Baby showers seem simple until you're actually planning one, then suddenly there's a guest list, a theme, food, games, favours, and a mom to be who you don't want to stress out in the process.
Start with the basics before anything else, date, guest list size, and whether it's a surprise or the mom to be is involved in planning. This decides almost everything downstream, a surprise shower needs a co-conspirator close to her, a planned one lets her actually pick a theme she likes. If she hasn't announced yet, that's a separate small moment worth doing properly with a pregnancy announcement prop first.
Pick a theme that matches the space you have, not the other way around. A small home living room works better with a soft, minimal setup, pastel balloons and a simple backdrop, rather than trying to cram an elaborate setup into a space that can't hold it. Boho works especially well for this reason, it looks intentional in a normal living room. If you do have the space, jungle baby shower is the one people ask for most. Or just take a full decoration package and skip the matching problem entirely.
The cake and topper moment matters more than people expect. Baby shower toppers stay gender neutral here, "Welcome Baby", "Oh Baby", "Mom To Be", and honestly they photograph better that way against a soft palette anyway. The blue and pink stuff comes later, for the welcome home or naming ceremony once the baby is actually here.
Games are optional, honestly, and depend entirely on the guest list. A close friend group might enjoy them, a mixed crowd of family and colleagues sometimes finds them awkward. If you do include games, keep them short, nobody wants to spend an hour guessing baby food flavours.
Favours should be simple and not baby specific if the guest list includes people who aren't parents themselves. A small personalised keepsake, a set of mini diyas, or a nicely packaged little treat in a gift bag works across every kind of guest.
Food doesn't need to be elaborate. A few finger foods, a proper cake, and something to drink covers most baby showers well, especially if it's a daytime event where people aren't expecting a full meal.
Small things that quietly do a lot of work, invitations that set the tone before anyone arrives, a sash or accessories for the mom to be so she's clearly the centre of the day, and a chalkboard for the photos everyone posts afterwards.
The single biggest thing that makes a baby shower feel planned instead of thrown together last minute is timing everything two to three weeks out, decor, cake, topper, favours, all ordered early instead of the week before, since personalised items especially need lead time to get right.
And there's almost always a second party. The reveal, the welcome home, the naming ceremony, all of it happens after the baby arrives, so if you're already ordering for the shower it's worth planning the welcome new born setup at the same time.