- When you find yourself planning the bridal shower, your budget will be the determining factor in the location, theme, activities, food and gifts or favors. If the wedding will be casual, or if you are footing the entire bill of the shower and are on a very tight budget, you can host an inexpensive, casual shower. Add your own personal touches to make it special and spectacular, perhaps by doing the cooking yourself.
More than likely, you'll end up spending at least $5 to $15 per person. For a tighter budget, it may be best to host the party in someone's home or backyard or a free location such as a public park or beach. Serve finger sandwiches, which you can make yourself, and punch. Bake a cake or cupcakes yourself to save money. Plan fun bridal-shower games, which are free, and give nice but inexpensive gifts such as candles, soaps or homemade gifts.
Although favors aren't required, they are a nice token of appreciation for your guests. They can be something simple, such as votive candles with a tag displaying the bride's name and the shower date. Themed showers work well, as you can plan everything around a central theme. You can even suggest themed gifts. For example, candles or soap would work well for a romance theme or a bed-and-bath theme. Small terra-cotta pots with a package of seeds make a practical and cute favor for a garden-themed shower. - For a restaurant luncheon or a catered event, you could easily spend $15 to $40 per person, which is appropriate for a semiformal wedding, if it's within your budget. Choose food or a restaurant that stays within the theme of your shower, or select the bride's favorite restaurant or her favorite type of food. You can also play on the honeymoon location by serving seafood or Italian or French food, depending on where they're going.
Activities can include a cooking lesson, a scrapbooking session (all pages can be gifted to the bride or saved as a favor of sorts), a jewelry-making class or pottery painting. As usual, favors should go along with the theme of your shower. For activities such as those mentioned above, the finished product can serve as a favor. - For a formal wedding, a fancy shower is not out of place, although it's not necessary. If you choose to host a formal shower, you can easily spend $40 to $200 per person or more. Elegant luncheons at country clubs or five-star hotels are expensive but classy options. Spa treatments, such as spa pedicures, make excellent bonding activities if you're looking for something lavish.
- The bridal shower can cost as much or as little as your budget permits. There is no right or wrong answer regarding the cost of a wedding shower. Once you have your personal budget, or the limit you'd like to stay within, you can begin planning. Keep in mind that you will have to spread out your money for everything involved in planning the shower. This includes include invitations, decorations, napkins, dishes (unless you're hosting at a restaurant), food, drinks, dessert, activities or games, prizes, favors and your personal gift for the bride. Invite everyone the bride would like to have there; however, anyone invited to the shower must also be invited to the wedding. It may be a good idea to obtain the guest list from the mother of the bride, if possible, before planning the shower, especially if you're planning a surprise party.
- Another common question: How much do you spend on the shower gift? You can use a basic formula using your overall wedding gift budget to figure this out. For example, if you have allotted $100 for the wedding gift, then $20 to $30 of that is appropriate for the shower gift. If you're also attending the engagement party, plan on spending about $20 for each of those gifts and the remaining $60 on the wedding gift.
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