Marisa Meidle's Baby Showers – Page 11 – Help from the Baby Shower Queen

WHAT TO REMEMBER WHEN THROWING A BUDGET-FRIENDLY BABY SHOWER

Baby showers like any other party need not have to be grandious or too expensive to make them memorable and special. Once planned well, you can actually come up with one that’s budget-friendly, but still look and feel like you spared no expense.

When planning for a budget-friendly baby shower or any party for that matter, you have to remember that guests really doesn’t care about how much you have spent for the party. Noone cares and noone will know the details of the expenses unless you tell them. What matters are the memories created and that everyone have fun. Here are essential tips for a baby hower that will help cut down on the budget.

GUESTS
First and foremost is the guest list. It is often best to have a smaller group, because then you know that guests are the ones closest to the mom-to-be or the parents-to-be. Smaller group also makes the occasion feel more intimate, and therefore every moment feels more heartfelt and memorable.

Small group also is a lot easier to manage. You need not rent a place because you can easily fit everyone at home: in the living room or garden perhaps. And because you are already having the shower at home, means no need for fancy decor to make the venue feel cozy. Fewer guests also mean less food, so you can even opt for fancy meals and not worry on your budget

And because the guests are closest to the expecting mom or parents, mean that you need not worry so much about invitations. You can comfortably opt to use digital invitation. In addition, these guests would be more than glad to extend their support by helping out with the shower’s expenses: they will surely offer to help with the food or the decorations, among others.

TIME and FOOD
If and when you can’t avoid to have big number of guests, then choose the perfect time where you can save on the food. Speaking of food, you can’t have a party without it, and it takes up almost half of the expenses. That is why picking the right time when to have the party is very significant, because time will dictate the kinds of food you need to serve.

If you hold the party around lunch or dinner time, then guests will expect to be served with meals, and that is quite expensive. Rather choose a time where guests have already taken their lunch or dinner. During this time it is fine to serve snacks instead of meals.

When serving snacks, choose finger foods because they are cheaper, easier to prepare, and you can easily make a lot of servings in a short time. Finger foods also can serve as decorations, you can be creative with the food presentations and all.

VIRTUAL OR HYBRID
Everything these days has become digital, so why not your baby shower? You can choose to combine an in-person and virtual guests or go all the way virtual. Either will save you a lot on the budget for the venue and especially on the food. And also saves a lot of budget on the part of the guests, especially those who needed to travel far just to join an in-person shower.

Finally, the idea really for a budget-friendly baby shower is to “keep in small and simple.” Often, simple things makes the best moments and memories.

Additional Tips on How to Organize a Baby Shower on a Budget

In my previous posts I have shared with you some ideas how to save expenses when your baby shower is on a tight budget. I have shared about picking the right time, venue and having both in person and virtual guests. I have also shared idead how to save on food, since it takes up almost half of the expenses.

Here are additional ideas how you can manage to organize a memorable baby shower even on a budget.

GO INTIMATE

Sometimes the old adage is true that “less is more.” And this is true in any type of occasions or events, and that includes when planning for baby shower. It’s actually better when the mom-to-be have lesser names on her guest list, why? Because it is easier from the get-go: you can pick a small venue or you can opt to organize the shower at home or in one of the friend’s or family’s home.

On another note, big and grandeous baby shower can be overwhelming for a first time mom-to-be. Although it’s fun to have such a big crowd, and let alone the number of gifts the mom-to-be will receive, but big crowds are loud. Whereas, small crowd is more intimate because guests include only those closest friends and family of the mom-to-be.

CO-HOSTING, COST SHARING

I know you really want to throw your bestie a great baby shower, but it is also understandable that expenses incurred may be challenging when you don’t have enough. Well, guess what? You don’t really have to do it alone. It does not necessarily mean when you’re hosting you can’t ask or say yes to help, especially financial assistance.

If the mom-to-be’s friends and or family offers to co-host or share with some of the expenses, perhaps they want to shoulder the venue or decorations or potlock or share with the expenses for the food or prepare the food or even as minimal as designing and printing the invitations, accept their offer to help and SAY YES!

And besides, more heads are better. Atleast when you have a co-host or co-hosts you’ll have someone or more to discuss the plans with on top of having someone to share the expenses with. Surely, you’ll be able to throw the mom-to-be a fun and memorable party.

GO GREEN

Save on budget, save on paper, and save the planet. The idea is that instead of printing paper invitations, why not go digital and just send out invitations via email or better yet through various social media platforms.

There are more designs you can choose from, and a lot easier to make them personalized. You can even send as many invitation as you like, plus you can add RSVP tracking feature when you go digital. So, you can track who has read the invite and who needed reminding. You can also create guest lists and send specific invites to a specific group of guests. In other words, digital is more flexible and economical.

Finally, like I said in the previous posts on baby shower on a budget, what matters most is the gesture and the moments that makes the shower extra especial for the mom-to-be. There is more meaning and beauty in simplicity.

Food Ideas for Baby Shower on a Budget

Whatever type of party, when you gather people to celebrate something, one of the first thing to consider is the FOOD. Baby shower is no different. So, the question is how to save on the budget, but still serve food that the guests will enjoy?

First of all, it is not really just the food however needed, but the activities and moments that matters the most in a party, and that is the same for baby shower. Here are some food ideas for baby shower on a budget:

FINGER FOODS

Finger food are delectable but are surely inexpensive, plus these are food that allow guests to munch whilst socializing and having great conversation.

