Guides
The baby
shower.
The only occasion here whose date is set by something that may move — which is why the timeline runs earlier than instinct suggests.
When should a baby shower be held?
Four to six weeks before the due date — late enough to feel imminent, early enough that an early arrival does not cancel it. Send invitations four weeks ahead. For an adoption or surrogacy, hold it when the timing is known rather than against a due date, and choose wording that does not assume a pregnancy.
01
The timeline.
| Quando | What |
|---|---|
| 3 months before the due date | Host and date agreed — earlier than most people plan it |
| 8–9 weeks before the due date | Design and print |
| 8 weeks before the due date | Send (about 4 weeks before the shower) |
| 4–6 weeks before the due date | The shower itself |
| After | Thank-you cards — design them with the invitation, you will not want to later |
02
The pieces.
- The invitation — essential.
- A menu and place cards — if seated. Many showers are not.
- An advice or wish card — the one printed extra guests genuinely engage with, and the parents keep.
- Thank-you cards — a new parent will not want to design stationery. Do it now.
Choose wording that fits the real situation. "A shower honouring Elodie" works for a first baby, a second, an adoption or a surrogacy. "Before the baby arrives" does not always. This is the occasion where a thoughtless standard phrase does the most damage.
03
Common questions
Should we announce the sex?
Can men be invited?
Is a second-baby shower acceptable?
A suite for the whole arrival.
Shower invitation, advice cards, announcements and thank-you cards designed together — so the first pieces about a new person read as one thing.
See baby shower design