how to throw a co-ed baby shower

How to throw an amazing Co-Ed Baby Shower

What is a Co-Ed Baby Shower?

Planning your baby shower and looking for something a little different and more exciting? Why not host a Co-ed Baby Shower? Co-ed meaning Co-educational allows husbands and significant others to be involved, participate, join in, and feel welcomed!

Sometimes called a Jack and Jill Baby Shower or Couples Baby Shower, Co-Ed Baby Showers included both sexes!

Similar to traditional girls only Baby Showers, Co-ed Baby Showers are filled with games, food, friends, family, and festivities.

How to plan a Co-Ed Baby Shower?

co-ed baby shower ideas

Planning a Co-ed Baby Shower is such a blast and encourages you to really mix things up quite a bit!

You will want to start with an invitation that stands out, an invitation that states the Co-ed or Couples Baby Shower idea and shares the theme of your shower. 

Set the tone of your Co-ed Shower with an invitation that grabs the attention of both your women and male friends. When navigating to find your perfect theme choice for your invitation go ahead and get rid of the pastel colors and shake the theme up with dark green plants or foliage and warm woodsy browns or gorgeous greys and lavish whites. And when you ditch the baby blues and pinks you will cheer your partner on easing him into feeling welcomed and included.

Co-Ed Baby Shower themes

Trade the old custom Noah’s Arc theme out for beer mugs, martini glasses, and baby bottle themes. Try a bold red and black barbecue theme, consider a nautical theme using navy and off white or cream. Or go for a vibrant yellow sunflowers and green masculine vines.

Another invite idea would be a boho theme with musical instruments or cloth diapers hanging on a clothesline. Juicy green cucumber slices or luscious lemons also make for unique invitation themes for your shower. Take your Baby Shower to the islands with a pineapple theme. Creating your special invitation is just part one in the process of planning your cool Co-ed Baby Shower.

Once you have the general color scheme and theme down, you can expand your thoughts and figure out exactly how you want to set up your Couples Baby Shower. Where you choose your venue will be key to develop your theme and bring it to life. Should your shower take place indoors or outdoors? Do you want to go bold or stay discreet? Elegant and fancy or sweet and laid back? After you’ve chosen the perfect venue for your Jack and Jill Baby Shower you can begin to add details to your décor.

Co-Ed Baby Shower food and drinks

co-ed baby shower tips

Splash your Jack and Jill Baby Shower up with a sophisticated lemonade bar displaying large clear canisters of different flavored lemonades. Top your tables with white tablecloths and alternate centerpieces using a clear vase filled with overflowing lemons and then a clear vase tied with twine and greenery spilling out.

Fly into this Co-ed adventure and decorate with fancy silver ice buckets filled with wine and champagne, set up a fruit cheese station. Top your tables with silver or grey clothes and add flameless candles, white flowers in vases with sprigs of green scattered about.

Have a Baby Q!

Laid back barbecue style station with red checkered tablecloth and 3 onesies that read BBQ pinned to the front will give you a start on your barbecue themed Co-ed Baby Shower. Bring in a bail of hay or two and place them near your food and beverage stations. Choose black tablecloths and top them with a cluster of white baby bottles and red pacifiers as your centerpieces.

Bask in burly beer stations gather beer mugs in rustic baskets and scatter straw underneath them, place cocktails on cork boards with wildflowers lining the boards and of course, don’t forget the Mocktails for mommy to be and pregnant and nursing guests.

couples baby shower bbq

Go Boho…

Go Boho and decorate with bamboo trees and eucalyptus leaves musical instruments placed around the room, harps etc., flute and folk music playing, flower wreaths for the women guests, tambourines and maracas for the male guests. Decorate your tables with burlap cloth and add sheer whimsical colors as an overlay. Top each table with either a small instrument or flameless votive candles and a large vase with wildflowers tie cloth napkins with twine.

Surprise your guests with a juice bar! Have your juicer make fresh squeezed juice to order. Serve cucumber slices in water glasses, Display large fresh cut fruit stations. Let your décor reflect the vibrant colors that each fruit represents.

