How far in advance should you start planning a baby shower?

Start planning 10 to 12 weeks before the shower date for the smoothest experience. This gives you time to book a venue, send invitations with adequate notice, order a custom cake, gather decorations without rush shipping, and follow up on RSVPs with enough lead time to plan food quantities. The shower itself is typically held between 28 and 35 weeks of pregnancy - about 4 to 8 weeks before the due date.

What is the most important thing to do first when planning a baby shower?

The two most critical first steps are confirming the shower date with the mama-to-be and booking the venue. Every other decision flows from these two - invitations cannot go out, a theme cannot be finalized, and food cannot be planned until you know when and where the shower is happening. After those are locked in, run the budget calculator before spending anything so you have a realistic spending plan from the start.

Will my checklist progress be saved between visits?

Yes - every item you check off saves automatically in your browser as you click it. As long as you return to this page on the same device and browser, your progress will be exactly where you left it. Clearing your browser data will reset the checklist, so bookmark this page for easy return access. Use the Print button to keep a paper backup of your current progress.

What are the most commonly forgotten baby shower planning tasks?

The most commonly overlooked tasks are: designating a gift recorder during opening, buying enough pens for games and raffle tickets, planning how to get all the gifts home after the shower, bringing garbage bags for wrapping paper, and following up on RSVPs after the deadline. The checklist above includes all of these so nothing slips through - work through it phase by phase and you will not miss a thing.

How many tasks are on this baby shower checklist?

The checklist covers 95 tasks organized across 8 planning phases - from the first decisions made 10 to 12 weeks out all the way through the thank-you notes sent after the shower. Each phase has a progress bar showing how many tasks in that phase are complete, and the overall progress bar at the top shows your total completion percentage across the whole checklist.

Can more than one person use this checklist?

The checklist saves to the individual browser it is used on, so each co-host would have their own separate progress on their own device. The best approach for co-hosted showers is to designate one person as the primary checklist keeper, or to use the Print function to create a shared paper version that everyone references. The print-out includes all 95 tasks organized by phase so it works perfectly as a shared paper document.