Baby shower invitation wording
Fifteen blocks of wording, sorted by the tone you are after. Swap the bracketed parts for your own details. The awkward parts of a shower invitation are not the greeting — they are gifts, who exactly is invited, and what happens if this is not the first baby, so those are covered below too.
Short and plain
The one to use if you are sending it as a message.
A baby shower for [name].
[Day date], [time], at [place].
Hosted by [name]. Reply by [date].
[Name] is having a baby, and we are having tea about it.
Baby shower · [day date] · [time]
[Place] — let [host name] know by [date].
Come and celebrate [name] and baby [surname].
[Day date] from [time] until [time]
[Place]. RSVP to [host name] by [date].
Warm
The most useful register for a shower: friendly, not twee, and readable out loud.
There is a baby on the way,
and that is worth an afternoon.
Please join us for a shower honouring [name]
[Day date] · [time] to [time]
[Venue name], [address]
Reply to [host name] by [date]
Before the sleepless bit begins,
come and sit down with [name].
Baby shower, [day date], [time]
[Place]
Tea, cake and no games that anybody has to win.
Let us know by [date].
A little one is nearly here.
Join [host name] in celebrating [name] and baby [surname]
on [day date] at [time], at [place].
Kindly reply by [date].
A surprise shower
Put the secret first, in capitals. Everything else can wait a line.
SHH — this is a surprise.
[Name] knows nothing about it, so please do not mention it to them or to [partner name].
Surprise baby shower · [day date] · arrive by [time]
[Place]
Reply to [host name] by [date].
We are surprising [name].
Please arrive by [time] — they are due at [time].
[Day date], [place]
Keep it off social media until afterwards, and reply to [host name] by [date].
A surprise shower for [name].
Not a word.
[Day date] · doors [time] · [place]
RSVP quietly to [host name] by [date].
When partners and children are included
Say the room out loud. "Couples shower" and "family shower" are not words everybody uses the same way.
A shower for [name] and [name] — everybody welcome.
Partners, children, the lot.
[Day date], [time] to [time], at [place]
Tell [host name] how many of you by [date].
Baby shower for [name].
Bring your other half — this one is for everybody.
[Day date] · [time] · [place]
Reply by [date] with numbers.
Come and celebrate [name] and [name].
There is a garden, so small people are very welcome.
[Day date] from [time]
[Place] — let us know how many by [date].
A second baby, or no gifts
Both of these are easier said plainly than danced around.
Baby number two is on the way.
[Name] has everything except an afternoon off, so that is what this is.
[Day date], [time], [place]
No gifts — just come. Reply by [date].
A sprinkle, not a shower.
Second babies deserve cake too.
[Day date] at [time], [place]
Nothing needed but you. RSVP by [date].
Please, genuinely, no presents.
Come and eat something and tell [name] it will be fine.
[Day date] · [time] · [place]
Reply by [date].
What it has to say, whichever you pick
- Who is hosting, and who it is forA shower is usually thrown by somebody other than the person being celebrated, and the invitation has to make both clear or half the replies go to the wrong phone.
- Whether it is a surpriseIf it is, say so in capitals and say who not to tell. One person forwarding an invitation to the wrong chat is all it takes.
- Who is invited, exactly"You and a guest" and "you and your family" are a different room and a different amount of food. This is the single most-argued line on a shower invitation, so leave nothing to interpretation.
- When it starts and when it endsShowers run long if nobody says otherwise, and the person it is for is pregnant and will be tired before the guests are.
- Gifts, if there is a registryOne line at the bottom, never at the top. A registry mentioned first reads as the point of the day.
Questions
How do I word the registry without it being the point of the day?
One line, at the bottom, after the reply instructions — something like "If you would like to bring something, [name] has a list at [link]". Above the date it reads as the reason for the invitation; below the RSVP it reads as an answer to a question guests were going to ask anyway.
Who is meant to host a baby shower?
Anybody. The old rule that it should not be close family has quietly gone, and in plenty of families it never applied. What matters on the invitation is that the host's name is on it so replies go somewhere.
How do I say partners are not invited?
By naming the guest and nothing else, and by saying the room in the wording — "an afternoon with [name]'s friends" is understood. If somebody asks, say yes or no plainly; a vague answer is how two people turn up.
When should a shower be?
Usually between about 28 and 32 weeks — early enough that the guest of honour can enjoy it, late enough that the nursery is a real thing, and four to six weeks before the due date. Send the invitation four to six weeks ahead of the shower.
What do I do about the people who cannot travel?
Send them the same link. If the shower is on a page, they can leave a message on it that keeps, rather than sending a text that scrolls away.
Somewhere to put it
Once you have your wording it needs an address. You can build the whole page free — one of fourteen designs, your photographs, your words — and the same link carries you from the gender reveal to the birth announcement and on to the first birthday, keeping the messages and the guest list.
Make the page to put it onSee the designs