Wording guide

Sip and see invitation wording

A shower celebrates a baby coming. A sip and see is people meeting one who has arrived, and it needs rules a shower never does.

A soft table detail in muted sage and cream with eucalyptus

A sip and see happens after the birth, usually six to twelve weeks in, and its job is to let everybody meet the baby in one afternoon rather than across two months of individual visits. That is a genuine kindness to new parents, and it is why the format has spread. The invitation is short and warm, because nobody needs convincing to come.

What it does need, and what most versions leave off, is the visiting rules. Hand washing, please do not come if you have been ill, and whether people can hold the baby. Every new parent wants to say these things and almost none of them want to be the person who says them at the door. Printing them on the invitation makes it a house rule rather than a confrontation, and guests are relieved to be told rather than left guessing.

Gifts are optional and worth addressing. Many guests will already have sent something for the birth. A line saying gifts are not expected keeps the afternoon about the introduction, which is the whole point of the format.

So sip and see invitation wording is really two jobs on one card. The warm half tells people there is a baby to meet and when to come. The practical half sets the visiting rules before anybody is standing in your hallway. Write both and the afternoon runs itself. The wording blocks below give you each half in full, ready to lift and change the names.

Sip and see invitation wording, written out

Warm and simple

Come and meet Thomas Sunday, the tenth of May, two until five Drop in whenever suits 1424 Willow Court, Poway Tea, cake, and one very small guest of honour

Drop-in is the right format. A newborn cannot hold court for three hours, so guests flowing through is better for everybody.

The visiting rules, kindly

A few small things: Please wash your hands when you arrive Please skip it if you have been unwell this week — we will do it again Happy for you to hold him if he is awake and willing

Framed as house information rather than instruction. "We will do it again" is what makes the illness line land as care rather than exclusion.

No holding, said gently

He is very new, so we are keeping him in arms for now Plenty of looking, cooing and photographs

This is the hardest line to write and the one parents most want. Giving a reason and offering an alternative is what stops it sounding cold.

No gifts

No gifts, please — you have all been so generous already Just come and hold a cup of tea and admire him

Most guests will already have sent something at the birth. Saying this plainly keeps the afternoon from turning into a second shower.

What goes wrong

The mistakes worth avoiding

Leaving the visiting rules off, so the parents have to enforce them at the door all afternoon.
Running it as a fixed-time party, which a newborn cannot sustain.
Not saying whether guests can hold the baby, which is the question everybody has.
Scheduling it in the first three weeks, before anybody has slept.
Making it gift-driven, which turns a meeting into a second shower.

Questions people ask

When should a sip and see be held?

Six to twelve weeks after the birth. Early enough that everyone is still eager, late enough that the parents can face a room of people.

How do we ask people not to come if they are ill?

Say it plainly and add "we will do it again". The reassurance is what turns a rule into a kindness, and people genuinely comply.

Are gifts expected?

No, and saying so is worth a line. Most guests will have sent something already, and repeating the ask changes the feel of the afternoon.

Is this instead of a baby shower?

It can be, and increasingly it is for second and third babies, or when the birth was early. It can also be as well as, if the shower was before.

Want the wording set properly?

Wording is included in anything designed here. Tell me who is hosting and anything delicate about it, and I will set it and show you two versions to choose between. $45 for a First Look concept, back in three days, and it comes off whatever you book.

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