This site contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these link, at no extra cost to you.
Baby showers are the perfect way to celebrate your amazing news. One of the easiest ways to plan a baby shower, is to host it at a restaurant. You’ll be able to book everything in advance and let the venue take care of a lot of the organising. It’s a stress-free way to celebrate the occasion and doesn’t have to cost a fortune either.
If you’re looking for more advice, take a look at our ultimate party planning checklist. It’ll give you all the information you need to know to plan your baby shower, and it includes a free printable party planning checklist to keep you on track.
Decide the Budget
Hosting a baby shower at a restaurant is definitely a more expensive option than hosting it at home. But it doesn’t have to cost a fortune. The best way to stop you from overspending is to set a budget and stick to it. You’ll need to think about the venue, catering, decorations, invitations, games and how many guests you’re inviting.
Once you’ve set a realistic budget, you need to keep a track of your spending, either on paper or by using an excel document. Tracking your spending electronically is the best way to keep an eye on the cost of your baby shower. You’re less likely to lose it and can use excel formulas to easily calculate the amount you’ve spent on each item and how much money you’ve got left.
If you’re on a tight budget, there’s no need to worry. Check out our quick party planning budget tips to help you plan an amazing baby shower without spending too much!
Pick the Date and Time
Once you’ve decided on your budget, the next is to pick a time and a date.
Weekends are easiest for most guests. But if you’ve left things a bit last minute, an early evening on a weeknight could work too. It’s likely to be a bit cheaper to book a weeknight instead of a weekend and there will definitely be more availability.
The best time for a weekend baby shower at a restaurant is around 14:00-17:00. This time slot avoids mealtimes, so you’ll only need to serve some light snacks at the restaurant which will help keep the cost of the baby shower down.
If you’re happy to serve some more substantial food and don’t want to avoid mealtimes, it’s best to host your baby shower over a lunch time. 12:00-15:00 is a good time slot because it gives you plenty of time to get ready in the morning but still leaves your guests with plenty of their day left. Hosting a baby shower over dinner time works okay, but hosting earlier in the day is usually more suitable for a baby shower as the restaurant is likely to be quieter.
Finalise the Guest List
The next step is to decide on the guest list. The amount of guests you’re able to invite depends mainly on your budget. If you have plenty to spend on your venue, catering and entertainment, having a larger guest list will be fine.
But there’s no issue with having a smaller guest list for a baby shower hosted in a restaurant. It’ll give you much more choice for venues as you won’t struggle to find one large enough. Smaller guest lists are also a lot easier on the budget too, as the cost of food soon adds up.
Most baby showers have between 10-30 guests. But if you’ve got a smaller budget, it’s best to try and stick to under 15 guests to be on the safe side.
You might have to be a bit ruthless when deciding who’s made the cut. If you start inviting lots of the extended family, the size of your guest list will creep up more than you think! Baby showers are usually best when just close friends and family are invited, so don’t get carried away inviting too many people, especially if you’re planning to host it in a small home.
If you want more advice deciding how many guests to invite to your baby shower, take a look at our guide to help you decide the best number of guests for your party.
Choose the Restaurant
Now it’s time to choose the perfect restaurant to host the baby shower. You’ll be able to narrow down your search according to the amount of guests you’re inviting and your budget.
Think about what vibe you want the baby shower to be. Do you want a casual friendly venue or a formal classy restaurant. It’s also important to consider the menu. Find the most cost-effective option per guest and try and choose a restaurant which offers some variety to keep all your guests happy.
Some restaurants also offer extra benefits which may help your decision. These can include drinks, decorations and entertainment.
Take some time to consider the best restaurants in your local area to find the most suitable option for your baby shower.
Select the Menu
If your restaurant offers some choice with the menu, then you should consider which option will work best for your baby shower.
Make sure you try and cater for all your guests and consider any special requirements. It’s good to have a few vegetarian and vegan options to make sure no one goes hungry! And it’s really important to let the restaurant know of any allergies they need to be aware of once you’ve confirmed who’s coming.
If your restaurant offers a buffet style menu instead of a sit-down meal, they should be able to offer some help with the amount of food you’ll need per guest.

Send the Invites
Once you’ve sorted all the essentials, you can send out your invitations.
You can go for a casual text if you’re not inviting many people, or even a group email can work well. Handwritten invitations offer a personal touch, but are often time consuming and includes the cost of postage.
If you want an easy and quick way of sending your invitations, make a Facebook event. It’ll allow you to add everyone in one go, and keeps a track of everyone’s response so you know exactly who’s coming.
After you’ve confirmed exactly who’s coming to your baby shower, you can go ahead and book the restaurant and order the food.
Baby Shower Games to Play at a Restaurant
There are plenty of great baby shower games that work really well at restaurants. Here are our favourites!
Who's the Baby?
What you’ll need:
- Each guest should bring a photo of them when they were a baby
How to play:
- Simply put all the photos on a table at the restaurant and get each guest to guess who’s the baby!
Baby Shower Pictionary
What You’ll Need:
- Paper
- Pen
- Timer
How to Play Pictionary:
- In your couples, choose who is the artist and who is guessing.
- The artist starts drawing a picture from a pre-selected secret list and their partner must guess what they are drawing.
- If they guess in under a minute, the couple earns a point.
Guess the Famous Mum
What you’ll need:
- A sheet of paper for each team with 10 pictures of famous mums on them.
- Pens for each team
How to play:
- Print out a sheet of paper with 10 pictures of famous mums on them.
- Split your guests into teams.
- Give each team the sheet of paper and give them 5 minutes to write down the name of each famous mum on them.
- The team that guesses the most correctly wins!
Don't Say Baby
What you’ll need:
- A clothes pin per guest
How to play:
- Give each guest a clothes pin to clip to whatever they’re wearing when they arrive.
- Whenever a guest say’s “baby”, the person who notices can take their pin and pin it on themselves.
- The guest with the most pins at the end of the baby shower wins.
Hey Baby!
What you’ll need:
- Paper and pen for each guest.
How to play:
- Each guest must write down as baby songs as they can that have “baby” in the title.
- Set a timer for 5 minutes and the guest who has the longest list of songs at the end wins!
Choose the Decorations
Some restaurants include decorations as part of the venue package. This is great because it’ll save you plenty of time having to find and buy decorations for your baby shower.
But if your venue doesn’t provide any decorations, you’ll still be able to get hold of some great inexpensive options for your baby shower. You can go to your local party supply store to find a range of great decorations that won’t cost a fortune. There are loads of ideas online too, so hop on Amazon or Ebay to find some inspiration for your birthday party at home.
Shindigz is a great online party supply store that you can use to find great decoration ideas with over 34,000 party supplies for every occasion and next day delivery!
Stumps Party is another awesome party supply store offering custom event supplies and regular deals and discounts.
So that’s it! Now you should have plenty of ideas to plan an amazing baby shower at home! Don’t forget to take a look at our party planning timeline to make sure you’ve got everything covered.
Like our Facebook Page and follow us on Pinterest!