How to host a drive by Baby Shower

If, like me, you are pregnant and worried about having a baby shower during a pandemic, I think you will find these tips on how to host a drive by baby shower useful. After months at home with barely any contact with the outside world, having a drive by baby shower was one of the highlights of my pregnancy!

A couple weeks ago our friends threw us a drive by baby shower and it far exceeded all of my expectations. Like many moms to be, I was pretty upset about missing my baby shower. I have the most wonderful memories from my baby showers for my first child so I knew exactly what I would be missing this time around.

To be honest, the prospect of hosting a zoom call was not appealing to me in the least. I have been on enough zoom calls for work and if you have ever tried to wrangle a wriggly toddler while conducting a zoom call you know it just does not work. You either spend the entire call on mute or else everyone else on the call is interrupted by your kid’s constant chatter and super-close ups.

At this time of social distancing, a drive by shower seemed like the best option. Our town home is an end unit with a grassy space in front of it. We figured if people felt comfortable, they could  stand around on the grass for a little while chatting. Little did we know how much we would all enjoy this!

How to host a drive by baby shower:

Invites:

My friends used Paperless post to create a cute, French maritime themed invitation. I was able to give them the emails of the people I hoped would attend and they managed the guest list through Paperless post. A benefit to a drive by baby shower is that you are not as limited on number of invites as you would be in your own home. We were able to invite our friends without worrying about crowding up our living room or having to cook too much food.

Timing:

We scheduled our drive by shower from 10am to 12pm. Morning worked for us because we have a toddler who naps all afternoon (bless!). We also didn’t want to be too close to a meal time to limit any additional contact and not make any one feel uncomfortable. People arrived on a flow and stayed for varying amounts of time so there was never more than a few families at one time.

Location:

If you live in a house, the front drive is perfect. Guests have the choice to simply drive by or to park and safe distance visit with you. If you live in an apartment or a place without a front drive, giving an easily accessible outdoor location, like a park, is perfect. 

Decor:

Our friends surprised us with cute pompoms and garlands that they strung up over our front door and in the trees on our lawn. A chalk sign propped up on the sidewalk welcoming “Baby G” was such a nice touch.

Food/Drink

When Le Chef and I welcome friends to our home we pride ourselves in offering beautiful food and drink. Of course, we knew this would be different with safety being the primary concern. We did want to have something to offer our friends, however; in case they wanted to get out of the car and hang out on the lawn. Thankfully we planned for this! It was a hot day and as our friends arrived they lingered. We had set up a champagne bucket full of ice and offered sparkling wine, Rosé and a variety of canned drinks. We served wines in disposable champagne glasses we ordered off of Amazon and I found that San Pellegrino flavored sparkling water cans have a top covering making them even more sanitary.  For kids we offered juice boxes and boxes of animal crackers.

There were a few moments that I regretted not having more food to offer guests, but at this current time it is much better safe than sorry.

Party favors:

Keeping with the South of France theme, I made little bags of lavender. I ordered a big bag of bulk Organic French lavender and these pretty Provençal bags.

We also offered our guests the traditional gift of Dragées, French candied almonds, which are supposed to bring good luck, along with a cute form guessing the baby’s due date for the guests to fill out a home.

While our baby shower was different than anything I would have imagined, it was absolutely magical.  Taking the focus off of the production of an event at home and simply reveling in the human connection (from a safe distance) was so special and made for an event that was even easier on the hosts.

We had signed up for a gift registry and were absolutely floored by the generosity of our guests.

I am so grateful to my friends Brittany and Julie for offering to throw us this baby shower and encouraging me not wait to have the shower as I initially planned to do…hoping the situation would get better. Who knows what will happen over the next few months, but I am so grateful to have had this moment of celebration in honor of our baby on the way. It was a ray of light in such isolating times.

Thank you so much for reading. Moms to be, tell me, did you have a baby shower? How are you celebrating your baby to be?

Au plaisir,

Le Chef’s Wife