A banquet hall, also known as a reception or function hall, is a space reserved just for holding special events of all kinds, such as wedding receptions, anniversary soirees, graduation celebrations, family and corporate holiday parties, reunions, and even milestone birthday festivities. One of these halls may also be perfect for hosting your baby shower if you have a large guest list. Since they're so open and expansive, these halls make ideal event spaces for big baby showers. They will offer more than enough for playing games, mixing and mingling, eating food, and any other activities you have planned. 

While a banquet hall may seem intimidating at first due to its sheer size, you may find it easy to customize with personalized or themed decor items since it's a blank slate. You can start from scratch to give the hall any look and feel that you'd like for your baby shower. While banquet halls are sometimes attached to hotels or restaurants, they're often stand-alone venues that may also offer some type of outdoor space. If being able to bring the celebration outside is important to you, use that feature to narrow down a large list of potential venue spaces. 

Here are some additional tips for hosting your baby shower in a banquet hall rental.

1. Decorations

One of the first things to consider when planning a baby shower is what decor theme or color scheme you'd like to incorporate into it. For instance, if you go with a whimsical zoo theme, you can decorate the hall with tall cardboard animal shapes, such as zebras and giraffes You can also cover the guest, dessert, buffet, and gift tables with tablecloths featuring animal designs or black-and-white zebra-striped patterns. 

Brighten up a bare white wall by hanging a banner that states "welcome to the zoo" or any other witty saying. As another fun idea, welcome guests to party with an archway made of animal-shaped balloons. 

If you choose to go with a specific color scheme, such as blue and green or pink and gold instead of a theme, tape streamers and balloons to poles, beams, and other bare spaces in the hall. You an also hang decorative paper lanterns from the ceiling for a pop of color. 

2. Food

Since banquet halls are so spacious, they're perfect for serving food and desserts buffet-style. You can set up a build-your-own burger or taco bar, or set up a sweet table filled with pastel-hued candy, which guests can take home as favors. 

Fill glass apothecary jars with colorful rock candy sticks, gumballs, jelly beans, pacifier-shaped gummy candy, or any other treats you'd like, and have guests fill their own bags to take home. Set up bowls filled with blue or pink punch as another charming touch.