Practical Ideas for a Small Baby Shower (2024)

Throwing a small baby shower for your newest family member could be appealing for several reasons.

Perhaps you prefer an intimate gathering surrounded by close friends and family. Or maybe you’re trying to throw a baby shower on a budget.

If this is your second or third baby, you may want to throw a low-key party for your little one that isn’t as intense as a full-blown shower, such as a sprinkle baby shower.

Whatever your reasons, small baby showers can be just as exciting and rewarding as larger showers – without compromising on the fun!

Let’s take a look at some small baby shower ideas to help you throw an intimate celebration for your baby-to-be.

How Many People to Invite to a Small Baby Shower

Now that you’ve decided to throw a small baby shower, you might be left wondering – how intimate should a “small” baby shower really be?

At WebBabyShower, we’ve hosted hundreds of virtual showers for future parents like you, which has given us a lot of insight. From our experience, we’ve learned an average-sized baby shower tends to include 20 to 50 people.

So, if you want to keep things on the smaller side, we recommend inviting 20 or fewer guests. Keeping the number below 20 ensures you’ll get to spend quality time with all of your loved ones – which is what a small baby shower is all about!

How to Throw a Small Baby Shower

Now that you know how many people you should invite to your small baby shower, let’s take a deep dive into hosting your celebration. Next, we’ll discuss practical small baby shower ideas to make your event an intimate and rewarding experience.

Our guide will teach you how to throw an enjoyable small baby shower – without breaking the bank!

Have a Small Gathering

The main advantage of a small baby shower is that you have fewer guests, allowing you to spend quality time with your close friends and family.

However, reducing your small baby shower guest list to just 20 people can be extremely difficult, especially if you have a large family or friend group.

If you have over 20 people you’d like to invite, you should consider hosting multiple baby showers with smaller groups. Hosting several small showers permits you to invite all of your loved ones while still maintaining an intimate setting.

You can host different baby showers for your various friend groups, such as close family, co-workers, and childhood friends. This will make your small baby showers more enjoyable (and less awkward) since your loved ones are likely to know the other guests in attendance.

Throw a Hybrid Baby Shower

Does one of your closest friends live across the country and can’t attend your baby shower? Or, maybe you only have the budget to host 15 people, but there are more loved ones you’d like to invite?

If these sound like problems you’re dealing with, we’ve found the perfect solution: the hybrid baby shower!

Hybrid baby showers allow you to host an in-person shower for close friends and family who live nearby and a virtual shower for the rest of the group. They’re awesome – because they allow everyone you love to attend your event without compromising the small baby shower atmosphere.

Your virtual baby shower guests can still talk to each other, play baby shower games, and see the gifts being opened. This means they get to participate in the fun aspects of your small baby shower without spending time and money traveling to the event.

Typically, virtual baby showers last one to two hours, which is about as long as an in-person shower. So, your virtual guests will still get the full baby shower experience. No one will feel like they are missing out!

To learn more about hosting a hybrid baby shower, check out this informative guide.

Send Digital Invitations

Sending handwritten invites can be time-consuming and expensive. To keep your small baby shower budget-friendly, consider sending digital invitations online.

Many online platforms allow you to send baby shower invitations with RSVP tracking, so you’ll immediately know who’s attending.

At WebBabyShower, we take online invites to the next level by allowing you to send unlimited invitations via email and our mobile app.

Our platform also permits you to create separate guest lists. So, if you’re planning on hosting multiple small baby showers, sending different invites to your groups is a piece of cake.

If you love themed invitations, you’re in luck! WebBabyShower offers 80+ virtual invitation designs to suit a wide variety of interests. Whether your baby shower theme is outer space, jungle, or rainbow, we’ve got invitations to match.

If you’d like to learn more about how WebBabyShower works – including how to send and design invitations, create a themed website, and more – check out this article.

Host at Home

As Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz says, “there’s no place like home”. This sentiment is especially true when it comes to hosting a small baby shower.

Hosting at your house will save you time and money since you won’t have to search and pay for a venue. Home baby showers create an intimate and casual vibe – the perfect atmosphere for a small baby shower.

If hosting at your own home is too stressful, consider having the party at a close friend or family member’s place instead. You will still get the intimacy of hosting at home without having to do all the cleaning afterward!

If you want to host outside of the home, try to pick a free venue, such as a public park. Inexpensive venues are ideal since they give you a change of scenery without eating away at your budget.

If you choose an outdoor venue, make sure to keep an eye on the weather. You don’t want to get rained out!

Consider Baby Shower Alternatives

If traditional baby showers aren’t your thing, don’t feel pressured to have one! There are plenty of other ways to celebrate your baby-to-be without conforming to standard baby shower traditions. Here, we go through nine baby shower alternatives you might want to consider instead.