Barbecue Themed Couples Baby Shower

Planning a themed baby shower is always fun, and what better way to get the guys to come to the celebration than by hosting a BBQ Jack-and-Jill baby shower. Having a backyard cookout Baby Shower makes for a casual atmosphere that the guys can be comfortable in 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. By having a man involved with the planning they can help with encouraging the guys to attend and answering any questions that could arise. Below are some tips and advice that will help in planning for the joyous event easier.

Location

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 picnic spaces, also you can typically rent a picnic space for large groups. An outdoor baby shower is a laid-back type of celebration that can include all of your family and friends.

Guest List and Invitations

When planning the 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 is good for both of them, because you do not want it to conflict with any 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 stay away from the pastel colors and opt for a more man-friendly invitation, make sure to choose an invitation that has a cookout theme. You may also want to consider choosing your invitation wording carefully, and refrain from using the word "shower", instead use the word "celebration". If you do choose to use the word "shower" make sure that it is clearly stated that it is a guy-friendly baby shower.

Barbeque Themed Baby Shower Invitation Ideas:

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 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.

Menu

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, above all be sure not to include any pastel or frilly traditional baby shower decorations. Keep it casual and use decorations with a country-style, Hawaiian luau, or red-white-and-blue for 4th of July. When decorating for a country-styled baby shower use red-and-white checker board table clothes, place a few hay bales together along with a bouquet of daisies and use as the gift table; or use the hay bales in the front yard and attach a sign to direct guests to the back yard. When decorating with a Hawaiian luau motif use tiki torches, paper lanterns, palm trees, grass table runners, fresh tropical fruit centerpiece, hibiscus flowers, and have leis for all the guests. When decorating for a 4th of July baby shower use plenty of red-white-and-blue from red-and-white checker board table clothes, plenty of mini American flags, Citranella candle buckets, balloon bouquets, and streamers.

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 Frisbee, Badminton, or football throwing. 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:

• Baby Bottle Drinking Race

• Baby Stroller Nascar Race

• Pregnant Twister

• Feed the Baby

• Have a Diaper Raffle. For any guest that brings a bag of drapers 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 parent-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-t-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 if they receive any 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 any area where they can retreat and watch a movie or sports, or this may be a great time for the guys to have a 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).