How to Host the Best Virtual Baby Shower

In the days of social distancing and moving apart, figuring out how to do a virtual baby shower is an essential skill. 

Look no further as we’ve got the best and most creative long distance baby shower ideas to share with you. 

Plain and simple, baby showers are a time to celebrate the soon-to-be parents and new baby. And with all the video chatting platforms available these days this can be achieved virtually just as well, if not better, as an in-person event. 

All the elements are still there – the invites, scheduling, games, favors, and (of course) the showering of presents. 

Best part is that by hosting a virtual baby shower you don’t have to worry about distance or spreading potential germs. Not to mention clean up is a breeze! 

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Start with the Guest List 

Just like a traditional shower, you should start with a guest list. 

If you are hosting the shower for the mom-to-be, you may want to ask them directly who they want to invite and their contact information.

It may at first seem like the guest list is less important for a virtual baby shower than a traditional one. You can pretty much invite as many people as you want since you don’t need to have the physical space for all the guests or worry about enough food for everyone either, right?

So does the guest list really matter?

Short answer is yes, it’s still important to start with your guest list. 

It will still determine a lot of other aspects of your shower. 

The number of guests can impact which type of platform you choose, how you want to structure the party, and which activities you can reasonably manage. 

Also, who you’re inviting makes a big difference too. For instance, if most of your guests are local, you have the ability to drop off any party supplies or favors as well as the option for guests to drive by. If your guests are spread further away, you’re more limited.

Another consideration is whether you want a Co-ed guest list or the most traditional women-only shower. This will help guide which types of activities you choose.

Finally, keep in mind the tech savviness of the guest list.  Your peers and your grandparents may have different capabilities when it comes to navigating technology. Use your best judgement when selecting platforms and activities and try to make sure your party will be accessible to all of your guests.

Think About a Structure and Schedule

Based on the members and size of your guest list, you’ll want to start thinking about a potential schedule for your party. 

Small groups of 9 or less could all be online together with little planning. It’s easy to play games and have natural conversations with groups of that size. 

However, when the guests lists get larger things get a little trickier. 

For starters, most of the online platforms for your virtual baby shower won’t show more than 9 or 12 guest videos at a time. 

Conversations also get messier with larger groups over video. Background noise gets distracting if people aren’t muting themselves. Internet connections are wonky. People accidentally keep talking over each other. You get the idea. 

For larger parties you might consider either having structured activities (games, talking points, activities) or breaking it up into small groups. 

You could assign each guest an individual 10 minute slot to catch up with the new parent-to-be. Another idea is to divide the party into smaller, manageable groups of 10 or less 30 minutes each for talking and games. 

Decide on a Platform

You’ll need to choose the online platform to host your party. 

In this day and age, there are quite a few options out there.

• WebBabyShower. This is the #1 market leader in virtual baby showers and has helped over 10,000 customers and happy families since 2006. This platform allowed you to set up a shower in minutes and has features like a guest book, a gift registry page, video and photo albums, a games page, and even the ability to send and track personalized invitations from the platform itself.
• Zoom. With a free account you can invite up to 100 people and have 40 minutes of video chatting, longer time limits (and more guests!) if you upgrade to the pro account. As the host of a Zoom party you can control the muting/unmuting guest microphones, which is a really nice feature. We’re also fans of the “Touch Up My Appearance” video filter option. 
• Skype. Allows up to 50 people to video conference for free, complete with screen sharing options available. 
• Houseparty. Slightly different from a video conferencing service, Houseparty calls itself a social networking app. It allows up to 8 people to chat in one room, and users can float between rooms. One neat feature is that if you call from a phone or tablet, you can play games (like pictionary and trivia) with built-in app games. 
• Google Hangouts. Probably one of the easiest to use, Google allows you to “hang” out with up to 25 guests. One slight downside is that some users have trouble with screen sharing capabilities while video chatting, so make sure you try it out beforehand to get the hang of it. 
• Gather.  Imagine a blend of The Sims and video chatting – that would be Gather. You design a virtual party space and guests choose avatars to walk around and talk to each other. It works well for large gatherings as it mimics a party atmosphere of multiple smaller conversations happening at the same time. The free version works for up to 25 people. 

