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Budget for Baby Showers – Costs & Who Pays?
Baby showers used to be a gathering of family and close friends, giving handmade gifts and bringing a food item to share. Today’s baby showers are much more elaborate, complete with themes, custom baby shower invitations, decorations, entertainment and food, all of which is usually provided by the hostess. This could end up costing the host a whole lot more than anticipated if a budget is not prepared and kept. Read More About Baby Shower Budget, Costs and Who Pays
The baby shower is a gift to the Mom-to-Be by the hostess. Therefore, the hostess usually pays all expenses, and depending on how large the baby shower is, the more the baby shower will cost. However, the shower does not have to cost a fortune. A nice baby shower can be planned that meets the budget of the hostess. If the hostess is not in a financial position to pay all of the costs it is becoming very common for several friends or family members to co-host the event ensuring there is enough funding to have a great baby shower. While money isn’t everything, you do want to make sure to have the basics are taken care of for the baby shower such as cake, food, personalized baby shower invitations and entertainment such as games and prizes.
The purpose of the baby shower is for the expectant mother’s family and friends to get together to help her celebrate her new baby. Of course it is important for both the guest of honor as well as the other guests to have fun, but it does not have to put the hostess in debt.
Some of the costs that go into a baby shower are the imprinted baby shower invitations or baby shower announcements cards, the food, decorations, games and prizes for the games. Establishing a budget will also keep the costs under control. A nice touch that could help save money is to order your discount baby shower invitations early so you can avoid express shipping.
Another way of keeping the cost down is to co-host with one or more people. This practice is becoming more popular as it allows for a more elaborate baby shower with more people pitching in the funds for the party. The easiest way to go about the dividing up the funds is to divide up the different expenses. Pooling the money can become too difficult and could end up with problems among the hostesses.
It is not appropriate to ask the Mom-to-Be to share in the expenses of the baby shower party, nor asking guests to help with the costs. The hostess should not volunteer to host a baby shower if she truly cannot afford the cost associated with a baby shower party. If someone offers to help or pitch in for some of the expenses, that is great. Just don’t ask for financial assistance.
If the budget is tight with any of the guests, then suggesting a potluck is still popular and may be a welcoming way for people to feel a part of the planning process without feeling the need to fork over funds that they may or may not have. Plus people can bring their favorite dish, or one of the expectant mother’s favorite dishes, which would be a treat for everyone. Don’t forget the baby shower thank you cards for the Mom-to-Be to use in thanking all those who gave gifts or who contributed to the baby shower. There are lots of sample baby shower Invitations and baby shower thank you cards sayings, verses and wordings for your baby shower cards. |
