Alright, say it with me; It is okay to be overwhelmed! Whew, now…
In this blog post I am going to tell you just how I tackled throwing my friend, Kim, a baby shower for the books; Without breaking the bank!
You can spend as little or as much money as you decide.
Let’s admit it; Throwing a baby shower can be stressful! I mean, you want everything to be PERFECT. Just like the pictures you see on Pinterest. You know the ones.
- Color Palette
- Personalized|Matching in theme paper-goods
- A Great Backdrop -That looks like it was made by some super human mixture of an interior designer & florist, all wrapped into one
- Delicious Food
- The Perfect Set-up
The first “to do” on your to do list should be; Decide what looks you like (And what the mother-to-be likes). Sometimes it is easier to start narrowing ideas down by gender. However, gender neutral parties are becoming a common theme. I started doing this by just asking Kim what her nursery colors/ theme was going to be.
Kim decided on a neutral tone nursery; So, I decided to transition this same theme into her baby shower. -That is all the input Kim really gave [Except on the invitations because I was too excited for her to see them]. She wanted everything to be a surprise! Something important to remember when hosting a baby shower…
You’re friend or family member (The mother-to-be) is making a human inside her right now! She is probably tired and already stressed to the max with the thought of wanting to be the best mother that ever existed, getting her “pre-baby bump body” back, and now having to become an interior designer for their new nursery.
All of this to say…It is going to be okay if she doesn’t want much input. Sometimes it is hard for me to accept things like this. Just remember, she trusts YOU with this; This is a huge honor. It is going to be an awesome baby shower because you are awesome.
-Mainly because of your decision to read this blog post; Which will ensure the perfect celebration! Just kidding -Hahaha; But really…Back to the topic at hand.
Just kidding again! The first thing to do is find out if you are the only person hosting this shower. Most family members and close friends want to help and be involved in planning a shower.
This works out in your favor; Some may be willing to pay for a small portion, pick up the cupcakes the day of, or maybe even come by early to help set up the day of; Every little bit helps! In my case, a mutual friend (Shout out to Ale- The most amazing friend and co party planner ever!) of ours helped with planning and cost.
I cannot stress enough how important this topic in party planning and decor is.
Paper goods are one of the most cost effective, and impression leaving decor pieces you can use. This is because of a few reasons that I have listed below.
- Bulk Purchase Pricing
- Most companies that sell paper good designs will send you a file once the design is finalized. This is hugely cost effective because it gives you the freedom to print your product anywhere you would like and in any quantity you would like. This could be through a family friend with access to large size printing (FREE!), at your house (FREE!), or at any paper printing company; Such as, Office Depot or Staples.
- Personalization
- Who doesn’t want their baby shower to be unique to them? [Anyone? No? I didn’t think so] Use a name, a monogram, dates, nick-names, anything really will do. This simply steps up your “party hosting” game by showing your attention to detail; Which in turn, will only make the party seem more professional. Giving it the Pinterest worthy look that -Let’s be honest- we are all going for.
- “Theme Setter”
- Paper-goods selection is one of the very first topics on the to do list because it is an easy way to help you decide on a theme. Now that you have the color palette chosen; You need an overall theme. However, you wouldn’t want to go shopping for decorations that fit into a specific theme, only to later find out that you can find no paper goods to match.
- It is much easier to find decorations to match any theme than it is to find a cute welcome sign or invitations [Which is important; Invitations are your first impression to the potential guests in attendance]
Everything shown above [Including the pictures at the top of this post] are what I consider to be paper goods. The blue framed signs are easily found on Etsy.
-If you don’t have an Etsy account, get one; This will change your life.
The “Advice for Parenthood” cards were actually a steal from Party City. These were a big hit because Kim got to keep these as a keep sake from the party.
These are the invitations we used. [I did block out the sensitive information- but you get the idea]. I get almost all of my party invitations through Minted. I love this site; Everything is personalized|tailored to your preference, and the selection is endless. The stamp [Pictured above] is even personalized -My husband and I use a personalized stamp through them for our everyday stamps as well.
The backdrop of a party is like the quarterback of a football game. It is a large eye piece that tends to make people double-take and want to get a closer look. For smaller parties, -Typically like intimate baby showers- I like to decorate my dining room table and place the backdrop behind this.
