Tia Fowles stopped by with some great ideas for throwing a baby shower on a budget. For more great ideas, visit her blog by clicking here.
Share the Responsibilities - Host the event with several friends or family members. It is no longer against etiquette to have a mother of the bride host and it doesn't have to be a maid of honor.
Split into teams: Invitations, Decorations, Favors, Games, Food
- Use Free Printables - Once you've found a set of printables that you like, set your decor and theme around that. Often included are: invitations, banners, table tents, thank you tags, water bottle wraps, etc. Tia recommends using a print shop to have them done for best quality
- Contact the owner for customization. Usually it's only a few dollars have something customized in an existing set.
- Look for free printables for the games you want to play. Chances are someone has already created a bingo card and is offering it for FREE!
Don`t Mail ALL of the Invitations - Showers in Utah tend to be large events and often include friends, family from both sides and co-workers. This can add up quick when you are printing and mailing invitations.
- Create a Facebook event and invite guests. This way you can also chat about group gifts, directions to the party and give an easy reminder to the whole group.
- Create a digital invite and email it out. Many free printables packages come with an invitation. Have the creator customize it with your info and email it to everyone.
- Snail mail only to those who don`t use social media or email.
Incorporate Your Gift Into the Decor and Games - Don`t feel like as the host you have to pay for all of the shower items AND a gift for the guest of honor.
- Make a Diaper Cake for a centerpiece.
- Hang a clothesline of cute baby clothes to decorate.
- Provide the supplies to make a baby book or sign-in book for a wedding as one of the activities at the shower and gift it with a scrapbook to hold all the pages.
- Write silly messages on diapers and give the expectant mother the entire box of diapers.
Save BIG on Food - Food is often the most expensive aspect of the party so save big by hosting the shower from 2:00 - 4:00 pm so you don't have to serve a meal.
- Serve one item as a build-your-own bar. We all approach a buffet and want to try some of everything and then come back for seconds on the things we actually liked. If you offer one main item, guests will probably build one plate and a few may come back for seconds.
- Plate size matters. Don`t buy dinner plates, buy appetizer or salad plates.
Three is the Magic Number - Games are a necessary evil and some are really lame - so avoid those ones. You don`t want your guests hiding in the corners just to avoid playing some of the stupid games we've all been roped into at showers.
- Limit the games and activities to 3. One that is useful to the bride or mother to be. One that can be done while guests mingle. One that is just for fun.
- Useful ideas: create guest sign-in book for a wedding or hair bows for a baby shower
- Mingle Activities: Guess the stats, advice book or wishing tree, writing messages on diapers or making a sugar scrub to take home.
- Just for fun: Bingo - It gives guests something to do while the gifts are open. Give everyone a bingo card and have them fill it out with gifts they think will be opened and then have simple boxes of candy for the winners.
