How long should a baby shower last?  

i think it really depends on who the visitors will be and on the amount of food you can offer. it would be embarrassing to have plenty of people the whole day and not having enough food but if you have plenty of food then you can just put a start time and let the party end on itself. people will leave if they have to go somewhere else anyway. you may also opt to end it early if you want to sleep early for the baby. it also depends if you are close to all the people attending because it might be awkward to be with all of if you dont know them. i recently hosted a surprise baby shower for a friend but since we had limited food and people are too busy to stay long, we just started the party at 6pm and it ended around 11 PM. it doubled as a reunion for us high school friends so we actually wish it never ended.