Baby showers offer the opportunity to provide expecting mothers with gifts, advice and tips that promote a healthy pregnancy and parenting. In Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., there is a wide variety of vendors that provide party supplies and decor for baby showers. Popular themes include casual get-togethers with barbecue or Beach Baby motifs. For a more relaxed gathering, a personal spa and wellness approach pampers the mother-to-be.
Locations
Ft. Lauderdale's largest outdoor asset for baby showers is the beach. Be sure to find a shady spot and bring sunscreen. Make sure that the expecting mom and your guests have ice water and other beverages to stay hydrated and keep cool. Colee Hammock Park provides a tranquil outdoor setting for an outdoor baby shower along the riverfront downtown. Riverwalk Linear Park, Stranahan Park Pavilion and the E. Clay Shaw Bridge area offer shaded gazebos that are available for rent. The Beach Community Center on NE 33rd Avenue can be reserved for indoor gatherings.
Themes
In an outdoor setting, a focus on natural and healthy products will be easy to incorporate in your shower. You may want to organize a luau on the beach or enjoy massages at a spa. Casual and fun themes often allow for easy planning and quick decorating, from zoo animals to ABC's. Diaper cakes are a popular centerpiece that can tie everything together. Tiers of diapers are stacked and decorated in colorful ribbons and small baby items. Much like real cakes, diaper cakes can be topped with seashells or other small decorations. Whether it is a sea life motif or a simple baby-related theme like rubber ducks or teddy bears, a theme provides a memorable backdrop for fun activities and gift-giving.
Gifts
Sunscreen is an essential in the diaper bag of any Florida mom. Besides the traditional clothing, toys and baby gear, consider giving Florida-friendly baby products. Small fans that attach to strollers, sunhats with large brims and eco-friendly baby beach supplies and shades are gift ideas for the expecting mom in Ft. Lauderdale.
Health and Wellness
Consider incorporating green living and healthy products in your baby shower's theme and gifts. Many stores in Ft. Lauderdale offer baby products made from natural ingredients, including large retailers like Babies 'R Us and smaller baby and maternity shops. Baby Love offers a line of organic baby products in its 67,000-square-foot complex in nearby Tamarac. Gift baskets, bath products, and even baby clothes, bedding and toys can be purchased organically from suppliers who include fewer additives and/or eliminate unnecessary chemical processing. For many moms, products like these may serve as simple reminders to be aware of the choices that are available in the products and objects that surround their children every day.
Local Services
We Take the Cake is an award-winning bakery in Ft. Lauderdale that sells and ships its products nationwide. Cupcakes and key lime are two of its specialties that may be suited to your baby shower. Planet Massage offers massages to expecting mothers. A massage could be a group gift to the mother-to-be. After discussing it with a health professional, many expecting mothers find prenatal massage to be a relaxing and healthy way to relieve strain and improve circulation. Massage stimulates and encourages endorphin production and can reduce discomfort and stress, particularly in the lower back from added baby weight.
