A baby shower is usually thrown by a close friend or family member of the expectant mother. It is somewhat likely for someone to have two baby showers thrown for them depending on who is giving them and the size of the guest list. A good time to have the party is around a month before the baby's due date.

If you are throwing a baby shower, never feel compelled to invite more people than you are comfortable or can afford to entertain. Ten to twelve people is a sufficient amount for a small intimate party. Even five or six people would be an appropriate amount or upwards toward twenty if you feel so inclined.

One of the main things to focus on when inviting people is to try to invite people that know each other. It makes for a much more comfortable party if everyone knows at least one other person there and makes your job as hostess easier if you aren't constantly trying to entertain everyone.

A good way to organize the guest list is to pick a group of people that you are associated with to invite. If you are a relative of the expectant mother, invite her family; if you are a co-worker, invite the rest of her female colleagues. If the people on both her family and friends list isn't too many, then you could consider inviting them all.

What you serve to eat depends on what time of day you have the party. For an after dinner party, you could go low key and serve desserts and coffee. For a fun treat, supply vanilla ice cream and ask everyone to bring their favorite topping. If the party is during the afternoon, you could serve finger foods such as meats, cheeses, sausages and bread.

Be sure to keep all drinks non-alcoholic for the baby shower. A fun tropical theme during the summer could be virgin margaritas, daiquiris or pina coladas. Supply cute, fun glasses (they can be plastic) and umbrellas for the drinks.

Other drink ideas are an easy punch made from sparkling cider, diet seven-up and rainbow sherbet. Or you could make fruit cocktails with orange juice, pineapple juice and a splash of cranberry juice.

Gift giving these days has been simplified with the numerous gift registries available. Ask the expectant mother to register someplace and inform the guests where she registered when you invite them. If you have been a mother before, you could always get her a supply of items you knew you never had enough of such as baby bottles, pacifiers, etc.

Another special gift idea is to ask all of the guest to contribute to purchase

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