Ideas for Baby Shower Themes and Decorations

Hosting a loved one’s baby shower is a privilege and can be lots of fun, but there are some important decisions to make as you organise it. For example: Will you have a theme, and what decorations will you have? To help you out, here are some baby shower ideas for decorations and themes, including ideas for girls and boys, as well as plenty of gender-neutral options.

Baby Shower Themes and Decorations for Girls

Celebrating the upcoming arrival of a baby girl is a precious moment filled with joy and anticipation. The baby shower is a perfect occasion to express this excitement. Here are some enchanting decor, themes and food ideas to make your baby girl’s shower a memorable event.

Baby Shower Decor Ideas

1. Regal theme. Transform your venue into a royal court for a princess-themed baby shower. You could decorate with elegant tiaras, plush velvet drapes and sparkling fairy lights, and drape gold, pink, or purple material over an armchair to make a DIY throne for the mum-to-be to sit on.

2. Flower power. Decorate the space with an abundance of coloured flowers (fresh or fake!), creating a lush and vibrant atmosphere. Above the buffet table, hang a banner that says, ‘Baby in Bloom’.

3. Ballerina baby. Use pink or rose gold baby shower decorations, ballet slippers, and tutus for a charming and delicate setup. You’ll need lots of tulle – you could go for baby pink, rose gold, hot pink, white, greys, purples, or any other colour you think your guest of honour will love. Give the food table a tulle skirt and add a ballerina’s tutu to baskets and jars.

4. Storybook theme. Another baby shower theme idea is storybooks. Decorate with vintage books, fluffy clouds and pastel rainbows inspired by classic children’s stories.

5. Superheroine. Choose bold and primary colours such as red, blue, and yellow. Incorporate images of famous superheroines like Wonder Woman or Batgirl for a fun and empowering touch.

6. Pretty in pink. Embrace the pink colour palette with this baby shower theme idea. Decorate with delicate ribbons, sparkly garlands, and fluffy pom-poms for a girly and charming vibe.

7. Tea party. Set up an elegant tea party with vintage teapots, dainty cups and delicate pastries for a cosy and intimate gathering.

8. Mermaid magic. Bring the ocean to your baby shower with iridescent seashells, glittery mermaid tails, and shades of blue and teal.

Food Ideas

1. Crown-shaped treats. Serve sandwiches cut into the shape of a crown. Create iced biscuits in the shape of a tiara or royal rattle. For cupcakes, go for decadent cream or icing toppings, and decorate them with edible sugar beads or glitter. Make a tiara cake topper and place the cake on a princess-inspired cake stand for the ultimate princess-themed baby shower.

2. Flower cupcakes. Bring the flower power theme to the baby shower table decoration with cupcakes decorated with bright, edible flowers. Slice up some fruit, arranging the slices on the tray to create a flower shape. Grapes or cherries make great buds; melon or pineapple slices make great petals; and celery makes a great stalk. Add some fresh flowers to the cake as a final touch.

3. Ballerina cake pops. Create a ballerina pop using a pink cupcake liner turned upside down, threaded onto a skewer with a marshmallow on top.

4. Storybook-shaped sandwiches. Add a whimsical touch to your food spread with sandwiches cut into shapes of popular storybook characters.

5. Pink treats. Add a touch of pink to your food with pastel-coloured macarons, frosted cupcakes, and strawberry milkshakes.

6. Fruit platter. Create a refreshing and healthy snack option by arranging an assortment of sliced fruits in the shape of a baby carriage or flower.

7. Mini sandwiches. Offer an array of mini sandwiches for a cute and convenient finger food option.

8. Chocolate-covered strawberries. Elevate your dessert game with decadent chocolate-dipped strawberries in baby girl-themed colours like pink, white and gold.

9. Mocktails. Create delicious and refreshing mocktails using pink lemonade, sparkling water and fresh fruits for a cute and non-alcoholic option.

Baby Shower Decorations for Boys

Celebrating the upcoming arrival of your baby boy is a heartwarming time of joy and expectation. A baby shower is the perfect occasion to share this excitement. Here are some captivating baby shower ideas for boys, including decorations, themes and food ideas.

Baby Shower Decor Ideas

1. Maritime adventure. Use shades of blues and whites to create a nautical theme with ships, anchors and marine life.

2. Superheroes assemble. Not all superheroes wear capes! Sometimes they wear maternity wear or bibs! Use lots of red, yellow and blue for the balloons, paper plates, tissue paper pompoms, and pennant banners.

3. Outer space. The new baby will no doubt be the centre of the parents’ universe, and the sky is the limit in terms of decorations. Create a celestial atmosphere by cutting various space-themed shapes out of coloured cardboard, and hanging these planets, moons, stars and spaceships on strings or fishing lines from the ceiling. Use LED lighting for an extra touch of the cosmos. Consider hanging a banner that says, ‘Welcome to the Universe’ or ‘X Weeks/Days Until Lift-off’ based on the due date.

