Baby Shower Guest Shocked After Being Told People Have to Pay to Attend Party

A woman wants her baby shower guests to make it rain cash at the party.

One of the baby shower guests shared on the community forum Mumsnet that the mom-to-be is making friends and family pay roughly $13 each to attend her baby shower at a teahouse that will still be open to the public.

“I might be a bit out of touch here,” she wrote. “My baby shower was 8 years ago now, but I just feel that it’s a bit cheeky [to have guests pay] 😬.”

Guests learned about the unexpected fee after they had already RSVP’d and bought very specific gifts for the baby shower.

“We had a ridiculous gift list — everything very particular — with actual links to websites,” the pregnant woman’s friend recalled. “We all had to say what we were buying so it could be crossed off the main list. Whatever. I chose something and that was that.”

“Just had a message to say that food will be [$13] each and we need to pay cash on arrival,” she continued. “I mean, it’s been a month or so since people RSVPd and ‘chose’ their gift. And so now with this payment surprise thrown in, it would seem a little off to turn around and cancel.”

She noted that no one has called out the host for the demand, adding that the teahouse is owned by a family member of the mom-to-be.

“It’ll still be open to the public so they’re not paying to hire it out or anything,” she explained. “The mom-to-be is a lovely friend so, of course, I will still go and have a nice time. BUT am I being unreasonable to find it all a bit cheeky and annoyed that it wasn’t mentioned to start with?”

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Many Mumsnet users replied that it’s normal to be expected to pitch in for food if the baby shower isn’t at someone’s house or backyard.

“Well obviously if they’re having the shower at a venue where you’d pay for food, you’d be, er, paying for the food 🤦‍♀️,” one person commented.

Other readers agreed, with one user responding, “It’s also expected to pay your space if it’s something like an afternoon tea or a dinner, but if it’s a BBQ in someone’s garden then not so much.”

However, one person pointed out that she “can understand it’s a bit of a gray area as the family owns the tearooms.”