Bridal Shower On A Budget

When my friend from high school announced she was getting married I was adamant that I was to receive an invitation to her shower. When she told me that no one was throwing one for her I knew I had to step into action! A couple problems though... One, I have no money. Two, I had only a week to plan.

I started off by trying figuring out what to do with the invitation. I knew it had to be homemade, but designing your own invite with scrap booking supplies can get pretty pricey, and take up a lot of time. So I did a quick search online, and found this website. http://www.invitationland.com/. This site has invitations you can purchase, but it also has a FREE selection! I of course chose a free invitation. It let me word it the way I wanted, and it even let me change the colors and fonts. When you print it out it will let you choose the format as well.

The theme for the shower was "A Year of Firsts". Basically, each person had a gift assignment to go along with the theme. For example, one of the bride's friends was assigned "first house cleaning". The friend gave her house cleaning supplies. Here some of the other assignments we came up with (I included gift ideas with for each):

• First movie night (bucket of popcorn, movie, blockbuster gift card, candy)
• First camping trip (any camping supplies)
• First date night (gift card for dinner or to a movie)
• First laundry day (laundry basket w/ supplies)
• First breakfast (casserole dish w/ recipe and dry ingredients)
• First dinner (cookbook, pans)
• First time baking (cookie sheet w/ cookie recipe and dry ingredients)
• First dinner party (punch bowl, serving dishes)
• First time at the beach (beach ball, beach towels)
• First picnic (picnic supplies)
• First sickness or injury (first aid kit, medicines)
• First house fix up project (tool kit)

What's so great about this theme is it made the party interesting. Your guests can be as creative as they want, and the gift can be designed to fit any budget.

As far as the game for the shower goes... Okay so I'm not big on games (I know....I'm so boring), so I decided that we would do something special that was geared towards the bride. We all went around, and each person told either a funny story or a meaningful story about her. By the end everyone was crying, especially the bride. Whether you do a game or not, this part should be included at every bridal shower! It puts the focus on the bride (where it should be), and it makes for a memorable and special experience for her.

For the food (ohhhhhh....the food), Sam's Club and Costco became my new best friends. I did a very simple menu that only ended up costing me $68 (enough to feed 18-20 people). This price varies obviously if you have some of the ingredients in your cabinet, which I did. For the main dish I served chicken croissant sandwiches. Sam's Club is great because they have the miniature croissants, which make for more sandwiches. I made a simple chicken salad with shredded chicken breasts, green onions, celery, grapes, chopped cashews and mayo. For the salad I just did a ready to go salad from Costco. BIG TIME SAVER AND MONEY SAVER! I only used one large bag had leftovers after feeding 8 people. For the fruit dish I did a mixture of cut up strawberries and blueberries. I also had chips and a mango salsa (from Costco), and crackers with homemade pepper jelly over cream cheese (recipe for jelly to follow in a future post). For the dessert I made a banana cake. I served ice water with lemon and orange slices instead of an expensive homemade punch.

Tips on saving time and money for your shower:

• Make everything you can the day or night before the event! I prepped the chicken salad and banana cake the night before.


• Yes, it's very annoying to go to 3 different stores, but if you have the time it will be worth the money you keep in your pocket.


• Bake the dessert yourself with ingredients you already have. This saved me at least $10 to $12 dollars. Not only does this save you money, but people enjoy homemade more.


• Serve fruits that are in season to cut down on the cost. Check your local grocery store ads as well to see who has the best deals.


• Don't go buy nice serving dishes and platters. In most cases someone you know may have just what you need to make for a great presentation. Lucky enough for me my Mother-In-Law is the queen of nice serving dishes.


• Use washable plates and utensils. It can cost you a load of money to buy these things at a party supply. If you can round up some decent looking plates it will actually make your setting look nicer and feel more elegant.


• Weeknights are usually the best time to have a shower. Saturday seems like a day most people have available, but it's actually a time that people are planning other events like going out of town. This is the case especially during the summer.


• No need to go out and buy decorations. Use what you already have or borrow it. Also, you can cut fresh flowers out of your yard to put in a vase for your serving table rather than spending $15 on an arrangment. I'm lucky enough to have a Mother-In-Law that is an amazing florist.


• People are not great RSVPers (myself included). Either get phone numbers so you can call to make sure they received their invite. If there's no time for this you will usually get about half guests to show up. For me, I would rather be over-prepared so I always plan on enough food for each guest invited if I don't call to confirm.

All together the party turned out great. The bride was so happy and so grateful, which is the most important goal of the party.

If you have additional suggestions or ideas for my next shower, or for anyone out there giving one please feel free to leave your comments.