A baby shower looks like a small party until you try to fit it into a room. There are 20 to 50 guests from three generations, a guest of honour who is heavily pregnant and needs a comfortable chair, games that need a pen and a flat surface, a pile of gifts, and often a few guests who bring a baby of their own.
None of that needs a formal seating chart for every guest. It does need a plan for the room and for the first two tables. Here's how to decide where the mum-to-be sits, who goes next to her, where the games happen, and how many tables to set for each size.
Do you need a seating chart for a baby shower?
For most showers, the answer is a partial one.
- Seated lunch, brunch or afternoon tea with 20 or more guests. Yes, at least for the table nearest the mum-to-be and the table for grandmothers and older relatives. Assign the other tables too if the list mixes groups who don't know each other.
- At home, in a living room and kitchen. No chart. Reserve the guest of honour's chair and two or three seats beside it, and have a chair for everyone during games and gifts.
- Drinks and a grazing table. No chart, but put out chairs for at least half the guests. Pregnant guests, older relatives and anyone holding a baby will want to sit down. The cocktail reception seating guide has the chair counts for part-seated rooms.
- A co-ed shower or a dinner. Treat it like a small dinner party and seat couples together. The bigger the mix of groups, the more a plan helps.
Where the mum-to-be sits
Start with her chair, then build the room around it.
- A chair with arms and a firm back. Not a low sofa. Late in a pregnancy, getting up from a deep cushion in front of 40 people is no fun. If the venue only has banquet chairs, bring a cushion for her back.
- Visible from every table. Games, gifts and any speeches all point at her. Put her chair against a wall or window at one end of the room, not in the middle where half the guests see her back.
- Close to a bathroom, out of the sun, away from heaters and speakers. A short, clear walk with no steps if you can manage it.
- A small table beside her for a drink, a plate and the game sheets, and a larger table or clear floor next to it for the gifts.
If there are two parents-to-be at a co-ed shower, give them two matching chairs side by side, with the same view of the room.
Mothers and grandmothers
Most baby showers have two grandmothers-to-be in the room, and sometimes a great-grandmother. After the parents, they are the guests who most need a good seat.
- The two grandmothers-to-be sit at the table nearest the guest of honour. Both at the same table, at the same distance, facing her. If the two families don't know each other well, this is where they meet.
- Great-grandmothers and older relatives sit at the same table or the next one. On the side with the shortest walk to the bathroom and the door, and not in a spot with a step or a cable to cross. The guide to seating elderly guests covers chairs, walkways and hearing in more detail.
- The host sits near the kitchen or the door. Whoever is running the shower will be up and down all afternoon.
- A close friend or sister sits beside the mum-to-be to hand her gifts and pass her the next game.
- Someone writes down who gave what. Seat them next to the gift table with a notebook.
If a grandmother is divorced from the other grandparent, or two sides of the family don't get along, this first table is the one to think about. Two tables at the same distance from the guest of honour works better than forcing them together.
Guests with babies and small children
Guests who bring a baby need more space than a standard place setting. Seat them at the edge of the room, near a door, on an aisle seat, where a pram can sit beside the table and they can step out without asking three people to move. Set a chair in a quiet corner or side room for feeding and changing.
Older children who come with a parent do best at a small table close to that parent, with colouring and something to eat. A kids table works only if one of the parents is sitting at it or right beside it. The kids table guide has the age ranges and table math.
Plan the games area first
Shower games shape the room more than the meal does.
- Games played from your seat (bingo, guess the baby photo, word scrambles, quizzes) need every guest at a table with a pen. Set the pens and sheets out before guests arrive.
- Games played standing (guess the bump size with ribbon, nappy changing races) need clear floor near the guest of honour. Leave a space about the size of one round table in front of her chair.
- Games with teams go faster if each table is a team. Mix each table across groups, so family and work friends end up talking to each other.
If the room has space, a separate games corner with its own small table keeps the meal tables clear. If it doesn't, run the games between courses, or after the food is cleared.
Layouts for a baby shower
- A horseshoe of chairs and sofas (up to about 20 guests). The mum-to-be sits at the open end, with side tables for plates and game sheets.
- Rounds with the near side left open (20 to 50 guests). Seat 5 or 6 on the far side of each 60-inch round and leave the side facing the guest of honour empty. Caterers call this crescent seating. It takes more tables, and nobody spends the games twisted round in their chair.
