can think of, from up in the starry skies to down under the sea.
Sending out baby shower invitations early also gives you time to plan everything to a T, from fun baby shower games to adorable decorations to the snacks and sips. Getting an accurate headcount with enough advance notice will help inform these planning decisions as well. Collect both adult and child headcounts when you send your invitations with Paperless Post, designate whether guests can bring guests, and set an RSVP deadline to close the window to respond after a certain date.
If you have guests coming in from out of town for the baby shower or just want to make sure everyone marks their calendars well in advance, you can also send out save the dates for the shower eight or more weeks out.
As for the baby shower timing itself, most parents-to-be wait until the end of the first trimester to announce the pregnancy, so anytime in between then and about four weeks prior to the due date is acceptable for hosting a shower, based on schedules and preferences. However, it’s most common to host a baby shower between the end of the second trimester and the beginning of the third, to make sure the expecting guest of honor is comfortable (but still has a nice-sized bump for photo ops!). Our helpful guide on planning a baby shower helps you organize the details and find ideas for putting together an extra special event.
Some couples opt to have a gathering after the baby is born. A sip and see is a way to introduce their tiny new human to family and friends, often while enjoying refreshments and giving gifts to the new parents. Usually held from a few weeks to a few months after birth, depending on how the new family feels, sip and see invitations should be sent at least four weeks in advance. Feature your precious new arrival with an adorable baby photo or give a nod to the event’s theme with invitations inspired by tea parties or celebratory Champagne bubbles.
What to include in a baby shower invitation
Once you’ve chosen the perfect invitations, it’s time to customize them with your event details. Our guide to baby shower invitation wording takes the guesswork out of what to write to your guests and how to lay out your party information. Include all of the essentials on your invitation, including the date, time, location, host’s name, and of course, the name of the guest of honor being showered. Add Blocks to include additional details in organized sections on your event page, like directions, a dress code, parking instructions, or a schedule of events.
Include a Photo Gallery Block to share cute pictures with your invitation, enable a Comment Wall to allow everyone to share their well wishes, and communicate with guests with reminders or event updates through individual or broadcast messages.
You can also enable Guest Questions with your Paperless Post invitation to gather helpful planning information. Ask guests about things like dietary restrictions, drink preferences, or favorite baby shower games using checkbox-style, multiple-choice, or open-ended questions that they’ll respond to when they RSVP.
A baby shower invitation should also provide guests with information about preferred gifting. If the parents-to-be have a registry set up, include the links in a Registry Block, or add a Gifts Block with details and links to the types of gifts and items they enjoy, or wording about whether they prefer no gifts. You can also let guests know on the invitation whether they should bring anything to the shower, such as bottles of wine or additional sweet treats, which you can include in a Details Block, or provide a link to a spreadsheet to sign up potluck-style in a Links Block.
Shower them with love using Paperless Post
Show the parents-to-be how much they mean to you by announcing their baby shower with beautiful online baby shower invitations from Paperless Post. With hundreds of designs to choose from, you’ll find a style that matches the spirit of welcoming Baby and celebrating the joy of the occasion. And once the little one has arrived, we’ve got you covered with customizable birth announcements to start spreading the news. Celebrate any baby, from arrival to 1st birthdays and beyond, with Paperless Post.
Welcome a new little one with adorable, customizable designs to fit every theme.