4. Sports fanatic. Does your guest of honour have a favourite sport like tennis or football? If yes, they may love this sports-themed baby shower idea. In addition, if they have a favourite sports team, you can even narrow the theme down, and base it around the team’s colours. You could use a green tablecloth on the food table to represent the playing field, and design invites in the style of a ticket to a sporting event.

5. Baby under construction. This unique baby shower theme is perfect because the baby is truly under construction! Go for colours like yellow, black and orange when choosing the tablecloth, balloons, paper plates and cutlery. See if you can get inexpensive props at your local hardware supply store like a ‘caution’ sign or a hard hat, and fill a wheelbarrow with ice so it doubles as a drink tub.

6. It’s a boy! theme. Opt for a traditional boys’ theme with various shades of blue paired with soft white and silver accents.

7. Train journey. Set up a miniature train track along with themed decorations for a fun and interactive setting. You could create a nappy cake centrepiece in the shape of a train.

Food Ideas

1. Blue desserts. Incorporate the colour blue into your food with blue icing cupcakes, macarons and blueberry milkshakes or mocktails.

2. Outer space treats. Create fun finger food by cutting sandwiches into rocket shapes for the outer space theme. Decorate cake pops in the colours of the different planets and call them ‘Planet Pops.’ Have a tiered cake that’s iced to look like a rocket ship or an astronaut. Alternatively, the cake can be iced using a mixture of purple and aqua food dye so it looks like the galaxy.

3. Superhero cookies. Amaze your guests with cookies decorated like superhero emblems. If you have cheese cubes or olives, stick toothpicks in with little paper signs that say ‘wham,’ ‘boom’ or ‘pow.’

4. Sports ball cake pops. Score big with these sports-themed treats, perfect for the sports fanatic theme.

5. Construction zone treats. Design and ice biscuits to look like orange traffic cones or tools like hammers. Ice a cake with ‘Baby Under Construction’ lettering. Use the back of a toy dump truck to hold chips or popcorn before the truck is gifted.

6. Train-shaped sandwiches. Delight your guests with sandwiches cut into the shape of trains for the train journey theme.

Jungle or Safari Theme Baby Shower

We all know the new baby will be the king or queen of the jungle (and possibly born to be wild!), so a safari or jungle-themed baby shower is a fun and great gender-neutral idea and perfect if the parents-to-be love nature and wildlife.

Baby Shower Decoration Ideas

• Indoor jungle. Put some luscious indoor plants around the room and as table decorations for the baby shower.

• Jungle colours. Hang some brightly coloured balloons and streamers, such as forest green, orange, yellow, lime green and black to represent jungle colours. Or, opt for safari khaki or camouflage colours.

• Animal mania. Ask a few guests to bring jungle animal toys to decorate the buffet table; after the event, the toys can be taken home by the parent-to-be

• Animal centrepiece. As a centrepiece that then becomes a gift for the parents, a jungle-themed nappy cake is perfect for a baby shower.

Food Ideas

• Fresh and fruity. Choose jungle-themed fruits like bananas, mangos and pineapples for the baby shower, or go for more exotic tropical fruits like coconuts and papayas.

• Go ape. For some safari or jungle-themed baby shower cakes, you could serve cupcakes decorated to look like monkey faces.

• Roarsome platter. It’s relatively easy to create a dip platter that looks like a lion: Put some dip – like hummus – on a tray, have carrot sticks radiating out to look like the lion’s mane, then add some other veggies for the eyes, nose and mouth.

• Jungle refreshments. For drinks, serve banana smoothies or some green-coloured fizzy pop or mocktails labelled ‘jungle juice’. Jugs of lemonade can be labelled the ‘watering hole,’ and chocolate fondue can be called the ‘mud pit’.

Game Ideas

• Jungle treasure hunt. Create an exciting treasure hunt for the baby shower with safari or jungle-themed clues and rewards. Guests can search for items like plush animals, plastic fruits, and exotic flowers.

• Jungle dance. Play lively music and ask guests to dance as different jungle animals.

• Decorate animal-shaped biscuits. Prepare jungle animal-shaped biscuits and let guests decorate them.

• Baby animal game. Invite your guests to play this baby animals game, where guests match the animal (e.g., kangaroo) to the baby name (e.g., joey).

Teddy Bear Theme Baby Shower

Embrace the wonderful, cuddly world of teddy bears for a baby shower theme. A teddy bear theme for a baby shower is charming, versatile and gender-neutral, providing a wealth of adorable decorations, food and game ideas to infuse your celebration with warmth and love.

Baby Shower Decoration Ideas

• Teddy bear centrepieces. Use teddy bears of different sizes as the centrepieces for your baby shower table decoration.

