Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Would you pay £50 to attend a baby shower next week

361 replies

Donewithit888 · 12/03/2022 09:11

£50 includes the baby shower room hire, present (collective) and transport costs to get there, as it's around an hour from mine.

OP posts:
Phormiumjester · 12/03/2022 09:57

No. I wouldn't go to any baby shower. They're a hideous idea. All for gifts.

And they involve games. I hate forced fun! Cringey "women" games. Yuck.

If the mum and sister want to throw a baby shower then they ought to pay for the bloody thing. Or have it at home and not worry about the Instagram photos

MadameFantabulosa · 12/03/2022 09:57

I went to one organised by Americans for a British friend. There was no alcohol. We were offered coffee or Coke. It wasn’t much fun.

FlippityFlippityFlop · 12/03/2022 09:57

Depends. How much is your travel there? Does it include food?

Ivyonafence · 12/03/2022 09:58

I hate baby showers, but I'd pay it and go if it was a good friend. And I could afford it.

It's especially tacky for them to mandate the gift amount IMO. Could you opt out of the group gift and just get something less expensive yourself?

Chakraleaf · 12/03/2022 09:58

No

JudgeRindersMinder · 12/03/2022 09:58

@Onlyforcake

Really tacky idea. Hugely grabby! I'd happily spend £50 on a gift for a baby, but not to attend a party to then have to bring along a separate gift for the baby. Insane.
I’m with this, like others I feel fortunate to not know people who are into baby showers

I’ll happily spend £50 on a gift for a newborn though

MichelleScarn · 12/03/2022 09:59

How many people are going that its £25 a head for a lift? And why that location? Is it all for the 'gram?

TheDoveFromAboveCooCoo · 12/03/2022 10:00

Heck no. Baby showers are grabby enough already imo.

DDivaStar · 12/03/2022 10:01

There are only 3 people i would pay £50 to attend their baby shower abd I'd be a bit Shock even for them.

I'm assuming guests wouldn't also be expected to buy presents.

If the host can't afford to pay for room, food abd activities they need simpler plans.

AngelinaFibres · 12/03/2022 10:01

@Bringsexyback

Well your transportation costs are for you to cover if you want to go. what are they actually asking towards the present and towards the room hire ?
Bit of a drip feed. The fuel costs are yours . That is nothing to do with the party person. If the 25.00 is for a big present rather than lots of small ones then I wouldn't have a problem with that . I would only go to a baby shower of a family member or close friend. I would send a lovely card when the baby actually arrived and , if I really cared about the person, I dare say I would buy another present after the birth, if I could afford it. If they were an acquaintance I would be busy for that event and sadly unable to attend any of it.
YellowPlant · 12/03/2022 10:02

@MadameFantabulosa

I went to one organised by Americans for a British friend. There was no alcohol. We were offered coffee or Coke. It wasn’t much fun.
I’ve never been to a baby shower with alcohol. They’ve mostly been afternoon tea affairs.
Inastatus · 12/03/2022 10:02

Absolutely not!

ArchibaldsDaddy · 12/03/2022 10:03

I’d more likely pay £50 to avoid it…

Seriously…someone asking you to pay for a room hire so you can come and give them presents in it??

Nope.

SoftwareDev · 12/03/2022 10:03

I'll probably get flamed for this but here goes anyways.....

I think the concept of baby showers is incredibly grabby. "Come visit pregnant me and give me a gift" is essentially what it is.

I would never dream of having one let alone attending one. I did unfortunately get dragged to one in the past and it was awful - a bunch of annoying women "guessing" the sex/weight and comparing gifts they had brought.

I'd rather watch paint dry. I'm not actually a sullen miserable person - but baby showers bring out the worst in me!

RoseMartha · 12/03/2022 10:04

No

CHIRIBAYA · 12/03/2022 10:07

All this stress and complication. When did we stop simply enjoying life's experiences for what they are, instead of turning everything into an exercise in competetive, pointless, mindless consumption? When someone ,somewhere realised they could market it and make some money out of it.

Noname1999 · 12/03/2022 10:07

No. That's not how a baby shower works.

knittingaddict · 12/03/2022 10:07

NO.

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 12/03/2022 10:08

You can get one of these for about a tenner.

Would you pay £50 to attend a baby shower next week
PurpleDaisies · 12/03/2022 10:08

No. I would rather eat my own eyeballs.

AuntieMarys · 12/03/2022 10:09

No. I wouldn't go to one at all, nor a gender reveals, first birthday cake smash or other shite.

blondiepigtails · 12/03/2022 10:09

Nope. Never. More people need to say no to these mad events so they stop becoming a thing. If you have to do it, tea and cake at home is plenty.

scandihouse · 12/03/2022 10:10

I would always buy a present for a baby shower to be honest, maybe around £15/20 and wouldn't factor in money for getting there. I wouldn't want to pay room hire though.

TracyMosby · 12/03/2022 10:10

I dont see a problem with baby showers. Never understood the animosity towards them on here. But then again, if someone is every disappointed on their birthday here, there is often a pile on about how infantile celebrating a birthday is. Joyless.

I dont have an issue with paying for travel. As you need to travel. And you pay for travel. How else would you get there?

And paying for a joint present takes away the need to buy my own. I wouldnt be buying a second. The amount is too high, but not the concept.

Paying for room hire is my line. That’s ridiculous.

TheirTheyre · 12/03/2022 10:10

Nope