Virtual Theme Ideas

Do NOT skip on a theme just because your party is virtual. 

There are so many themes that work amazingly well for a virtual baby shower. Here are a few ideas:

• Tea Party. Ask guests to wear their fanciest hats and sip on tea throughout the festivities. 
• Rainbow. Assign colors to guests so everyone wears different shades of the rainbow. 
• Gender Reveal.  Invite guests to wear pink or blue depending on what gender they are predicting the baby will be. 
• Favorite/Nursery Colors. Ask guests to wear either the parent’s favorite color or colors based on the baby’s future nursery. 
• Sleepover. Invite guests to wear PJs and don their messiest bun for a fun sleepover themed party.
• Heaven Sent. Ahead of time, send guests little angel halos to wear with their favorite white tops. 

Register Right

When you are registering, try to make gifting as easy as possible for your guests.

It is important to keep in mind that most likely all of the gifts will be shipped to you. Local guests might be able to drop off gifts, but most people will have them shipped directly to you or have to mail the gift themselves which is often way more expensive.

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Obviously, you’ll want to register at an online store. It’s a good idea to stick to easily identifiable online stores that your guests are familiar and comfortable with already. If the store also has physical locations, make sure that items you choose are available for online purchase and not just in store.

Make sure you enter your address for registry gifts to be sent there.

The same advice often given, that you should add items at a wide range of price points, is even more important. Since people are more likely to stick to your registry for the shipping benefit, you want to be sure to include lots of options so they can find something that fits their budget.

Also some online stores, like Amazon, offer the ability for multiple people to contribute to buy a big ticket item which can increase your chances of getting some of the larger things that may be out of most price ranges.

It’s also a good idea to include sending gift cards on your registry in case guests can’t find a gift there that works for them.

How to Send Virtual Baby Shower Invitations 

Since virtual showers feel less formal, it may be tempting to skip invitations with a quick text, but we recommend making it more special. Sending an actual virtual baby shower invite, whether mailed or digital, sets the tone for the party and makes it feel more like a fun event than a virtual meeting.

Digital invitations can be emailed or texted through several services like Evite and Paperless Post and have tons of adorable options. These also track RSVPs for you making it super simple to get a head count.

Just like any shower, you want to send out your invitations early. This is especially important for a virtual shower to give guests time to have their gifts shipped. Try to send them at least 1 month before.

For the virtual baby shower invitations wording make sure you include these specific details:

• Start and end times. Be sure you note the time zone if your guests aren’t all local.
• Who is invited. For instance, if a couple is invited, include that info in the invite or send each individual their own invitation. 
• Link to the virtual party. Include any additional details or instructions for joining the party if necessary.
• Link to the baby registry.
• Anything guests will need to participate in games or activities. For instance, tell your guests if they will need any supplies for games, even if it’s simple things like pens and paper.  Also, include links to any printables or digital backgrounds that you would like people to use during the shower.

Don’t Skip the Decorations 

Decorations for a virtual baby shower are super easy so don’t be tempted to skip them.

After all, you only have to decorate one wall of a house – aka the background of the parent-to-be’s video! 

Decorations make the new parent feel loved and special. It also makes the event feel more celebratory and party-like. 

Hosts should consider sending decorations (think backdrop, streamers, balloons, banners) and outfits (crowns, sashes, etc) ahead of time to the guest of honor. 

Another fun idea is for the host to send decorative items to all of the guests. Something like streamers so all the videos have a common element. Or maybe they can send costumes (hats, sashes, etc) that are on-theme for the party. 

Just be sure to give plenty of time so the items arrive prior to the event. 