• Bear-themed balloons. Opt for balloons in shades of brown and white, and consider some shaped like teddy bears for an extra touch of charm for your baby shower theme.

• Bear bunting. Make or purchase bear-shaped bunting in soft colours to decorate your venue.

• Bear-themed table settings. Use plates, napkins and cups adorned with cute bear illustrations.

Food Ideas

• Bear-shaped sandwiches. Celebrate your teddy bear-themed baby shower by using a bear-shaped cookie cutter to create fun finger sandwiches.

• Teddy bear cupcakes. Decorate cupcakes with icing and sweets to resemble teddy bear faces.

• Honey pot cake. Create a cake in the shape of a honey pot with a bear figure, referencing your favourite honey-loving bear character.

• Bear-shaped biscuits. Delight your guests with biscuits cut into the shape of teddy bears and decorated with icing.

Game Ideas

• Name the bear. Have a selection of different teddy bears and ask guests to come up with creative names for them.

• Guess the number of bears. Fill a jar with small teddy bears or gummy bears and have guests guess how many are inside. You might even give a prize to the closest guess.

• Pin the bow on the bear. For your bear-themed baby shower, play a variation of Pin the Tail on the Donkey, where blindfolded guests try to stick a bow onto a large bear poster.

Magical Baby Shower Theme

Immerse yourself in the magical world of witches and wizards for your next baby shower. A magical theme is enchanting and versatile, offering a plethora of ideas for decorations, food and games. This baby shower theme idea is a brilliant choice as it’s gender-neutral and allows guests to explore their creative and nostalgic sides while celebrating the arrival of your little wizard or witch.

Baby Shower Decoration Ideas

• Magical table centrepieces. Use mini wizard hats, wands and broomsticks as table centrepieces to add a touch of magic to your tables.

• Magic-themed balloons. Opt for balloons in black and gold tones, and consider some star-shaped balloons for an extra charming touch.

• Magical garland. Make or buy garlands in the shape of wizard hats or magic wands in soft colours to decorate the venue.

• Magic-themed table. Use plates, napkins and cups adorned with elegant illustrations of wizard hats and wands.

• Floating candles. Create the illusion of floating candles using battery-operated tea lights and paper tubes. Hang them using clear string and tape for a magical effect.

Food Ideas

• Witch and wizard hat sandwiches. Use a witch or wizard hat-shaped biscuit cutter to create fun sandwiches.

• Wizard cupcakes. Decorate the cupcakes with icing and sweets to resemble wizard faces or little witch hats.

• Magical cake. Create a cake in the shape of a large witch or wizard hat for a charming centrepiece.

• Magic wand biscuits. Delight your guests with cookies cut into magic wand shapes and decorated with icing.

• Magic potion mocktails. Add unique food colouring and edible glitter to your mocktails to create green, purple, red, or blue magical potions. You could even serve them in unique containers that look like potion bottles. For some extra fun, why not consider a mocktail-making class!

Activity Ideas

• Costume competition. If you opt for a fancy-dress party, you could give prizes for the best costumes.

• Magician. What’s more magical than an actual magician? If you fancy splurging, you could hire a magician for the baby shower for some entertainment.

• Mocktail-making class. If you like the idea of making magic potions, you could have a mocktail-making class. Look up some recipes online or hire someone to come in and teach you all how to make them.

Woodland Theme Baby Shower

If the parents-to-be are nature lovers and enjoy weekend strolls in the forest, a woodland theme might be a sweet and autumnal idea for a baby shower. It’s also a great choice if you’re looking for a gender-neutral theme for the baby shower.

Baby Shower Decor Ideas

• Woodland colours. Opt for rustic woodland colours for your woodland-themed baby shower, such as greens, browns, oranges or classic autumnal tones.

• Forest animal centrepieces. Use plush toys of different sizes featuring forest animals as the centrepieces and decorations for your baby shower table.

• Forest-themed table. Use plates, napkins and cups adorned with illustrations of forest animals. You could make it more rustic by decorating with leaves, sticks, pinecones and berries.

Food Ideas

• Tree-shaped sandwiches. Use a tree-shaped biscuit cutter to create fun finger sandwiches.

• Forest cupcakes: Decorate cupcakes with icing and sweets to resemble forest wildlife.

• Forest cake. Make a cake in the shape of a big tree, topped with forest animal figures.

• Animal-shaped biscuits. Delight your guests with biscuits cut in the shape of forest animals and decorated with icing.

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star Baby Shower

The parent-to-be and their little shining star are the focus on this special day, so why not go with a gender-neutral baby shower theme inspired by this popular children’s nursery rhyme. This baby shower theme can be quite easy to bring together.

Baby Shower Decor Ideas

• Stars and moon. Decorate the party zone with lots of star and moon shapes cut out from yellow or gold card.

