Baby Shower Supply Checklist

The core list

• Invitations: sent 4–6 weeks out, with registry details and an RSVP contact; a digital invite is fine and normal now. For printed sets you can personalize, see baby shower invitations on Zazzle.
• Seating: a chair for every guest plus one good one for the parent-to-be, positioned for gift opening with a side table for drinks and scissors.
• Tables: one gift table (sturdy — it will hold more than you think), one food table, one drinks station, one game/favor table if space allows.
• Tableware: plates in two sizes, cups plus glasses, cutlery, napkins at 2–3 per guest, serving spoons and tongs for every dish.
• Decor: one backdrop or banner moment behind the gift-opening chair, table centerpieces (low, so guests see each other), and an entry sign. Personalized banners and signs are at baby shower banners on Zazzle.

Games and activities supplies

• 2–3 games maximum. More than that and the party becomes a worksheet. Print games at one per guest plus 10%, with pens — the most forgotten supply in shower history. Printed game cards you can personalize: baby shower games on Zazzle.
• Prizes: 4–6 small prizes (one per game plus ties). Edible prizes disappear happily; scented candles and hand creams are the reliable classics.
• One non-game activity for guests who hate games: a onesie or bib decorating station, or advice/wishes cards with a keepsake box.
• A “guess the date/weight” card station by the door keeps early arrivals busy while you finish setting up.

Food and drink holding — the part that needs a plan

Shower food sits out for the whole party, which makes it a food-safety exercise: cold dishes on ice trays, hot dishes in chafing dishes or slow cookers, and nothing perishable past two hours (one hour if the room or patio runs hot). Small batches, refilled from the fridge, beat one heroic platter. Drinks: one signature mocktail in a dispenser, water visibly available, and coffee if the shower starts before noon.

• Cake or dessert centerpiece ordered 2+ weeks out; confirm pickup time and who is slicing.
• Ice: about 1 pound per guest covers drinks and food chilling for an indoor shower.
• Labels for dishes with allergens — the parent-to-be's crowd always includes someone asking.

At home or a rented space?

Home wins under about 25 guests if the host's space can seat everyone without furniture Tetris. Cross 25–30 guests, or add a gift-opening audience and games, and a rented room earns its fee in chairs, parking, and not cleaning your own house. Local rooms that host showers regularly — banquet rooms, garden spaces, brewery halls — are listed on the event spaces in Vero Beach page, grouped by setting.

Week-of order

• 1 week out: confirm final count with the parent-to-be, print games, buy shelf-stable supplies and prizes.
• 2 days out: pick up decor and paper goods; confirm cake order and any rentals.
• Day before: set tables and the gift-opening chair, hang the backdrop, chill drinks.
• Day of: ice and food out last, camera charged, one person assigned to photos and one to the door.

Favors for the shower crowd are tiered by budget in the party favor ideas guide, and the full party-planning sequence lives in the planning hub. Personalized shower favors are browsable at baby shower favors on Zazzle.