How to Have a Baby Shower Just Like Meghan Markle’s

We get the intention behind “Jack and Jill” baby showers, but take your cue from Meghan and leave your spouse at home. (Harry was busy working the charity circuit in London, while Meghan partied in New York.) After all, you’re the one actually carrying the baby. The best kind of shower should be designed to pamper you alone.

Yes, it’s an added expense. And depending on where you’re at in your pregnancy, it could also be risky, so check with your doc. But once baby arrives, it’s sort of game over on travel for a good long while. (Meghan clearly thought this through when she booked a private plane to whisk her away from London to New York.)

So why not sew your wild oats?! Book a penthouse suite?! Gather your closest and coolest friends?! The photos will be something you can swipe through when you’re nursing 24/7 and sleep-deprived. Le sigh.

Meghan’s pals—with input from the Duchess of Sussex, no doubt—planned flower arranging, a dessert tasting, musical stylings by a world-class harpist and more. No, they were not decorating onesies, playing pin the sperm on the vagina or worse. The lesson: Just because the event is baby-related, that doesn’t mean you have to go all in on the theme.

Remember that flower-arranging session led by an outside florist for Meghan and her closest pals? They actually donated the blooms they assembled to different charities through an organization called Repeat Roses, according to CBS This Morning co-host (and shower guest) Gayle King. (Meghan’s idea!) Inspiration to do something philanthropic at your own fete? For sure. Even if you have everyone do something small like bring a Spanish baby book to give to an organization in need, it counts.

It’s a baby-related fact that buying newborn clothes is one of the biggest joys of a new mom’s life. What’s not as fun is picking up the essentials—the crib, for example—which is why we loved seeing Babyletto’s 3-in-1 convertible design dropped off for Meghan. That’s not to say you can’t register for a few fun and splurge-worthy items. Case in point: Meghan’s friend Misha Nonoo strode up to the front of The Mark holding a Rani Arabella bag. Did she gift her friend a gorgeous new baby blanket? Only time—and the pics from the front steps of the hospital—will tell.

OK, so this may have been Serena Williams’s doing, but from the pics taken outside Meghan’s Upper East Side hotel, it looks like guests at her NYC baby shower were gifted with a chic—and not completely unaffordable—suitcase from Away. Is it a bit extra? Sure. Is it a gift that’s actually practical? Absolutely.

Meghan came, she saw, she dressed to the nines and stuffed her face with adorable nursery-inspired cookies. (We’re guessing.) Granted she was airport-bound when she left the hotel, but we love the idea of bringing a change of clothes for the end of the afternoon. In Meghan’s case, she slipped into stretchy leggings, sneakers and a baseball cap. And we kind of love her for it.