Baby showers are a wonderful way to honor the mom-to-be and, of course, celebrate the new baby on the way. If you are the host, and you’ve crunched the numbers, you may quickly realize that hosting a baby shower can easily cost hundreds of dollars. In reality, a baby shower does not have to cost a fortune. Use these cost-cutting tips to plan a beautiful and memorable baby shower on a budget.
Skip the prepackaged decorations. Avoid the pitfall of buying pre-packaged baby shower decoration sets. While these sets are cute and seem easy enough, they are often very pricey for what you get. Many of the items included in baby shower kids aren’t really needed (do you really even want a 3 foot long banner, or a sash for the mom-to-be to wear?). Skip these pre-fabricated baby shower decoration sets and choose your decorations separately. Shop bargains for solid colored plates, napkins, and cups. Purchase solid colored streamers in the nursery colors or blue and pink. You may pick up a few baby themed items like some confetti or a banner or two, but as a rule keep the baby shower decorations simple and avoid paying the price for baby shower themed packages. Estimated savings: $20+
Incorporate your gift into the baby shower décor. If you are able to use the gift you purchase for the mom-to-be as a decoration you can save money on wrapping paper and decorations. If you have purchased clothing for the baby, hang the adorable little outfits on hangers around the room. You can purchase a baby bathtub and fill it with ice to hold drinks for the baby shower. A diaper bag does double duty as a baby shower table centerpiece when filled with a little tissue paper and some streamers spilling out. Diaper cakes are a popular gift/decoration as well. If you can incorporate your baby shower gift into the shower décor you’ll save a little cash. Estimated savings: $10+
Don’t hesitate to accept help. If you are throwing the baby shower on your own and one or more of the guests asked what they can do to help, accept the assistance! Just getting one or two guests to take care of a dish for the baby shower food will really save you time and money. Estimated savings: $20+
Skip wrapping. Don’t bother with wrapping your gift for the mom-to-be. If you are not using the gift as a decoration, just place a bow on it. Many baby items are bulky and difficult to wrap (and thus take a lot of wrapping supplies) so unless the store where you purchase the item offers free gift wrap (fortunately many do) don’t worry about the extra expense of buying wrapping supplies for the baby shower gift. Estimated savings: $5+
Hand deliver invitations. If you know you will be seeing some of the baby shower guests at church, work, or other places, go ahead and hand deliver as many as you can. Depending on the number of guest being invited to the baby shower you can really save some money on postage. Estimated savings: $5+
Use what you already have. Before you run out and buy all sorts of baby shower decorations, evaluate what you might already have at home that will be useful for the baby shower. Filling glasses with colored water (baby blue or pastel pink) is a quick, easy, and totally free way to transform a plain table into a decorated one. If you have a baby of your own, try using some of your baby’s clothing items, hats, booties, etc as decorations for the baby shower. Always check to see what you have before buying all of your baby shower decorations new. Estimated savings: $10+
Use real eating utensils. Instead of wasting some money on plastic dinnerware for the baby shower, why not use your own stainless eating utensils? People typically prefer to eat with a real fork or spoon anyway, it won’t cost you a cent, and the clean up won’t be too bad since you are only dirtying the utensils and not entire service sets. Estimated savings: $5+
With these tips you can throw a wonderful baby shower on a budget! Save your cash and enjoy the fun at the next baby shower you host.