Fun Virtual Baby Shower Games and Activities 

You can still do virtual baby shower games on zoom or any other platform. 

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Virtual Baby Shower Bingo. Send out baby-themed bingo cards to your guests ahead of time via email or mail. 
• Mom and Pop Quiz. Use a quiz platform (we like ‘ahaslides’) to ask trivia about the soon-to-be parents. 
• Cribs. Remember that MTV show from back in the day? Well during this activity the parents take everyone on a virtual tour of the nursery.  
• Name That Tune.  Play some baby-themed songs and have guests guess what they heard. Be sure to include traditional (“twinkle twinkle little star”) and more modern hits like (“Baby” by Justin Bieber). 
• Baby Alphabet Game. Guests can go around and name baby-related words for each letter of the alphabet and attempt not to break the chain. Alternatively, each guest can name an item that starts with the letter the previous word ended with. For example, if one person says “crib” the next person could say “bottle”. When someone fails to answer a new word they are out and the round starts again. 
• Price is Right. Hold up baby items and have guests write down how much they think the item costs. Guests all hold up their guesses together and the person with the closest guess wins! 
• Taboo. Send a chat to one of the participants with the word they are going to try and get everyone to guess without saying one of the “taboo” words provided. 
• Baby Animals Quiz. Name some animals and have guests write down the names of their babies (example, pig/piglets, duck/ducklings). 
• Name that Baby. Ask attendees to send in baby pictures ahead of time and guess who each one is.
• Celebrity Baby Names. Match each baby name with the famous mom. 
• Parenting Advice. Go around and ask guests to provide one piece of advice for the new parents. 
• Guess the Number. The host holds up a jar filled with items (M&Ms, paperclips, Hershey’s Kisses) and asks guests to guess how many are inside.
• Build a Baby. Have guests use play-doh (can send it ahead of time!) to make a baby. 

Ideas for Virtual Baby Shower Favors 

And don’t forget the virtual baby shower favors!

Thank your guests for attending with a small favor sent by mail. And of course guests that win games should receive prizes! 

Here are a few ideas:

• Gift Cards. Things that everyone will use – like Amazon, Doordash, or Sephora/Ulta.
• Mug Cake. Who doesn’t love these? 
• Fancy Bar Soap. Practical and classy. 
• Bath Bombs. 
• Tea Bags and Shortbread. Works especially well for tea party themed showers!
• Bottle Openers. Are those the cutest??
• Flower Seeds. 

How Do You Open Gifts At A Virtual Shower?

You can open gifts during your virtual shower just like you would during a traditional baby shower. If your guests send their gifts ahead of the shower, you can simply open them in front of everyone on screen at the party.

Keep in mind that some gifts may not really be wrapped. Since many guests will likely ship gifts directly, they may not opt for gift wrapping and some items may not be eligible. 

If possible, the parent-to-be could set aside all of the shipping boxes they receive and wait until the shower to open all of the packages. Or they can still showcase any gifts that were not wrapped during the party.

An alternative to the mom-to-be opening gifts at the shower is to instead have the guests display their gifts during the shower and then send them afterwards. This works well if people don’t have time to send their gifts beforehand. 

Don’t Forget to the Video and Pictures 

You are going to want to remember this event so just like during a traditional baby shower, make sure you record some memories.

For many platforms like Zoom, you have the ability to record the entire party. Or you can record certain special parts that you want to be sure to remember, like a game or advice from your guests. Then you can rewatch the video of your party any time that you want.

You’ll probably want to take some pictures. This is a little trickier at a virtual party, but just takes a tiny bit of creativity. 

Screenshots are your best friend. Make sure to get some pics while opening gifts, playing games, and a group shot of the whole party! If you’re the parent-to-be, designate someone to take the screenshots for you.

Also, another fun idea is to ask your guests to send you photos of themselves attending your shower. You can use these to make a guest book.

You can also email your guests fun photo props they can print out to hold up during the party for pictures like these free printables.