Ideas for a Baby Shower in a Restaurant

Choosing to have a baby shower in a restaurant is beneficial when you have a small group of guests or would benefit from not having to choose the food, drinks, theme and decorations. Special events held in restaurants are often more expensive but will save you time and energy of planning the shower, as well as having to set up and clean up afterward. The tables and chairs will be available to you, and the guests may sit back and enjoy the shower and a meal.

The restaurant will take care of many aspects of the event, but you will need to make some preparations in advance. Reserve the special event room at the mother-to-be's favorite restaurant by leaving a deposit and getting necessary information, such as whether decorating is allowed, the price per meal, whether dessert is included, how many guests are allowed and any other details. Reserve the room and send out invitations six weeks to two months prior to the baby shower. On the invitation, you will want to include the location, date and time of the shower including which meal will be served.

Ask the restaurant ahead of time how much decorating is allowed, if any. You might want to decorate minimally to give the party a more intimate feel. Streamers and balloons are easy to set up and inexpensive. If the restaurant prefers you not to decorate, bring a centerpiece for the table, such as a balloon bouquet or diaper cake. Another simple way to decorate is to designate a table for the gifts, and wrap ribbon or streamers around it.

With restaurant baby showers, your games and activities will be limited, but you can still plan some. As each guest arrives, you could give her a small piece of felt you have folded into a diaper shape. One of these diapers should have a piece of chocolate in it; this will be the dirty diaper. When all of the guests have arrived, ask them to open their diapers; the person with the dirty diaper wins a prize. You could also turn the opening of gifts into an entertaining activity. As the mother-to-be opens her gifts, have someone write down her reactions to the gifts. Once all gifts have been opened, the person who wrote her reactions down will read off the list saying these are the things she said to her husband the night the baby was conceived. They may include "Oh that is so cute." This game is funny especially when guests are not expecting it.

Party favors may still be given out at a restaurant baby shower, however it will be easier to stick to small gifts. Hand each guest a small gift bag with a scented candle or homemade gift, such as baked goods or candy in shapes of pacifiers, baby booties and bottles. For a smaller group of guests, you may want to spend more by having an item personalized to remember the baby shower, such as a keychain with her initials on it. You may also skip the favor.