Baby showers are a fun little get-together for friends of the expectant mother to show how much they care for both mom and bub. If you’ve come across this article, then you’ve probably nominated yourself to be the baby shower planner, and with that role comes the question of how much baby showers cost?
Although there is no definitive answer, today I’m going to break down all the costs of a baby shower and some money-saving tips and tricks. So, if you’re in the midst of baby shower planning, keep reading!
How Much Does The Average Baby Shower Cost?
As I mentioned previously, there is no real answer as to how much a baby shower will cost. You can be as budget-friendly as you like, throwing the shower in your house or backyard and supplying guests with snacks like chips and finger sandwiches. Or you can go all out, hiring a lavish venue, decorating with balloon arches and banners, and serving a sit-down meal for everyone to enjoy.
No matter how much you spend on a baby shower, whether it be $100 or $1000, your guests are guaranteed to have a good time. Always keep in mind that the aim of the day is to spoil and celebrate the expectant mother, and all the other little details make it extra special.
Before we get into the cost breakdown of a baby shower, I want to mention that you should always set a realistic budget before you begin planning. If you don’t set a budget, you may find that you’ll get carried away, and the day will be far more expensive than you first thought.
Cost Breakdown
Once you have your budget, you can start looking at the different aspects of the party, deciding which ones you prioritize over others. For example, if you want party games at the baby shower, you can delegate more of the budget towards those instead of invites or thank you cards.
Invites
Speaking of invites, you have two options for inviting your guests. The first is traditional paper invites that you will need to fill out and send via mail. If you have many guests coming to your party, the cost of paper invites can rack up fairly quickly. However, they’re more personal, and in my opinion, they get guests more excited to attend.
Paper invites like these adorable woodland animal-themed invites on Amazon are around $15 for 25 invites, and if mailing them out to guests will be too much of your budget, you can go down the hand-delivered route and pop them into their mailbox.
However, if you don’t want to waste any of your budget on invites, it’s time to get tech-savvy and create one online. Online invites are a great (often free) way to send invites to all your guests at once, and as they don’t require any paper, you’re also saving trees in the process!
Head to sites like Canva and type in baby shower invites in the search bar. You’ll find a whole range of templates that you can customize and email over to your entire guest list.
Baby Shower Decor
Baby shower decor is the category where you’ll most likely get carried away because all the decorations are just so damn cute!
You can keep your budget to a minimum on this one, with a gender-neutral balloon arch for $16 (you can always opt for pink or blue if you know the gender of the baby,) a plain solid tablecloth for $10 that you can match to your other decor, and paper plates for $10 so tidy up at the end of the day is a quick and easy process.
Alternatively, you can go all out and spend extra money on others decorations, including ones that perfectly match your theme. Some suggestions include the following:
- Transparent baby block balloon boxes – $20
- Balloons you can pump up with helium in pink, blue, and gender-neutral colors – $10
- Helium tank – $75
- Foil letter balloons – $2 a letter
- Oh Baby sign – $17
On average, you can look to spend around $50 – $100 decorating the baby shower venue. To keep costs low, DIY your decorations as much as possible and shop around looking for the best price. If you’re willing to put in the time and effort, then decorations don’t have to break the bank!
Venue
The venue will likely be one of the highest costs of a baby shower if you don’t plan to have it at home. Of course, having the shower at your home or the expectant mother’s home is the cheapest way, but there are other options if you want to make it a little more special.
Some of the most popular baby show venues include your local park, church, restaurant, or hotel conference room.
Local park – Parks are a fantastic place to host a baby shower; for the most part, they are entirely free. If there are any gazebos or pavilions you wish to use, however, you may have to pay a fee to reserve them, so that’s something to research beforehand.
Church – Your local church is another venue that is free to use if the church is okay with it. Enquire at your church or any of your guest’s churches to see if you can use one of their rooms for your baby shower party.
Restaurant – If you have a slightly bigger budget, why not hire part of a restaurant for your baby shower celebration? The price of hiring a restaurant will vary depending on the day, time, and size of your party, but you should be looking at $50 – $150 per hour.
