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Baby Shower Timeline         Timeline Home Week-by-Week before the shower Week 10 Week 9 Week 8 Week 7 Week 6 Week 5 Week 4 Week 3 Week 2 Week 1 For the day of the shower, see step #10 of our great Good Hostess's Guide to Surviving a Baby Shower Planning worksheets Free baby shower planning worksheets For a complete planning guide 8 Steps to the Perfect Baby Shower

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Eight Weeks Before the Baby Shower

The day is getting closer and so far you haven’t really done much more than the ground work, but this is the week were you will start committing to everything.  You need to start sifting through the piles of lists that everyone is giving you and combine them into one organized guest list.  Chase down the lists that are still missing and make sure that you have them in hand by the end of the week or at the latest, the end of next week.  I know you have two more weeks to worry about the guest list, but you will want to get a general idea of the number of invitations to order.

Things you need to do:

If you are planning to have the shower anywhere besides a home, this is the week to nail down reservations.  Although you can leave it until much later, you will want to book that spot now so there is no conflicting bookings occurring on your date.  With the venue set, you will be able to sit back, relax and get those invitations printed.

Book the caterer if you are catering out.  If you are ordering the food in, i.e. Chinese food, give the restaurant a heads up that you will be ordering a large quantity for a baby shower.  This doesn’t need to be done until closer to the shower date but sometimes restaurants will give you a little something extra for using them for a party.

Compile the guest list.

If you are ordering the invitations, this is the week to do so.  Plan for a two-week delivery buffer time, but many online invitation shops will ship it to you much faster than that.  To be safe, it is best to never leave invitations until the last minute, and also order about 10 extras for last minute additions to your guest list.  If you are purchasing store bought, you can hold off for another week but when you see the invitation you like, pick them up right away since they could be sold out the next time you are in.  Don’t forget to order the matching thank you notes while you are at it.

Start thinking about a menu.  This will be easy if have already booked a caterer, but if you are making everything yourself spend a little time browsing our new recipe section for some great ideas (more being added every month).

Now that you have a complete guest list, tweak your budget to accommodate the amount of people that are coming.  Trim the guest list if you are worried about costs but check first with the mom-to-be and anyone else who gave you a checklist before you decide on who can be removed from the list.  Expectant mom’s third cousin six times removed, who only sees her once every 6 years, may not need to be invited.

Go to Week 7 >>