It’s crazy to think that in just a few months time, we’ve all had to change the ways we celebrate the milestones of life. As a mom of a high school senior, we’ve certainly felt the disappointment of missed events like prom and graduation. We have missed vacations and spring break trips, cancelled concerts, plays, sports… the list goes on and on. But this weekend I had the pleasure of celebrating upcoming birth of a co-worker and friend’s baby girl. It certainly wasn’t the typical baby shower, but it reminded me that we can always find new ways of doing things, and while different isn’t necessarily better, it can still be really good.
I wish I could take credit for the baby shower planning, but another co-worker and friend did the heavy lifting. But I can’t help but share the great ideas and resources she pulled together in the hopes that someone else might be inspired and encouraged in their own online celebration planning. Many of these ideas could apply to other events, like wedding showers, birthdays, graduation parties and more.
So the first step to a virtual party is of course finding a platform to host it on. I’m partial to Zoom, but if you don’t have access to a paid account, there are some time limitations. Another option that is now available to anyone with a gmail account is Google Meet, but there are others as well. The freebies all have certain limitations, so do your research. Many are extending features to everyone right now, but that is certain to change in the coming months.
Once you have a platform, it’s time for the fun stuff. How do you make a virtual gathering really feel like a party? Here are some tips that really made the recent baby shower I attended super fun!
- Get everyone involved! Suggest that participants do a little pre-planning and “decorate” the space behind them on the webcam. Handmade posters, balloons, left-over party decor from past events, streamers, stuffed animals…anything goes. In my background I used some left over medallions from a birthday party and fired up my Cricut to make a simple BABY banner.
- Next, you’ll need some games and entertainment. Kahoot is a great website where you can create your own virtual trivial games or use something already created. We played a fun game of baby facts trivia. The host shared the questions on the Zoom call and everyone joined the game from their phone to play.
- After the quiz game, we got to watch the guest of honor play Who’s the Baby and tried to match baby pictures to the guests. Of course our host had to ask guests to send her a baby photo ahead of time, but then she created a super cute Google Slides file with the images and words of wisdom from the guests. She used the super cute Baby Shower Template from SlidesGo. SlidesMania also has several different celebration themed slide decks. Both sites will work on Google Slides or Microsoft Powerpoint.
- Of course after the games comes the most important part – PRESENTS! The mom to be had of course created an online gift registry so guests could select items and have them shipped directly to her house. To keep the element of surprise, she opened everything live during the party. It was lots of fun to see her reaction and to see the fun gifts for the baby.
- And finally, another easy way to get everyone involved is to have them plan to have a cupcake or piece of dessert to share together virtually. Of course you’ll want to make sure the guest of honor has something as well, but it adds a sense of community to enjoy something together. It was a sweet ending to the baby shower.
Overall, the virtual shower may not have been quite the same as being in person, but it was an amazing way to still have a celebration. During these crazy, socially-distant times were are experiencing during COVID-19 we have to find ways to keep living. While the baby shower was certainly a blessing to the parents-to-be, I think it was equally a blessing to all who were able to join in. So be creative and celebrate. Even if your events aren’t as elaborate as this one, take the time to connect and celebrate. It’s these experiences in life that we will want to remember when and if things ever get back to “normal.”
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