Hotel conference room – You can easily jazz up one of those boring-looking hotel conference rooms with some balloons and decorations and transform it into the perfect baby shower venue. Hotel conference rooms are great because they will have all the tables and chairs you need and may even have a catering service available. Again, you will be paying anywhere from $50 – $150 an hour, but you may find that the room’s day rates are even cheaper.
Food and Drink
Possibly the second biggest expense of the baby shower will be the food and drinks you serve, and although costs can add up quickly, you don’t need to spend a ton of money if you don’t have the budget.
Understandably, the easiest way to keep costs low is to make the food yourself. I recommend nibbly foods like finger sandwiches, chips, fruit assortments, and other sweet treats. But if that’s still pushing it, you can always ask your guests to bring a dish. Typically, everyone would be more than happy to contribute to the food, which means it’s one less thing for you to deal with.
If you want to go all out, however, you can shop around at local food vendors and hire someone to deliver the food to your baby shower venue. Prices of food vendors will vary, depending on the type of food you order and how many guests will be in attendance.
So, with all that in mind, you can spend anywhere from $50+ on food, which is why you must set a budget and stick to it.
Baby Shower Cake
Baby shower cakes from local bakeries can start at $100 or more, depending on the size and how extravagant the cake design is.
Cupcakes are a great alternative if you don’t want to splash a large sum of money on a cake. You can pick up a pack of 12 from your local grocery store for as little as $5, or if you’re handy in the kitchen, you can make and decorate them yourself.
Games and Prizes
Games are a great way to keep your guests entertained, and with so many baby-related games out there, you can spend as much or as little as you like. Some terrific baby shower games include:
- How big is the baby bump? – $15
- Pin the pacifier on the baby – $9
- The price is right – baby edition – $9
- Don’t say, baby – $14
- Guess who, mommy or daddy – $15
- Baby predictions – $15
- Baby bingo – $11
To cut costs even further, you can find many of these games online as a free downloadable document that you can print out at home or a printing store.
When it comes to prizes, in my opinion, I don’t think they are a necessity, but if you do want to purchase prizes, then things like gift cards, a bottle of alcohol, or a bunch of flowers are all fantastic options.
Thank You Cards
Similar to invites, you can send paper thank you cards ranging from $10 and up, or you can create your own for free on sites like Canva and send them via email to all of your guests.
Photographer
A photographer is always great to have at any event, but they can be expensive, ranging from $150 – $300 an hour. Ask around the guests at the party to see if they have any photographers in the family who will be willing to do the party for a discounted rate.
If a photographer is still out of your budget, ask everyone attending to take as many photos as possible. You can create a hashtag specific to your party so that once your guests upload them to social media, all the images are in one place and easy to find.
Tips For Saving Money When Throwing a Baby Shower
If you don’t want to spend an excessive amount on a baby shower, then here are some money-saving tips and tricks that will help keep costs low.
- Throw the baby shower at your home, in the park, or at church, so the venue costs are $0.
- Send E-invites and E-thank you cards to your guest’s emails instead of spending money on paper copies and postage fees.
- Search Pinterest and similar sites for DIY decoration ideas and create your baby shower decor yourself.
- Have your guests bring a dish, whether it be homemade or grocery-bought.
- Bake the cake at home, or purchase individual cupcakes from the grocery store to cut down on cake costs.
- Plan the shower after breakfast or lunch, so your guests only need bland food at the party.
Virtual Baby Shower Costs
Although the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic is now over, some moms may feel uncomfortable having an in-person baby shower.
Virtual baby showers come with little to no cost as you can send out virtual invites and host the shower on platforms like Zoom or Facebook, cutting out the venue, food, and even decoration costs.
Suppose you’d like the shower to be slightly more in-person. Another excellent no-contact option is a drive-by baby shower where the expectant mother sits outside her home and guests drop gifts off for the baby, driving away after a few minutes of distanced chatting.
Baby Shower Costs Summary
As you can tell from this article, the cost of a baby shower can vary depending on the number of guests and how extravagant you want the party to be. So don’t feel disheartened if your budget is only small, you can still throw a fantastic baby shower for the expectant mother with the help of guests and money-saving tips.