April Showers

Once upon a time, waiting to find out a baby's gender meant lots of humdrum yellow and green. But having a "surprise" baby doesn't have to mean sacrificing style when it comes to planning an extra-special shower. We've rounded up 27 of our favorite baby shower themes that are equally apropos for a boy, girl, or surprise little one on the way. From a rustic camping party to a sunny "hello, baby!" soiree, there are plenty of creative ways to honor the very disciplined mama-to-be's willpower to wait!

While there's something to be said for receiving a beautifully printed, hand-addressed invitation in the mail, digital invites offer a time and money-saving solution for busy baby shower hostesses. With a range of websites offering chic and modern designs, there's no reason to feel bad about bucking tradition and digitizing your message. Here, eight of the absolute sweetest digital baby shower invitations that we think even Emily Post would approve of.

We're excited to bring you a new post from mother and actress Tori Spelling! Every other week, we bring you the best parenting and lifestyle advice from ediTORIal by Tori Spelling, Tori's daily blog about everything from food and fashion to parenting and relationships. This week, Tori shares mini appetizers for your baby shower.

When I think of April showers, rain is the last thing on my mind. We do get a little drizzle here and there in sunny Southern California, but as far as showers go, April tends to be the beginning of wedding and baby shower season. I love spring showers because the weather is just warm enough to throw a backyard brunch or afternoon shindig — full of superyummy hors d'oeuvres!

Related: Behind the Scenes of Hattie's Mad Hatter First Birthday Party

If you’ve read my book CelebraTORI, then you know that I’m all about making everything mini. Taking a classic recipe and shrinking it down into appetizer size is an uber chic way to serve food for any occasion. Appetizers are especially important for showers, as they’ll most likely be sitting out for a long period of time while people rotate between the food table, cocktails and fussing over the expecting mama- or bride-to-be. For this reason, it's important to serve food that can sit out at room temperature yet still maintain its almost-too-cute-to-eat presentation. I also suggest serving foods you know people will like. A fancy shmancy salmon steak atop a bed of spinach may be classy, but who doesn’t love a couple of good, old-fashioned cocktail weenies (which also happen to be much kinder on your wallet)?

Now, in case you’re still stuck on what to make, I thought I'd give you a little #foodspiration and share some of my personal favorites. Here are nine Spring shower appetizers I always keep in my back pocket . . .

More great reads from Tori Spelling:
Tori's most memorable outfits ever
Tori's baby shower gift guide
How to make decorative tulle balls
Tori reveals her postbaby body

Sometimes all you need is one showstopping detail to take your baby shower from blah to wow. In the case of this orange-and-blue shower, it's all about the letterpress paper details, created by Sabrena of Dear Lola for a shower she cohosted for a friend. "Our color palette was orange and light blue, and we infused various patterns (stripes and plaid) along with orange animals," Sabrena says. "It was so much fun to design all the paper pretties and even more special because it was for such a good friend." Sabrena went all out with the paper suite, designing invitations and registry cards, thank-you cards, "it's a boy" straw tags and address labels, and even coasters. Add in some famed cupcakes, a DIY tassel and name garland, and a cute advice station, and you have one simply sweet shower. Keep clicking for all the details.

If hundreds of miles or expensive flights have ever kept you from celebrating a friend's special occasion, you're likely to love Annie Campbell of Après Fête's Baby Shower in a Box concept as much as we do.

"I love my friends. I really do. But since I grew up in Oregon, went to school in New York, and now live in Los Angeles, those friends are pretty spread out. And since life continues to be full of celebrations — birthdays, engagements, weddings, showers of all kinds, babies, and more — it's impossible to fly around to celebrate all of them in person," Annie said of her inspiration to devise a "Baby Shower in a Box" for her expectant friend, Deirdre, who lives across the country in Charleston, SC. See how she did it!

If you've been following our April Showers series, you might think you've seen it all when it comes to baby shower trends. Unfortunately, you'd be wrong. We try to stick to the good when it comes to baby showers, but the bad and the ugly also exist. So in which of the previous categories would you put the following seven questionable shower trends — from on-site ultrasound technicians to cash-only requests? Click through and weigh in by leaving us a comment below.

It's not all about that private 20-week ultrasound anymore! More and more parents are planning gender reveal parties to find out their baby's sex and share the excitement with family and friends through a big reveal, usually in cake form. So how is it done? Most moms and dads have their ultrasound technician write the child's sex on a slip of paper that is placed in an envelope. It's then dropped off at a bakery where a cake is baked in the appropriate color and iced to hide the news. When the parents-to-be cut into the sweet treat, they learn about their future offspring's sex. If you need inspiration for your own gender revealing cake, check out then 16 following adorable options, and happy cake cutting!

Gender reveal parties have moved beyond a flash-in-the-pan trend to a fully recognized baby shower category, and we couldn't be more on board with the clever concept. Whether you decide to create your party around the gender-reveal theme or just add it in as a fun extra, it's a great way to add even more excitement to your event for both you and your guests. Not sure which style of gender reveal party works for you? Check out seven spectacular events, full of pink- and blue-filled cakes, little man and lady details, and even some fireworks(!), all of which are sure to provide some inspiration for your big reveal.

"When you have a gorgeous and glamorous friend named Tiffany who just so happens to be expecting a baby boy, hosting a 'Breakfast With Tiffany' baby shower is a no-brainer," says Jen Carver, the party guru behind Banner Events. "My friend Vivian and I wanted to create a pretty breakfast setting with pops of glitz and glamour."

To make her vision come to life, Jenn recruited some of the best party minds in the business, including one of our favorite printable designers, Anders Ruff, and 4 Kids Cakes, which provided a beautiful, totally impressive flower-box-esque creation. An incredible breakfast-food buffet (mini pancakes and parfaits and a powdered-doughnut tower were just some of the highlights), a cute diaper cake, and so much more made this one of the most detail-filled showers we've ever seen (and we think Audrey would approve!).

The key to baby shower table success? Coming up with an unexpectedly beautiful centerpiece that sets the tone for the food and drink portion of your soiree. Whether your approach includes flowers, props, or themed decor, we've rounded up 12 inspiring ideas that are sure to be the shower's center of attention — after the guest of honor, of course!