The price of being in a bridal party is often underestimated. From purchasing your attire and a gift to attending all the events and outings, expenses can rack up quickly, especially for a bridesmaid.
When I started planning my wedding in 2016, I knew that I would have a ton of bridesmaids and didn’t want my wedding to be a financial burden on them. I know it was my big day, but I didn’t want to require my friends and family to spend a ridiculous amount of money to support me since I wasn’t even trying to spend a ridiculous amount on myself either.
We’d taken the affordable route with almost everything involving my bridesmaids. They chose a dress online from Amazon for only $40, and we’re planning on using a Groupon for my bachelorette party.
The next big expense is the bridal shower. At first, I decided to skip the bridal shower altogether so we could all save money and avoid the extra planning. Then, my mom insisted, and I gave in and decided to have a bridal shower on a budget.
Who doesn’t want a fun bridal event with gifts, delicious food, fun games, and good friends? The only downside to a bridal shower is figuring out who will pay for it and how much it will cost.
So Who Typically Pays for a Bridal Shower?
This was my big question. I think the answer really depends on your family tradition and what type of wedding you are having. Since I paid for most of my wedding, I didn’t want to be the person to pay for the shower as well. Since my matron of honor would be out of town for the event, my mom and future mother-in-law stepped up to host my shower, which was super nice and much appreciated.
In reality, anyone can choose to throw you a bridal shower on a budget, and there’s no strict tradition (unless you have a cultural tradition) that says only one specific person can do it. If you are waiting for someone to plan your shower, you may not get the response you are looking for, so it’s best to be open-minded and flexible.
If I was planning it myself, you know I’d make it frugal and fabulous. And if you’re trying to plan an upcoming wedding shower, here are some easy ways to make it affordable.
How To Have A Bridal Shower On A Budget
Host Your Event at Someone’s House
This is one of the easiest ways to save and have a bridal shower on a budget. Unless you have a large group, don’t waste money trying to rent a big venue or conference room. Save that for the wedding and reception. If no one volunteers to host at first, start by asking whoever has the biggest space and the best location.
Location Cost: Free
Send an Evite
I’m sure you all know how I feel about invitations these days. There’s usually no need to waste the paper sending out invites that people will eventually lose, throw in the trash, or possibly not even look at in detail. Online invites are the way to go as long as your guests have internet access and know how to use the computer.
I’d recommend sending out free decorated evites and following up with a text to ensure everyone received an email or even posting an event on Facebook in a private group if that will reach people better. Even though Facebook can be a huge time suck at times, many people use it, and it’s a great tool for hosting events because you can see when each guest has viewed the event information, and they can RSVP easily to confirm their attendance.
Invite Cost: Free
Search for Games Online
If you own a few games already or have some free activities in mind that are great for groups+, you may be able to get away without spending much money on games. You can search online for popular bridal shower games to play and print off any instructions you may need.
You can also ask each guest to contribute a game idea if they are interested to keep everyone entertained. Popular fun and free games include; charades, trivia about the bride-to-be, 3 truths and a lie (married version), toilet paper wedding dress design contest (however, I consider this idea somewhat of a waste depending on how much toilet paper you’ll need).
You can also skip the trinkets as prizes and just allow the winner bragging rights.
Games Cost: Free or under $10
Make a Signature Drink and BYOB
If you want to do away with providing alcohol altogether, you can save quite a bit of money. If not, you can combat the cost of alcohol by making a signature drink that everyone can enjoy and let guests know they can BYOB if they have a specific drink preference. It’s hard to accommodate everyone’s drink preference, so don’t try to. You can grab a bottle of wine or look up a cocktail recipe to prepare online.
Alcohol Cost: $0 – $40
Organize a Potluck
The best way to feed everyone is to go potluck style. If you are planning the event with a few others, you can split up items on the menu amongst yourselves, or you can involve all the guests and ask them to bring a small dish to pass, drinks, or eating utensils and paper ware. It might be fun to ask everyone to bring their favorite dish and the recipe to share with the bride to put together one big cookbook or cherished meals.
Food will undoubtedly be your largest expense, depending on how many guests you’ll have. In addition to splitting this responsibility, you can cut corners by shopping the sales at your local grocery store and purchasing ingredients instead of ready-made food. You can also get cashback for your purchases with apps like Ibotta and Fetch.
Remember that some caterers have a high minimum limit on how much you need to spend to place an order.
Food Cost: $50 – $100
Skip Fancy Bakeries
Avoid fancy bakeries when planning a bridal shower on a budget. Spending hundreds of dollars on the cake for a small get-together is just not worth it. Instead, if you bake or know someone who does, consider making homemade desserts like brownies, cookies, and cupcakes, which are cheap when you purchase the box mix at grocery stores.
Even purchasing a sheet cake at the grocery store will probably be cheaper than a gourmet bakery if you are short on time. Just remember not to go overboard. If you purchase or make too much and guests don’t eat it all, you’ll be left with many leftovers that could go to waste.
