Barbecue Themed Couples Baby Shower

Having a co-ed baby shower is a fun alternative to the traditional baby shower where the parents-to-be can share the celebration with all of their family and friends. Planning a baby shower with a BBQ theme is a fun way to encourage the guys to come. Having a Baby Shower as a cookout makes for a more casual atmosphere where the guys can be comfortable and also makes for a family-friendly baby shower theme. If you are the hostess of a co-ed shower it is suggested to get a male helper to co-host. Not only will he help balance activity planning, he will also help encourage the other guys to attend -- which sometimes can be one of the challenges in throwing a couples shower. Below are some tips and ideas to help with your planning...

Tips and Ideas for Planning a Barbecue Themed Co-ed Baby Shower

Location

An outdoor baby shower is a laid-back celebration that can include all of your family and friends. Choosing a location for this type of shower is simple -- a Baby-Q Couples Shower is perfect right in the backyard. If you cannot accommodate a lot of people in your home or backyard, find a public park where there will be plenty of space. Be sure to check with the park office about reserving picnic spaces. You may have to rent the picnic space for large groups.

Guest List and Invitations

When planning a couples shower be sure to involve both expectant-parents in the planning process, especially when it comes to the date of the celebration. Be sure to agree on a date that's good for both of them to avoid conflicts with a sporting event or girls night out. Once the date has been decided it is time to create the guest list with both parents. Ask them to make of list of people they would like to invite and make sure that there are plenty of the dad-to-be friends on the list.

When picking an invitation, avoid too many pastel colors and opt for a more man-friendly invitation; ideally one that has a cookout theme. You may also want to consider tweaking your invitation wording to replace the word "shower" with "celebration". If you do choose to use the word "shower" make sure that it is clearly stated that it's a guy-friendly baby shower.

Holy Smokes! Barbeque Themed Baby Shower Invitation

Buy some bubblegum cigars in either pink or blue if the expectant parents know the gender, if not use both colors. Then attach the bubblegum cigars to an invitation with the wording:

Holy Smokes!

(insert mother's name) and (insert father's name) are having a bundle of joy!

You are invited to a barbeque celebration in their honor. We’ll be Grillin’ and Chillin’ so come join us for a roast of a good time!

When:
June 3rd, 2011 @ 5:30pm

Where:
123 Subview Drive
Germantown, WI 50322

Please RSVP to Dawn by May 29th

When sending the invitations you could also include a recipe card and request for the guests to write down their favorite barbeque recipe for the dad-to-be so he will have a variety of grilling recipes, because he might be in charge of cooking for awhile.

When planning a male-friendly baby shower picking the menu is the important part since the main event is defiantly the food. Cute finger foods and foo-foo appetizers are not going to cut it at this baby shower. When picking the menu you can either choose to have gourmet barbecue dishes or serve classic barbecue favorites like hamburgers and hotdogs. Most people enjoy a backyard barbecue, and this type of menu typically requires less planning than a traditional baby shower menu, and offers the guys an opportunity to brag about their grilling skills.

Serve the food buffet style and make sure there is plenty of seating places for all your guests. Consider serving a "baby-menu" and make mini versions of burgers, hot dogs, and serve salads and sides in small serving cups. Offer a variety of drinks like beer, mocktails, and lemonade. Put out a wheelbarrow or metal beverage tubs full of ice for bevarges and beer, tie a bottle opener to the handle for an easy self-service drink station.

Decorations

Decorations for this type of shower should be kept simple, try to down-play or avoid pastel or frilly traditional baby shower decorations. Keep it fun, festive and gender neutral.

Games and Activities

When deciding on if you should plan games or activities for the shower it is best to talk it over with the male co-host and the parents-to-be on their preferences. If you decide to have activities make sure to plan games that both men and women will feel comfortable playing and will have a good time.

Many people decide not to have games at a coed baby showers, instead guests will talk and mingle and share parenting advice which makes for a fun, intimate party with friends and family. However, almost always, when the guys actually play the baby shower games, they really get into them. They love competition! So, games or no games, everyone will have a great time.

If you are not planning to have scheduled activities here are a few suggestions:

Set up a game area with activities such as Cornhole, Ladder Golf, Frisbee, Badminton or Bocce. This will give the guests something to do between mingling with other guests.

Have the items ready for a pick-up game of softball, kickball, or flag football.

Set up an area for the guests to put their creative skills to work and make the parents-to-be some cute gifts. Have a table with supplies to make the expectant dad a barbecue/grilling cookbook. Have recipe cards so that they guests can write their favorite recipe along with a piece of advice for a new dad.

Have a craft area where guests can create the dad-to-be grill aprons and bibs for the baby. They can hand paint plain aprons with fun sayings like, "A Man and his Grill", "Super Dad" "I Cook for Survival", "Big Daddy on the Grill", etc. The guests can paint bibs with sayings like, "BBQ Apprentice", "Grill It Daddy-O", "Born to Grill", "Future Grill Master", etc.

Some of the guys will enjoy playing games especially if it involves being competitive, here are a few suggestions:

Have a Diaper Raffle. For any guest who brings a bag of drapers, they will receive a ticket and win a prize. (Be sure to include activity information in the invitation.)

Have a Diaper Poker Tournament. Each guest will bring a pack a diapers as the buy in, each pack will be for a specific amount of chips (i.e. $250 chips). Create a nice prize for the winner of the tournament, for example a Grilling gift basket with grilling utensils and gourmet sauces. It's a win-win for guests and the parents-to-be, a guest will get a nice prize and the new parents will have a hearty supply of drapers.

Opening Gifts

Opening of the gifts is another area where the parents-to-be will need to be consulted, most women enjoy watching gifts be opened but this may bore the guys.

If they prefer to open the gifts together make sure to have the mom and dad-to-be sit together, so that they are both involved with the opening. The expectant-mom could open all the gifts from the female guests and the dad-to-be could open the gifts from the male guests, or they can take turns opening the gifts.

If the guys get bored, put them to work. For toys or gifts that need assembly, you can ask the male guest to work on them while the other gifts are being opened. On the other hand if the guys do not want to be involved, have an area where they can retreat and watch a movie or sports, or this may be a great time for the guys to have the Diaper Poker Tournament.

Favors

Guys love food so having edible baby shower favors may be the best option. Package foods that are sure to please all the guests like chocolate-covered pretzels, cookies, candy bars, or add a few guy-favorites like beef jerky or nuts. Other options for guy-friendly favors are cigars with personalized matchbook, sports cards, mini-flashlights, pocket knives, or movie rental gift card.

Another great favor option that will go along with the Backyard Barbeque Baby Shower Theme are KC Masterpiece® brand Barbecue sauce favors. All you need are bottles of KC Masterpiece® Barbecue sauce and favor cards with the wording: Thanks for coming and creating a masterpiece of a Baby Celebration. Hope you had a smoking good time. Happy Grilling! from (insert mother's name) and (insert father's name).

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