The Shower Diva: Where Fun Reigns!

Melissa Joan Hart

Shower tips, gift advice and lots more from one of our favorite celebs!

Never mind the plot of my latest TV movie, My Fake Fiancé ! That was a lot of fun to make and the idea of getting married just for the gifts makes for a hilarious plotline, but in real life, celebrating a big event like a wedding or a new baby is about so much more. My definition of a successful shower is one where the Guest of Honor is surrounded by her friends and family and everyone is making her feel loved and adored. At my own showers, the love my hostesses poured into creating a special day for me was very precious. So, when I’m the hostess, I love to create special touches to show my friend I put a lot of thought into the day.

Start with a theme. My favorite part of any party is the theme. Find a source of inspiration, perhaps a color or a centerpiece, which you can use to create a common tie between all the elements of your event. A couple of my favorite sources of inspiration are the invitations and the cake. For instance, we threw a ladybug tea for one of my girlfriends. We had our bakery create a ladybug cake and made cut floral centerpieces that looked like miniature gardens. It was lovely.

For my wedding shower, my family threw a “pink” party. They prepared all pink foods, used pink décor, and everyone wore pink. From that simple theme, they created a beautiful celebration. Needless to say, the pictures were lovely!

Personalize the occasion. A shower is all about the Guest of Honor so it’s a great time to celebrate her life. I like to fill picture frames with photos from different times in her life. It’s a very unique, personal addition to the décor and guests enjoy seeing the photos and getting to know more about the Guest of Honor.

You can also have the games and favors personalized. My Mom ordered personalized Baby Bingo for my first Baby Shower and I loved it.

You can throw a nice shower without spending a fortune. The economy is on everyone’s mind these days and we’re all looking for ways to save money. That’s ok. It doesn’t mean you have to short-change your celebration, it just means you have to think creatively.

• If you’re purchasing decorations, buy items that can be used for many different parties. Japanese lanterns or paper spheres are a great example of party decoration that you can use to create a special atmosphere for your shower, and then tuck away for future parties. They now have “eco-friendly” party décor you can use for many occasions.
• Also, team up with several friends of the Mother- or Bride-to-Be and share the cost. It’s a lot easier if one person doesn’t have to pay for everything herself.
• You can save a lot of money by holding the shower at someone’s house, rather than renting a hall or going to a restaurant.
• Use your own dishes and silver instead of spending money on paper or plastic place settings. It will look better, be less expensive, and it’s more environmentally friendly.

Pick fun, easy to play games. One Baby Shower game I get a kick out of is “Baby Food Taste Test.” To play it, buy three or four different types of baby food and remove the labels from the jars. You’ll want to have a bunch of spoons for this game so you don’t spread germs around. Give each guest a piece of paper and a pencil. Have everybody shut their eyes and feed each of them a taste of the first baby food. Make sure you use a new spoon for each guest! Then have everyone write down what flavor they think they tasted. Repeat this process until everyone has tried each flavor and then see who has the most correct guesses. Give the winner a prize. Depending on what you fed everybody, you also might want to pass around the candy dish so they can get the taste of baby food out of their mouth!

Gift ideas. Of course deciding on the right gift depends on the occasion and the Guest of Honor.

• If the Bride-to-Be is setting up her first house, you might want have a shopping party. For my bridal shower, my hostesses invited a Tupperware® lady so guests could shop for some practical items my husband and I needed for our first home.
• Something monogrammed is always nice. I loved getting gifts that were monogrammed. They felt special and I love looking at our married initials.
• For a Baby Shower, my sons Mason and Braydon would definitely recommend any toy that rolls and can be pulled or pushed, but their Mom prefers useful things like car seats and bath tubs!

The best shower gifts, like the best decorations and the best games, are the ones you choose because you know they will show the Guest of Honor you were thinking of her.

About Melissa Joan Hart. Actress, singer-songwriter and director Melissa Joan Hart is best known for her starring roles in Clarissa Explains it All and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. She married musician Mark Wilkerson in 2003 and the couple has two sons, Mason and Braydon. Her latest TV movie, My Fake Fiancé, premiered April 19th on ABC Family and feature film Nine Dead is scheduled to be released in mid 2009. Her new dessert shop, Sweet Harts opens in Sherman Oaks, California later this month.