Foods like sandwiches cut in tiny or bite size and paired with veggies or fruits or cheeses or biscuits. Traditional food can also be served like pasta or salad, but presented in a new or interesting way. Infact this can even add as decoration. For instance, the pasta can be placed in interestingly designed or vintage cups or fruit salad are placed in cones or small cups. And then, you can mint lemonade or some fruit juices or if guests prefer to have hot drinks like tea or coffee.

You will be surprised at the number of servings you will be able to make.

SWEET GESTURE

This can be an opportunity for friends and family who loves baking to put their baking skills to use and at the same time, show their love and support to the mom-to-be by baking her a cake or some cookies for her baby shower. This will be huge cut on the budget. And it will be a very sweet gesture that the mom-to-be will appreciate and remember.

RIGHT TIME

Guess what, food takes up about 40 percent of your expense for the baby shower. And because it’s a major expense, it is crucial that you pick the right time when to have the shower.

If you plan to do it lunch time or dinner time for example, then you will have to prepare food for lunch or dinner because guests are expecting to have a meal. Having said that, lunch and dinner will be costly. So, having the shower around 2:00 pm for instance would mean that the guests have already taken their meal, and therefore it is alright to serve snacks or finger foods. These will help save a lot of expense.

POTLOCK

This is an old tradition and another great way to help save on the budget not only for baby shower, but all other type of parties. This gives family and friends chance to show their support by sharing with the food. Each one can bring a different kind of dish or food to be shared to everyone. It can even be part of the game for the shower where the mom-to-be can guess who cooked what or who brought which food.

Finally, to save on the budget – the idea is to “keep everything simple.” After all, it is the moment of laughters and sharing that matters most.

Throw Baby Shower On A Budget

So, you’re hosting a baby shower for your dearest bestie or cousin’s first baby. But, after calculating the expenses for the shower’s theme, venue, decorations and food, it seems like you’re out of the budget.

Well, no need to worry because there are plenty of budgetwise baby shower ideas that looks no different from a fancy one.

Have in mind that nobody actually cares how much you spent for the baby shower. No one is going to ask about how much the food or decors or venue cost you. What matters is to have a memorable moment that will make the mom-to-be feel special and celebrated.

First, you need to have in mind that when planning for a baby shower on a budget, you’ll need more hands than money. It’s more of like a DIY thing and also a moment for friends, family and collegues to show their love and support by helping put together all the stuff needed for the party.

Maybe you’re wondering how do I invite everyone on the guest list when it’s budgetwise baby shower? How do I cut down some of the expenses? Here are two ideas to begin with:

HYBRID BABY SHOWER

You can combine in-person and virtual baby shower. This way you can include everyone on the guest list without having to spend so much on the venue, food and other stuff. You get to cut down on the budget without cutting down on the guest list. It actually saves you and the guests who needed to travel in order to join in person. So, this way they get to save as well and not miss out on the party. And instead, they can use the money they saved for transportation to buy mom-to-be with more gifts.

BABY SHOWER AT HOME

Another way to cut-down budget is the venue. Instead of renting a place, why not host it at home or in one of the mom-to-be’s friends or family’s home. A venue costs a lot, so without having to rent a place saves you a lot. Not only will you save some of the budget, but also saves you time.

And because the party is going to be at home or in one of the friends or family’s home, then you already have most of the stuff needed for the food and decors like the cooking dishes, dining wares and decors and other stuff. This will save you another cost and time transporting all the dishes and decors if you were to rent a venue.

These two are the most important when it comes to baby shower: Venue and who to invite. Following these two is how do you see the party is going to be. All the rest will just follow. There are more ways to have a budgetwise baby shower. We’ll share some more ideas in my next posts.

Best Baby Shower Gift

Pregnancy is one thing, but childbirth is another thing, and post pregnancy is another level. First time mom-to-be doesn’t know what to expect, and therefore everything is going to be a surprise and a new road to thread. She’ll need a lot of emotional support on top of all the support she’ll need preparing the essentials for her and her baby.

If you are planning for a baby shower gift, I say go beyond the gift registry if you can afford to. Gift her something aside from what’s on her registry and aside from baby related or pregnancy or mommyhood related items.

First time moms need to feel loved and cared for, they need to know and feel the support of their family and friends. So yes, gift her baby crib or strollers if you can afford them or gift her something like diapers, baby wipes and other essentials that she’ll need plenty of. You can even gift her pregnancy and post pregnancy items like maternity dresses, nursing bras, comfy sleepwear and the likes.

But on top of all those material things that are indeed essential, she will need emotional support. First time mom, even those who are already moms go thru certain level of stress and psychological and emotional difficulty during and after pregnancy.

Baby shower on the other hand is just a couple of hours of party, just a moment of showing love and support to the mom-to-be. But, when the party is over, reality kicks in. What she need is consistency, atleast. Here are some ideas to help your mom-to-be friend get thru the challenges of her journey to mommyhood:

1. Organize a night out or dinner with the girls. You can either book a fancy restaurant or prepare dinner and get together at one of the girls’ place. Do this once a week or every other week if you can manage.

2. Sleepover or pajama party where she can have some quality conversation with her friends while having fun. You can either binge watch chick flicks or sing karaoke or anything you can think of.

3. Book her for some mom-to-be counseling where she can meet expecting moms too and make new friends. She’ll feel a lot more confortable knowing there many who share the same experience.

4. Cooking lessons where she can learn how to prepare baby foods and also food for expecting moms and after pregnancy – a diet that can keep her nourished and healthy.

5. Fitness session for expecting moms and/or especially post pregnancy to help her get back in shape

These are just some ideas you and the mom-to-be’s girlfriends can do for her. Now more than ever, she needs her friends around. Because although pregnancy affects the dad-to-be, it really takes more toll on the mom-to-be. Hence, she’ll need her friends and families’ support and understanding.