Keep it simple…

Choose your cuisine! Finger foods are great for any party. Appetizers and starters are the best! Keep it simples with crustless cucumber sandwiches, mini quiches, sliders, individual seven layer chip and dip cups, sliced fruit and cheese and crackers. If you’re looking for them there are all sorts of cutsie foods that are specifically for baby showers such as newborn baby deviled eggs, dirty diapers, baby shower muddy buddy puppy chow, and the list goes on! Find your favorites and go from there. Or you may choose to make an impression with a chef station! Have the chef carve meat and cheese for crackers, whip up some dim sum, or cook up a pasta dish to order for your guests.

Co-Ed Baby Shower Cakes

co-ed baby shower cakes

Picking out your baby shower cake is always a fun and memorable moment to share with your significant other. Whether you choose a traditional cake, cake pops, or cupcakes, make sure to decorate them with light and cheery colors such as peony pink, minty green, soft yellow, cloud blue and pastel purple. Fruit, custard, or candy filled cakes are always a pleasant unexpected surprise, and you can’t go wrong with a delectable buttercream or fondant icing.  Writing a meaningful phrase on the cake with icing is always an option as well.

What do you do at a Co-Ed Baby Shower?

There are so many awesome games that your guests will actually want to play especially when spouses are included! Baby Shower Mad Libs is a great ice breaker event. Either mom or dad to be reads out person place or thing choices and each guest fills in the blanks. Then either expecting mom or dad reads the story with the added blanks filled in. And the room will fill with laughter in a matter of minutes!

Next up, time to get physical by taking on the diaper changing, baby swaddling relay race. Firstly, you will need to pair up in twos and line up a few baby dolls on one side of the room and diapers and blankets on the other side of the room. The person on the side of the room with the baby doll has to race to the person on the opposite side of the room with the diaper, grab the diaper, return to baby, diaper the baby, and then bring baby to partner, then partner must swaddle the baby. Whichever team finishes first wins!

More fun Couples Baby Shower games

Play “What Am I?” You’ll need: Plain note cards, a pen, and safety pins for each guest. How to play: Make a card for each guest, and write a baby item on each card ¾ for example, dirty diaper, baby pacifier, and other themed items. As guests arrive, pin a card on their back, and have them mingle, asking one another other a series of yes or no questions to try to identify the item on their back. After someone has correctly guessed, the card can be pinned on the front or taken off.

Make a splash with this super fun game! Don’t break Mommy’s Water is a perfect game for your Co-Ed baby shower! Gather up your guests and head outside and prepare to get wet. Pair everyone off and have them line up facing each other. Pass out water balloons in any color or you can choose gender specific colors. Start off close and toss to their partner. Each time the other catches it, they back up one step. Do this until Mommy’s Water Breaks. Whoever is the last pair to have a full water balloon wins! Mix up partners and this game could go on and on for continuous mingling and fun!

Are Co-Ed Baby Showers common?

couples baby shower

Co-ed Baby Showers are quite unique and up and coming. They are definitely unlike the classic girls only Baby Showers. Co-ed Baby Showers also known as Couples Baby Showers or Jack and Jill Baby Showers are becoming more popular. Eventually, girls only Baby Showers will be a thing of the past, and Co-ed or Couples Showers will become completely mainstream. Who wants to leave their guy out of the equation? Most modern men and women enjoy sharing responsibilities and experiences together now more than ever. Couples Baby Showers incorporate the expecting dads giving them an opportunity to meet and talk with other seasoned dads. The Co-ed Showers also ease the stress off of expecting mammas.

Final Note

Embrace the family experience and include the guy in your life in your Baby Shower. Empower your party with education for the family! Co-ed Showers also called Jack and Jill Baby Showers are absolutely double the fun. You are able to focus on both mommy and daddy.

Celebrate as a tribe, a community, a village, and make it a Co-ed or Couples Baby Shower!

About Author

Author Image

Jane Sheriff is the founder, creative director, party planner and mom of three. She started Darling Celebrations back in 2012 to share easy and beautiful ideas for celebrating the special events in life.

Similar Posts