- Long tables (12 to 40 guests). Good for a lunch, less good for gifts, because half the table has its back to her. Put her at the head, or move to a lounge area after the meal.
The bridal shower and engagement party seating guide has the gift-opening order and more on each layout; most of it applies to a baby shower too.
How many tables for a baby shower
| Guests | 60-inch rounds, 8 per table | 60-inch rounds, crescent of 6 | 6-ft rectangles, 6 per table |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 3 tables (24 seats) | 4 tables (24 seats) | 4 tables (24 seats) |
| 30 | 4 tables (32 seats) | 5 tables (30 seats) | 5 tables (30 seats) |
| 40 | 5 tables (40 seats) | 7 tables (42 seats) | 7 tables (42 seats) |
| 50 | 7 tables (56 seats) | 9 tables (54 seats) | 9 tables (54 seats) |
The guest of honour's table is counted in these numbers. Add a small table beside her for gifts and one for the cake or food if the caterer isn't bringing their own.
At 40 guests on rounds of 8, every chair is taken, and a shower often gains a guest at the last minute. Add a sixth table or keep two chairs to one side.
A 6-ft rectangle seats 6 along its sides, or 8 with one guest at each end. For a long lunch table, the 40 guests at 6-ft rectangles page shows the table count and room size. For rounds, the 30 guests at 60-inch rounds page does the same for a mid-sized shower.
A worked example: a seated shower for 36
A private room at a restaurant, lunch and games for two and a half hours. 36 guests, including the mum-to-be, both grandmothers-to-be, a great-grandmother, two guests with babies and three children under 10.
| Table | Seats | Who |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (nearest the guest of honour) | 6, crescent | Mum-to-be, her sister, both grandmothers-to-be, great-grandmother, the host |
| 2 | 6, crescent | Aunts and older relatives from both families |
| 3 | 8 | School friends, including one guest with a baby, on the aisle side |
| 4 | 8 | Work friends, including the second guest with a baby, on the aisle side |
| 5 | 8 | Partner's family and friends, with the three children beside their parents |
| Total | 36 | 5 rounds, plus a gift table and a games corner |
Tables 1 and 2 are set as crescents so the older guests face the guest of honour without moving their chairs. Tables 3 to 5 seat 8 and sit further back, turned so the open side faces the front for gifts. There are no spare seats, so ask the restaurant to keep two chairs by the wall. The games are run between the main course and the cake, with each table playing as a team.
Cards and signs
Under 20 guests, reserve the guest of honour's chair and the grandmothers' seats with a small card and leave the rest open. From 20 to 50 guests with assigned tables, use a short table list by the door or escort cards that double as a favour tag. The escort cards vs. place cards vs. a seating board guide compares each option.
Doing it in Seatwise
Seatwise is free to plan with and needs no sign-up. Add 60-inch rounds and set the tables nearest the guest of honour to 6 seats for crescent seating, then use the Venue buttons to add the entrance and a Dance floor block, relabelled "Gifts and games" in its editor, in front of her chair.
Press Import and paste the guest list, one guest per line with a household and a group, so partners and children stay together and each side of the family is marked. In the same box you can type rules, one per line, such as "together: Grandma Joan, Aunt Pat" or "apart: " followed by two names that shouldn't share a table. Seat table 1 by hand, lock it, and press Auto-seat to fill the rest. It keeps households whole, honours your rules and mixes the groups gently across tables, which helps if each table plays games as a team.
Your guest list stays in your browser. Printing the table list, the floor plan or a find-your-seat board, and copying the escort-card CSV for place cards, is part of Pro: $12, one time, for the event.
FAQ
Do you need a seating chart for a baby shower? For a seated shower of 20 or more guests, a simple one helps, at least for the guest of honour's table and the grandmothers' table. For a shower at home, reserving three or four seats is enough.
Where should the mum-to-be sit at her baby shower? In a firm chair with arms, where every guest can see her, close to a bathroom, with a small table beside her and space for gifts next to it.
Where do the grandmothers sit at a baby shower? At the table nearest the guest of honour, both at the same table and at the same distance, with the oldest relatives on the side closest to the door and bathroom.
How many tables do I need for a baby shower of 30? Four 60-inch rounds of 8, or five if you seat 6 per table in a crescent so everyone faces the guest of honour. Keep one or two chairs spare.