I have used this backdrop frame from Etsy -Yet again- for countless parties [Including my wedding for a photo-booth].
It is hard to tell in this picture [I apologize] but there is a sheer white tulle fabric that pools onto the floor and some greenery hung across the top.
We chose to use real greenery, that Ale just picked up from the florist that morning. However, if this is a look you would reuse, it would be cost effective to buy faux greenery.
Then to top it off, we used balloons as a filler on either side. We also used balloons, differing in size, throughout the house in these same colors. One thing I always recommend -to save time waiting on having to get balloons inflated at the store- is to purchase a helium balloon kit. This is inexpensive and also allows you to make sure that you have enough balloons inflated for the area your utilizing.
These can be purchased at multiple places but I got mine from Target. For only $24.99.
You do not have to spend all day slaving over a stove in order to impress your guests with yummy treats.
-I actually prefer not to [Insert image of angry party etiquette gods here]; You’re already going to have a busy day. If you enjoy baking|cooking though; You go girl!
Ale placed an order for these cupcakes with a local bakery here in Alabama. The cute little “Oh Baby” toppers were our own touch right before serving them! They actually match the advice cards from above and can be purchased at Party City as well.
One of Kim’s favorite desserts is macaroons; These we just picked up from Target.
No party, is complete without themed cookies! Actually, we picked these up from Party City as well. However, there are a ton of options on Etsy also. Not-to-mention, your home town bakery probably has a large selection.
One thing I like to remember when hosting parties is, unless it is a dinner party, you do not have to have a ton of food or serve an entire meal. Finger foods have always done just the trick, for me; Along with some fruit, a vegetable tray set up and drinks [I like to do fun theme colored drinks with the usual water and tea selections as well].
This is the fun part! Decorating does not have to be expensive. Typically, I reuse a ton of different decor tricks such as:
- Serving Platters/ Trays
- Glass Decanters/ Votives
- Floral/ Greenery
- Backdrops [Like picture above]
This was actually the first baby shower that I have ever hosted and I only had to purchase a few new decor items. These include:
- The Large “Letter Blocks” [Shown in the welcome sign picture above]
- I purchased these from Hobby Lobby and painted them myself in about 2 hours all together.
- I also plan on using these, one day, in my nursery or for another baby shower in the future.
- The “Oh Baby Blocks” [Shown on the advice/ welcome table. -These were used as the guest book. Guests just grabbed a sharpie and signed their name. Kim took these home and actually uses them as decoration in her nursery now]
- The Blue Frames
- I actually did not purchase these for this party. However, I do use them in almost every party that I host. They were a 50% off purchase from Hobby Lobby. All I did, with these, was utilize the left over paint from the letter blocks to change the frame color.
- The baby animal pictures [Shown in front of the dining table] and the baby animal rollers [Shown on top of the dining table]
- Both 50% Off sale purchases at Hobby Lobby. -If you don’t already know this, Hobby Lobby rotates all of their store items every week into the 50% off sale. All you have to do is watch for the item you want; If it isn’t on sale this week -Keep watching; it will be next week!
Absolutely everything else I already had. I love a good deal on nice items that will be used multiple times; So remember to think further into the future than this one shower; I cannot tell you how many occasions I use my glass decanters|votives for [Including everyday decoration in my home]. I actually plan to use the baby animal items in my child’s room one day [They are gender neutral after all]. Investing in future needs is a HUGE MONEY SAVER!
- Make a list and start at the top. [Don’t think past the task that you are currently on or it could feeling overwhelming and make the process unnecessarily more stressful]
- Who is hosting? [You, friends, family]
- How can they help if they want to chip in and lend a hand?
- Go to Pinterest and have a look around. [What color palettes are appealing to you and the mother-to-be?]
- Gender specific?
- Neutral?
- Find your paper-goods to finalize a theme [Remember! Do this before decor shopping]
- The “Eye Piece” Back-drop design
- Food [Finger foods are your friend! Don’t exhaust yourself more than you have to- You will thank me later]
- Fill-in decor shopping [Do not forget that sales are your friends]
- Think ahead [What will you use again in the future; To minimize future spendings?]
- Set-up [HAVE FUN!]
