Planning a bridal or baby shower is an exciting endeavor, but one that involves a lot of moving parts. From providing a creative menu that has a wide range of options to coming up with theme inspiration and finding a venue that accommodates your guests’ needs—there’s so much to consider when executing a special celebration. Your amazing guest of honor deserves a stress-free day that is made just for them.
As exclusive caterers of Oak Brook Bath & Tennis Club, we know what it takes to create the shower your guests will remember for years to come. Here are a few ideas for you to think about when planning your shower:
1) Find a Cozy Location
One of the most important parts of planning a bridal or baby shower is the location, of course! It’s important that your space allows for plenty of personalization, provides ample parking for your guests to park and offers plenty of room to open gifts, eat, play games and socialize. The benefits of having a shower at a venue? You don’t have to set up or clean a thing!
Oak Brook Bath & Tennis Club is an incredible place for a shower. It provides intimate outdoor and indoor spaces for your guests, not to mention it’s located in a scenic Chicagoland location. Partnering with venues of this caliber allows us to give brides and mothers (and couples!) to be plenty of customizable options for a day that’s entirely made for them.
2) Create a Fun Menu
Every shower deserves a menu with plenty of fresh, delicious options that cater to a variety of diets. Whether you’re interested in a buffet, stationary and passed hors d’oeuvres or a plated meal, we can help you create an enjoyable culinary experience for the lady of the hour and all her special guests.
A brunch buffet is a popular shower request, especially when it involves delectable choices like blueberry and cinnamon walnut breakfast loaves, almond and cheese coffee cakes or praline French toast battered in cinnamon with New Orleans pecan praline syrup.
What is a breakfast buffet without a delightful, flaky quiche? There’s so many different types of quiches out there, so consider offering your guests a few options like:
- Quiche Lorraine: Bacon, ham and swiss cheese
- Quiche Tuscan: Roasted roma tomatoes, roasted zucchini and parmesan cheese
- Quiche Champagne: Savory turkey sausage, roasted potatoes and queso fresco
If you’re not interested in going the buffet route, roll with dips and small bites! Treat everyone to mouthwatering stationary appetizers like:
- Cheese, Fruit and Cracker Platter: Domestic cheeses, seasonal berries and grapes with crackers
- Three Onion Dip: Caramelized onion, scallion and chive dip with sliced ciabatta
And a mix of hot and cold passed appetizers:
- Petite Caprese Skewers
- Smoked Salmon and Goat Cheese Tart
- Chesapeake Mushrooms
- Spanakopita
- Maryland-Style Crab Cakes
Maria Harte Photography 
Mimosas, anyone? No shower is complete without a little bubbly. Your mimosa bar could feature the following ingredients:
- Juices: orange, cucumber, grapefruit, lemonade, passion fruit and mixed berry
- Purees: strawberry, blueberry, pineapple, peach, mango
- Garnishes: berries, mint, citrus fruits, thyme, consumable flowers
- Flair: cute flute charms and fresh flowers. Also consider the backdrop of your mimosa bar.
Don’t forget that you can provide mocktails for your guests, too. Lemonade or sparkling cider are great non-alcoholic options.
3) Personalize with a Theme
Whether you’re planning a baby shower or a bridal shower, it helps to give it a little magic with a creative theme. Here are just a few for inspiration:
Baby Shower Themes
- Baby in space: Babies do seem like they’re from another world, right? There is so much you can do with this theme: planet party favors, solar system backdrops and star shower laser lighting for starters.
- Fabulous fiesta: Your bundle of joy deserves a proper fiesta. Think: Serape table runners, paper flower décor, piñatas and a mariachi band!
- Rainbow party: Unicorns are all the rave these days. Imagine rainbow-colored streamers, a colorful display of French macarons, umbrellas and confetti cake!
Bridal Shower Themes
- Tea party: Pinkies up! You know you’ve always wanted to drink out of one of those adorable teacups and snack on mini sandwiches.
- World traveler: Is your special guest of honor full of wanderlust and has the travel stories to back it up? Decorate with maps, luggage tags, signs written in different languages or dialects, and feature destination-specific foods.
- Spa day: Time to relax! Treat your guests to face masks, candles and lotions galore. “Game” idea: everyone gives each other a back rub. You get a back rub, she gets a back rub, everyone gets a back rub.
4) Choose Your Entertainment
Games are a hallmark of every successful shower. It gets the laughter rolling and makes for epic entertainment family and friends will remember. There is no shortage of activities to provide for your family and friends.
- Trivia: Questions should match to fit your theme!
- If you’re planning a bookish baby shower, for example, you can create trivia cards that feature favorite lines from popular children’s stories and ask guests to guess the book. Winner gets a prize!
- How well does everyone know the bride? Create questions about her favorite things (and least favorite things), childhood passions and how she met her significant other.
- Mad Libs: Print out traditional vows or bed time stories but leaving blanks for nouns, verbs, and adjectives. See who comes up with the funniest creations!
- Write a poem: All you need is a pen and paper! Everyone shares a few meaningful words about their favorite girl.
- Bingo: Etsy is packed with printable cards you can use for a baby shower or bridal shower!
Whether you’re planning to provide games indoors or outdoors, be sure to discuss it with your venue coordinator so they can help you determine the logistics.
We Can Help You Plan Your Shower
If you’re thinking about creating a truly memorable baby shower, we’d love to help you coordinate the special details. Connect with us!
