Mom Explains Surprising Rule for Guests After Opting for 'Display Shower' to Celebrate Baby on the Way (Exclusive)

• Julie Myers was considering not having a baby shower until presented with the unique idea of a display shower
• The new tradition, which is becoming increasingly popular, has guests arrive with unwrapped gifts, eliminating the gift-opening portion of the event
• The mom tells PEOPLE she wanted to celebrate her day without feeling like the focus was solely on her

People everywhere are looking for new ways to celebrate life's special moments. One mom found the perfect solution in a baby shower that deviates from tradition in one significant way.

"The common baby shower I was used to had the guest of honor open all of her gifts and show them in front of everyone," Julie Myers tells PEOPLE.

As "the type of person that hates to be the center of attention," the mom-to-be was dreading the idea when expecting her first baby in 2018. The thought of having to handle the day without her husband, both working the room and opening and reacting to gifts, gave her enough anxiety to make her not want to have a shower at all.

"When the attention is solely on me, I get really bad anxiety. I'm better one-on-one," explains Julie, who is on TikTok as @julezmyers.

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"When I had my wedding shower, my then-fiancé was up there with me, opening the gifts and that still was anxiety-inducing. Then it came time for my baby shower and I was just reverting back to those feelings I had from my wedding shower."

Because her husband couldn't be at the baby shower, Julie seriously considered foregoing the whole tradition. She decided to confide in her best friend, who is also her sister-in-law, who eventually presented another idea.

"She said everyone still wanted to do something to celebrate me. So she found the idea of the display shower and brought that to me," Julie says. "She asked if it would help and I was like, 'Yes, this is perfect.' "

Per Brides, "At a display shower, guests bring unwrapped gifts and put them on display with name tags labeling who gave what."

Juile was thrilled that she didn't "have to sit in front of everybody" but could still celebrate with those closest to her.

"It was the perfect solution for my situation," she says, noting that "about 90 percent" of her guests were on-board with the idea.

"They know me, they loved me and they just wanted to do what was best for me. Some of our older family members were like, 'Well, that's not tradition, that's not what we do. I'm still going to wrap my gifts. I still want to see you open my gift,' " she explains.

"There were also a couple of people who were very meaningful to me, who gave gifts that were more sentimental. For example, my aunt makes homemade quilts for everybody in the family, that's her thing and I 100 percent understood that. So she and I went off to the side and I did open my gift with her one-on-one, and that, to me, was fine. There were a couple of people who voiced their opinions, but at the end of the day, they understood and they went along with it."

When Julie saw the trend getting love on TikTok, she knew she had to step forward and share her experience.

"Listen, it's 2024. If we're not open to change in options, we're just doing it wrong. That's my opinion. If some people want to celebrate you, they still have to take your feelings into consideration, so having that option to do a display shower is great. Everybody else still gets to enjoy and celebrate you and your baby. You can't go wrong with that decision."

While display showers are certainly more trendy now than they were a few years ago, Julie says she's since learned they're "pretty popular in the south."

"I was not expecting to go viral at all. I did call out a few trolls but overall, I was overwhelmed by comments from those who were kind and really like the idea."