I recently volunteered myself to host a church baby shower. We typically have showers at the church, but it feels like more work to decorate a larger more institutional space. I wanted it to be cozy, comfortable, and relaxing. After all, we were mostly moms gathering for a night out without our kids. My idea of a nice evening is sipping coffee and gabbing with girls.

I was expecting about 30 ladies. We live in a 1,190 sq foot home. I’m sure my friends thought I was crazy to try to fit everyone. Thankfully, we have been blessed with a backyard area that allowed us to spread out. The guest of honor said it reminded her of being in the south. We had a warm September night with the perfect breeze to compliment our cozy patio and twinkling lights.

I did most of my shopping at Target. I have a serious addiction to Target. 2 banners, plates, napkins, and straws in various shades of pink, gray, and aqua was all I needed. I got solids, chevron, polka dots and stripes which made my heart go {pitter-patter} and the prices made my heart {flitter-flutter}. I spent less than $25 for all my decorations and paper products. I shopped the party aisle and the regular section for plates and napkins. Don’t forget there are two places for such items. The Up&Up brand has really cute patterns too.

Make a plan

• Pick a date, time, location
• Create a Pinterest board
• Create an invite {picmonkey.com} or add personal info to this free printable →
• Decide on food items.
• Shopping list {food, décor, party favors}

Do a little bit every day

{start 7 days before shower}

• Shopping for food
• Shopping for décor
• Cleaning {save bathrooms and kitchen for last}
• Decorating
• Food prep

Enlist helpers

• It’s not going to stay fun if you try to do it all. I had a few close friends adding pins to our board and tackling different Pinterest ideas when it came time to have the shower.
• When people ask what to bring, be ready with an answer. {food and party favors are two areas that are easy to let someone else do}
• Designate a photographer {you won’t have time if you are hosting to take pictures too}
• Designate a person to write down the gifts as the recipient opens them. It’s helpful to pick a person that knows who most of the guests are.
• Let your friends help you clean before &/OR after the party.

Miscellaneous tips

• If you know you have a tardy or flakey friend, give them a job that won’t be affected if they are fashionably late or don’t pull through. Give them a chance to help, but don’t let it bother you if there is a change in your master plan.
• Have the guest of honor arrive 15 minutes early so they can get settled and take in all the pretty details of their shower. (If they are one of those late or flakey friends, just tell them the party starts an hour earlier then it really does.) {thankfully this tip isn’t written from experience}
• Don’t mop your floors right before your guests come. {Say what?} I’m usually working up a sweat, frantically mopping floors before a party starts. I was given the advice long ago that you can skip that stress because they just get dirty again. I’ve modified the advice and I mop a day or two before a party. I struggle with this EVERY time, but it really is good advice. I want to start frantic mopping 10 minutes before people arrive. Okay, I did do it at this shower, but it meant I didn’t have time to get myself as prettied up as I had wanted to and it seriously didn’t matter that my floors weren’t perfect once 60 feet were walking all over them.
• Do your best to make your guests comfortable, but you are allowed to sit and enjoy the party as well.

Budget Tips

• Pick a time that doesn’t require a meal to be served.
• Mix in solid colored plates and napkins if that is cheaper then the printed ones.
• Pick a venue that doesn’t require lots of décor items. Decorating the table with the food and creating an inviting space where your guests will gather is enough.
• Get volunteers to bring some of the food items to cut down on the grocery costs.
• Instead of games that you feel obligated to buy prizes to give out, have a photo booth for some fun at everyone’s leisure.
• Make your own party favors. Bags are about $3/10 and cheap {light} bulk candy is salt water taffy. Seal the bag with washi tape and add a yarn pom pom {see pinterest board} and you can have 30 party favors for about $18.

This is not a delicate way to put it, but basically Pinterest threw up all over my house. It was fabulous! Here is the board I used to plan this perfectly pink baby shower.

Follow Ginny’s board Baby Girl Shower on a Budget – gray and pink on Pinterest.