Sure, Mom is carrying the new baby, but Dad’s life is changing too! Today, not just women are becoming parents. Some fathers have a wife, but that’s not the only way men are becoming fathers. Some men adopt as a single parent or adopt a partner’s child. Others hire a surrogate to carry a baby. Still others are half of a same sex couple. Regardless of how he becomes a father, he will need the same support as any mom. Whether the father-to-be is your co-worker, brother, or bro, why not celebrate his new role as well?

Brews for Bros

Got a brew lover who is about to exchange his beer bottle for a baby bottle? Send him off in style with a beer-themed Dad shower. There are lots of ways to create a fun baby shower invitation that let your guests know what to expect and what to bring. Consider a card that reads: “Changing Chuggies for Huggies.” Another option is use a onsie template and create your own custom text that reads “IPA-lot.” If you really want to sell the joke, put the letters “IPA” on the top line and “lot” on the second line. Be sure to include the time and address. If the father is registered somewhere, add that info, or simply encourage guests to bring specific gifts such as a variety of sizes of diapers, baby bottles, or gift cards. Basically, something that the family will need.

Decorations aren’t a huge priority with a shower like this. Just turn your party space into the perfect pub experience. If you have beer signs, hang them and light them up. If you don’t have neon, try downloading vintage beer signs and printing them up as posters at your local office store. You can also play with the idea of the traditional “diaper cake” by creating a “beer cake” for your Dad shower. Simply wrap chilled cans of beer with cutesy ribbons and stacking smaller concentric circles on top of each other.

Keep the bar experience with your dishes and food. Make sure that you have several chilled glass beer steins for each guest. That way you can ensure that they always have a frosty mug. In fact, you can easily order glass beer steins and have them engraved with the words from the invitation, or some other fun phrase such as “Dad: A Legend since (current year)” Keep the food simple with pizza, beer, wings and pretzels.

Guys like to play games too. So, don’t leave them out of baby shower games. Alter a dart board with names of both parents to see who will change the diaper. You might consider putting Dad’s name in the bull’s eye to see who can make him change the first diaper. Don’t leave out gambling. Instead of a Deadpool, as in the movie, consider the “Dadpool.” Encourage guests to pick blocks with the day and hour of the birth. You might do the same with length and weight.

Mr. Fix-It

Does your favorite father-to-be still have a baby under construction? Help him prepare for his new life with a building-themed baby shower.

There are lots of fun ways to create unique baby shower invitations. You might fold paper to create a series of pockets and cut out tools such as a hammer, screwdriver, ruler and drill. Put information such as time, date and location on each of the tools and slip them into the “tool belt.” You might also use an architectural program to create the blueprint for the perfect baby. Ask guests to bring small gifts that Dad will need in his new role as “Diaper Foreman.” You might suggest things they will actually need such as Butt Paste, snot suckers, pacifiers, and onsies. But you can also add other fun items such as rubber gloves, a hazard mask, or a hard hat. You can add each of these items to a large toolbox, so that the new father has his “Diaper Doody” kit on hand at all times.

A construction site is your theme for decorations. Invest in caution tape and orange cones to keep your guests in a “safe zone.” You can create your own signs that work equally well for construction, or the impending birth. Think about signs like “Bump,” “Labor Ahead,” and “Under Construction.” Consider decorating a wheelbarrow and asking guests to “dump” gifts inside. You can also put out a plastic hard hat and ask guests to leave a fun message to lighten up those 3:00 am diaper runs.

Food can be a lot of fun with this theme. Wafer cookies make great “lumber,” and cheese balls are fun “wrecking balls.” Fill bowls with pretzels and peanuts for a “Nuts and bolts” mix. Lay out a buffet of rolls, deli meat, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes. Label it the “Sandwich Construction Site.” You can also label the drink table as the “Fuel Station.” Wrap the silverware in striped construction tape and label them “tools.”

There are lots of fun baby shower games that go along with a construction theme. Like any good foreman, Dad might be worried about the bottom line. So, play “The Price is Right, Baby Butt Edition.” Create a list of necessary diaper related items and ask guests to guess what each cost. For example, you might include diapers, rash cream, wipes and even a diaper storage unit such as the diaper genie. Make sure that you’re specific. Don’t just list “diapers,” list “24 pack of Huggies.” Put down a space for the guest to write the price and leave two other spaces. One is the real price, and the other is the difference between the guess and the actual price. The person who is the closest overall wins the game. However, it’s fun to keep small prizes on hand to offer anyone that accurately guesses a price. You can also create a pool for the “finished construction” date and the “final dimensions.”

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