Baby shower
When to Send Baby Shower Invitations: 4-6 Weeks
Four to six weeks is the window that works. Here is the day-by-day countdown, who should send the link, and how to change the time without resending anything.
Send The Joy · October 1, 2026 · 3 min read
Your best friend's baby shower is three weeks away. The group chat has two different start times in it — 1pm in one message, 2pm in another — and eleven people have thumbed up both. Someone asks whether it is still at the flat or at the restaurant. Nobody replies, because nobody is sure. That is usually what happens when the question of when to send baby shower invitations gets left to the last minute.
The mess starts well before anyone books a venue. Send the invitation late and you spend the final week chasing replies. Send it too early and it sinks under a fortnight of memes. Here is how far in advance to send it, who usually does the sending, and what to do when the plan changes.
When to Send Baby Shower Invitations: Four to Six Weeks
Four weeks before the party is a sensible starting line. Six weeks is better if guests need to swap shifts or line up a babysitter, because neither of those happens overnight. If someone is coming from another city, add one more week on top: a train ticket or a flight is far easier to buy 40 days out than 12. And if the baby decides to arrive early, nothing is sitting in a drawer waiting for a stamp. The link is already on everyone's phone, and you only change the date.
- All guests local, shower at someone's flat: five weeks ahead is plenty.
- Anyone swapping shifts or sorting out childcare: six weeks.
- Guests travelling from another city: add a week so they can book travel before fares climb.
- Baby arriving ahead of schedule: the link is already out, so only the date changes.
The Countdown, Day by Day
Day one: you drop the link into the WhatsApp group and each guest opens it when they get a minute. Nothing to install, nothing to download, no account to create — it opens in the browser they already have. Day seven: one personal message to whoever has not replied. A quiet one-to-one nudge gets more answers than asking again in front of everybody. It is also usually a friend or a sister who sends the invitation and keeps track of replies, even when the mum-to-be's name is on the cover. She has enough to think about.
Ten days out, close the numbers with whoever is ordering the cake or doing the cooking, so you know how many plates, glasses and chairs you actually need. Three days before, open the invitation one last time and check the time, the address and the map. Grandparents and anyone travelling a long way deserve a phone call before the link lands — they are the ones with the most to organise.
Send it early enough that nobody has to rearrange their week, and keep it editable so a change of plan costs you nothing.
Change the Time Without Sending Anything New
If the restaurant moves your table from 1pm to 2pm, you edit the invitation and the same link shows the new time. A "we have moved venues" message disappears under memes by lunchtime; the invitation gets opened again, because every guest checks it before leaving the house. Dress code, the line on the cover, the map, the photos — all of it stays editable in the browser after you have sent it. Replies arrive inside the invitation in one ordered list, so you are not rebuilding a headcount from scattered chats. Pick a design, try it free — in test mode you can edit the cover at no cost, and buying unlocks every scene — then send the link once the date is clear. 29.99 EUR, one payment, no paper and no post.