Dessert Cost: $20-$30
Shop at the Dollar Store for Decorations
The local dollar store should be your first stop for decorations. The fancy decor looks great, but you may never use it again. Balloons, table clothes, plates, bowls, banners, etc., can all be found at the dollar store in various colors. You also might luck out if you check the clearance section at Party City for some of the items on your list.
Decorations Cost: $25
As you can see, you can have a bridal shower on a budget. If I plan one start to finish one day, the goal would be to keep everything around $200 total and allow others to pitch in to bring my personal out-of-pocket costs down even more.
Hosting A Bridal Shower On A Budget
At the end of the day, seeing friends and loved ones and having a great time should be your ultimate goal, not spending a lot of money to impress everyone and enhance the experience, so don’t feel bad about cutting corners.
More From My Frugal Wedding Series:
Smart Ways to Save on Your Dream Wedding
How to Afford Your Dream Wedding Day
How to Save Money on Wedding Flowers
25+ Ways to Save BIG on Your Dream Wedding
My Wedding Budget Review + Pictures
If you’d like more specific tips and strategies to help you save money on your big day without sacrificing your values, I recently released a 50-page digital guide called Save Thousands on Your Dream Wedding, and you can learn more about it here. My guide includes real money-saving strategies, resources you can utilize when shopping for even the tiniest details, the strategy I used to go on a $400 week-long honeymoon, and more!
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Latoya @ Life and a Budget says
I was matron of honor in my BF’s wedding 3 years ago, and luckily for me, she is just as frugal as I am. She wasn’t having it with people spending unnecessary funds on things and it was much appreciated it.
Luckily she had 2 maids of honor and I didn’t have to handle the expense of the showers and bachelorette parties on my own. For the shower, the entire bridal party pitched in and we gave her a nice shower based on the funds contributed. I’ve dabbled in graphic design before and I made her shower invites and we rented the clubhouse at the apartment complex where she lived.
We did pretty much of everything you suggested and we still managed to have a shower that she will always remember. And it also helped that her mother and mother in law hosted a separate shower for her family members only, so we catered to a much smaller group of friends:)
Choncé says
Sounds like a great event! That’s interested she has 2 maids of honor. I’ve never heard of that before but it just goes to show you that when it comes to your wedding you can make up your own rules.
DC @ Young Adult Money says
This is something I don’t have to deal with, but my wife threw a baby shower at our house and wow lots of work involved, especially if you have it at your place. I helped a lot with cleaning the house and she did a ton of crafts and whatnot.
Choncé says
Yeah lucky you! Cleanup is the only thing I dislike about having events at my house. But I’d rather clean up a bit then spend money unnecessarily.
Harmony Smith (@CMK_Harmony) says
I’m dealing with these issues right now – my sister’s wedding is at the end of next month. I lucked out by finding the very expensive bridesmaid’s dress on eBay, but still have to get attire for my son and daughter (ringbearer and flower girl). I had tried to convince all of the bridesmaids to purchase a dress of Amazon, but they were worried about “quality.” I swear some people just love to spend money.
The current focus is on the bachelorette. We are going to rent a party bike so we can cruise around to different bars, but enjoy our own alcohol and snacks, and not spend as much as a limo.
Choncé says
My bridesmaids ordered $40 dress from Amazon and they turned out great. I’ll be posting a recap of my wedding and some pics in the upcoming weeks. the only thing to watch out for with Amazon dresses is that they may need to be pressed and altered of course if they are too long. Check out the reviews from other customers closely though and you should be fine. A party bike sounds awesome, I was someone do that on a show I watch. Good luck with everything!
broke & worried mom says
I am not able to help my daughter financially with her wedding so she elected me to throw her shower and this worries me too. I am going to have to do it very frugally and this isn’t her style. She has told me what she wants and it is WAY over my budget. I simply cannot afford what she wants. I plan to get together with her and have a talk. If she doesn’t want what I can afford, then she’ll have to ask someone else. I feel terrible but I wasn’t asked to throw it, I was told I am. I’ve been in a bit of a panic over it knowing how much money it will cost and I really don’t know where to have it. Luckily it won’t be until fall so I have time to save and figure things out. Thanks for your great ideas!!
Choncé says
My parents didn’t really have much to offer me in terms of helping out financially with my wedding as well so I had to make due with what I had and it still turned out wonderful? What does your daughter have in mind if you don’t mind me asking?
broke & worried mom says
Her & her fiance are paying for the wedding, spending a fortune, very fancy wedding. She wants a fancy shower too. Wants it at a place where the cheapest food is $10.99 a plate and there’s going to be about 40 people. I asked her to divide the shower into two & ask her future mother in law to have one for their side but she doesn’t want to do that. She wants a brunch, I’ve pinned a ton of ideas but she wants it at this certain place, too expensive for me!! She keeps sending me pins for Kate Spade shower ideas and I know I can do “knock off” but if you knew her, you’d know she wouldn’t want that. She also wants a mimosa bar and I simply can’t afford all this for 40 people. When we get together about it, I’m going to tell her again to let her future MIL throw a shower for their side and they can do the alcohol. My side doesn’t really even drink…especially for brunch. I’m just stressing with guilt over not being able to help pay for anything and now she’s going over the top for the shower too!!