• Night sky vibe. Set a night-time mood with dark blue or black hues and pops of yellow or gold and hang a string of fairy lights.

• Little star cake topper. Have a ‘twinkle, twinkle little star’ nappy cake topper as a decorative centrepiece.

• Starry details. Cut mini star shapes out of gold glitter paper, and glue them onto the ends of toothpicks, which you can stick into any small bite-size snacks, and glue mini paper stars onto striped paper drinking straws.

Food Ideas

• Cake pop stars. Prepare star-shaped cake pops.

• Shooting star cake. Bake a cake in the shape of a shooting star, ice it and decorate with edible gold glitter and edible gold sugar beads.

• Night sky treats. Cut tea sandwiches and biscuits into star and moon shapes.

• Starry cupcakes. Ice cupcakes in frosting that has been coloured with dark blue food dye and sprinkle edible stars on top.

Activity Ideas

• Wish upon a star. Ask your guests to ‘wish upon a star’ for the baby by writing down their best wishes for the newborn (which they can read when they’re older)

• Alternatively, print out this ‘Wishes for Baby’ game

• Twinkle, twinkle little musician. Bring a xylophone or toy keyboard to the shower and ask each guest to play ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’ – the superstar who gets the loudest cheers wins a prize.

Elephant-Themed Baby Shower

Immerse yourself in the enchanting world of the gentle giant for your baby shower theme. An elephant-themed baby shower is both charming and versatile, offering a host of delightful decorations, food and game ideas to bring warmth and love to your celebration.

Baby Shower Decoration Ideas

• Elephant table centrepieces. Use plush elephants of varying sizes as the centrepieces for your tables.

• Elephant-themed balloons. Opt for balloons in shades of grey, blue and white, and consider some shaped like elephants for an extra touch of charm.

• Elephant bunting. Make or purchase bunting shaped like elephants in soft colours to decorate your venue.

• Elephant-themed table settings: Use plates, napkins and cups adorned with elegant elephant illustrations.

Food Ideas

• Elephant-shaped sandwiches. Use an elephant-shaped cookie cutter to create fun sandwiches for your cute elephant-themed baby shower.

• Elephant cupcakes. Decorate cupcakes with icing and sweets to resemble elephant faces.

• Jungle cake. Make a cake in the shape of a jungle with an elephant figure, for a delightful centrepiece.

• Elephant-shaped biscuits. Amuse your guests with biscuits cut into the shape of elephants and decorated with icing.

Useful Items for a Baby Shower

Decorating for a baby shower can be a lot of fun. When you’re looking for baby shower decorations, you could choose ready-made items like decoration kits, game cards or cake toppers which you can generally buy in many party supply shops in the U.K. or online. This can leave you with more time to focus on planning the food or games. Here are some useful items you might need for a baby shower:

Baby Shower Box Decorations

Using props at baby showers has become trendy, and oversized baby block boxes are all the rage because they look great at the entry of the baby shower location or as a backdrop for social media–worthy photos. You can usually purchase these boxes at party supply shops or online and assemble them at home. You can also fill transparent boxes with balloons to add pops of colour. Why not find boxes that spell out the word ‘baby’?

Tableware

When thinking about your baby shower table decorations, consider what you’ll be serving food. You might decide on tableware products that go beyond your average white paper plates. Some are designed to fit in with popular baby shower themes, whereas others are elegant with their foil designs and lettering.

Cake Toppers

If you’re not ordering a custom-made cake, why not go for a simple yet elegant cake and crown it with a cake topper. Consider using marzipan animal figures purchased at a bakery supply store, or choose fresh flowers – perfect for a garden-themed shower. You can buy cake toppers to match your baby shower theme or one that simply says ‘Welcome Baby’ for a simple and elegant option.

Game Cards

If you plan to play games at your baby shower, you may want to purchase or print off some premade game cards, which look great and work well for games that involve guessing and prediction. Some simple baby shower games add a nice touch and encourage your guests to break the ice and interact more – especially if some don’t know others that well.

Prediction and advice cards are an easy, light-hearted way for your guests – some of whom may be parents – to leave their parenting tips and fun predictions for the mum-to-be. Once filled out, these cards can make the perfect keepsakes for the parents-to-be’s journal or scrapbook, and can be shown to the baby when they grow up.

You can also download our free printable baby shower games or check our list of 47 fun baby shower games to help get the party started!

The Bottom Line

There’s a lot to think about when hosting the perfect baby shower, but with some great decoration and theme ideas you’ll be on track. For even more tips and ideas, follow our baby shower guide and work your way through our handy planning checklist. Keep in mind, whether the shower is a themed extravaganza or more intimate and personalised, your guests – and most importantly the guest of honour – will love and appreciate all that you've done. You’ll also get to have a lot of fun once the preparations are done and the guests start arriving.