If your baby shower is being designed as a surprise, the host should talk about the menu with the guest of honor when they initially meet to work out the details for the shower and, if it is agreed that the host will cater the food, then this can be purchased in around a week before and the basic preparation done a day or two ahead of time, providing the completing touches for the day of the party. You should not forget that your guests will also need something to drink and, as a standard rule, the host should plan on serving only non alcoholic beverages.

The expectant mother will not be able to indulge anyway and there is always a chance that if you do serve alcohol some of the guests will indulge a little bit more than they should. For this reason, it is a good idea to leave alcoholic beverages out altogether. Serving non alcoholic drinks is also a lot less expensive but, at the end of the day, the choice is decided by the host. Appropriate drink selections for a baby shower might include a mixture of fruit juices, an assortment of soda, a robust fruit punch served in a punch bowl and tea and coffee. Also, since drinks will not go off, they can of course be bought a long time before the occasion.

Now, while the guest of honor will quite justifiedly be the center of attention for the absolute majority of the proceeding, she will need to step out of the limelight in short to make way for the baby shower cake. A uncomplicated cake decorated with baby supplements and piped with the word 'congratulations' will do the trick nicely but, if the budget permits, a more elaborated cake can be transformed into a genuinely eye-catching center piece for your baby shower table.

If you are planning to order a cake from your local bakery then they will probably need about a weeks notice for a reasonably simple cake, but something more flamboyant could take longer and so it really shoud be arranged well in advance. Of course you can invariably make your own individual baby shower cake, but this will depend very much on how good you are at baking and your level of skill as a cake decorator. Whatever your choice in terms of food, drink and the cake remember that uncomplicated food and good presentation is often essential to a winning party.

Fresh fruit and cracker tray with a selection of cheeses work marvels on a baby shower food table. Add in some pretzels, sweets and a few chips, such as candies, mints and cookies, and the baby shower food practically handles itself. Take care in the display to use some matching plates or colors to ensure the baby shower food table looks spectacular and it should be just perfect. Baby shower food preparation can be one of the largest challenges for some hostesses to master. If a large budget is not available, in that respect there are some great ways to pull off a spread without breaking the bank.

Baby shower food like scones and tea sandwiches are kind of old style and girly, but the old ladies will appreciate them and honestly virtually most other people will too. Use really thin sliced white sandwich bread, pepperidge farm makes a thin sliced type that they sell in all the stores, some delicious fillings are cucumber with watercress mayo. Just lightly slice the stripped cakes and process watercress mayo in a food processor, 1 bunch watercress and 1/2 cup mayo mixed until smooth.  Spread 1 slice bread with watercress mayo and a small layer of cucumbers. Also like brie butter and thinly sliced ham or fig jam or thinly chopped radishes.

Your baby shower food is to set up a buffet style spread or place plates of starters across the room. Many shower throwers purposely scatter trays of food around the room to get people up and moving about. This frequently encourages everyone to go around and mingle with people they are meeting for the first time. Whatever you decide, do not forget to unwind and enjoy yourself at the shower. Bear in mind all the guests are there to pass time with and display support to the soon to be mom (and dad). The food is just icing on the cake.