Baby shower photo ideas: 30 to take, and a guest book that talks

The room and the parents-to-be: 12 photo ideas

Start with the details while the room is still tidy, then turn to the parents-to-be. Six for the room and the details:

• The welcome sign, before anyone arrives
• The decorations, before the room fills up
• The gift table, at its fullest
• The smallest outfit in the pile
• The guess-the-date board, filled in
• The cake, before anyone cuts it

Six for the parents-to-be:

• The bump, side on, before the cake
• The parents-to-be, laughing together
• Opening the first gift
• Reading a card out loud
• Holding up the smallest gift
• The parents-to-be, when they think nobody is looking

The guests, the games, and the cake: 18 photo ideas

A baby shower is as much about who came as about the gifts. Six for the guests:

• The guest who travelled furthest
• The grandparents-to-be together
• Friends from different parts of their life, meeting
• The best hat in the room
• The youngest guest in the room
• Everyone together, before anyone leaves

Six for the games and the gifts:

• The guessing game, mid-guess
• The winning guess, and the winner's face
• The most competitive guest
• The gift that got the biggest reaction
• The mountain of wrapping paper
• A handwritten card, up close

Six for the cake and the goodbyes:

• The first slice
• Someone sneaking a second slice
• The teapot, or whatever is being poured
• The parents-to-be, sitting down at last
• The last guest at the door
• The room after everyone has gone

Baby shower guest book ideas: a guest book that talks

A written guest book gets a line from each guest. A memo gets more: a few words in a guest's own voice, left from their own phone, up to a minute long, answering one question you ask. Each memo plays back with the speaker's face, and you can download them all as files, to play back when the baby is old enough to listen.

Pick one question for the party. Every guest answers it once, so choose the one you would most like to hear in every voice in the room. Eight that work well:

1. 01

   Leave a hello for the baby.

   Easy for everyone, from the oldest guest to the youngest, and lovely to play back one day.

2. 02

   What is your best advice for the first year?

   Practical, and often funny. The one the parents-to-be will need first.

3. 03

   What do you hope this baby gets from each parent?

   A kind question that tells the parents-to-be what people love about them.

4. 04

   Tell the baby how you know their family.

   Years from now, it is a map of everyone who was there.

5. 05

   What should this child know about the world?

   A bigger question, best for a smaller, closer group.

6. 06

   Tell the parents-to-be something to make them laugh at three in the morning.

   For a lively crowd, and parents who will need a laugh.

7. 07

   Which song should this baby hear first, and why?

   Quick to answer, and you end up with a playlist.

8. 08

   Leave a wish for the parents-to-be.

   Simple and warm, and it works for every guest.

There are more in our list of audio guest book questions, and more on how memos work on the memos page.

How to set it up

1. 01

   Make the moment

   Name it, set the start and the end around the party, and pick a film look. Original lets guests choose; Vintage or Black & white sets one look for everyone.

2. 02

   Pick the size

   Free for up to 4 guests. For the whole party, one payment for a size from 8 guests up, through Apple or Google, with no subscription.

3. 03

   Put one card on the table

   Print the invite card, or set it in your colours, and stand it by the cake. Guests scan the QR, get the app if they need it, type a name, and shoot. No account.

4. 04

   Turn memos on

   Set a length from 5 to 60 seconds and write your question. Mention it once, when everyone gathers for the gifts.

5. 05

   Paste in a shot list

   Add your favourite ideas from this page to Guest Lens. Each prompt shows in every guest's camera and ticks itself off when a guest captures straight from it.

6. 06

   Develop it after the party

   Set the roll to develop when it closes, or after a delay you set. Until then, other guests see a blurred tile for each shot, with who added it and when, and you see everything.

After the party

Download everything at full resolution, one at a time or the whole moment as one .zip. Photos and videos save to the phone's library, and memos save as files. Do it before the roll goes: 48 hours after it closes on a free moment, 30 days on a paid one.

For the whole setup in one place, with a short shot list of its own, see the baby shower page.