Baby Shower— Standard Budget/Cost if not hosted at home

[Anonymous]

I offered to host a friend’s baby shower, and since we don’t live near each other (I’m in NoVa, she and most other friends/family are in MD) I will have to have it at an outside venue. I have hosted showers before at my house, and co-hosted at a friend’s house, but I have never done a venue shower. After pricing out potential venues, I suspect I’ll end up spending $350 to $500 on the space (for reasonably attractive community centers, banquet halls, etc. in MD), plus the cost of food, decorations, favors, etc. The guest list is 40 people (20 couples). So I suspect all in this may cost $800 to $1000. I’m having a bit of sticker shock and wondering if that budget sounds crazy, or if this is just about what it costs if you can’t host at home (in which case I’ll chalk it up as a cost of living in a small close-in house with no basement!). I considered hotels but thought the per-person food costs might make it more affordable to rent a space and use inexpensive food options (wegmans, costco, etc.).

If you have hosted a shower at a venue, how much did you spend? Any tips for keeping costs down?

TIA

[Anonymous]

You should be able to get decorations really cheap - like on Amazon you can get a baby shower decoration package for $25. Agree with trays of food from Wegmans/Costco rather than catering at a hotel. I'd also get decorated cookies for the favors - don't bother doing something very special there.

[Anonymous]

I would say that's pretty good. Since there's no meal but you'll still need food, I probably would have ballparked $50/person. I might argue that for 40 people, you need servers to pass food or at a minimum, a bartender. If you want everything to be self service, be very clever about how you space food and drinks around the room and where you provide trashcans or tables with drop trays for discards. You don't want bottlenecks or big messes. Of course idk how many of your 40 will decide to come, so it might not be so bad. I really think 20 people is a different thing than 40 people in terms of logistics.

Depending on the venue, you might need to rent tables, linens and chairs as well.

[Anonymous]

I think your budget sounds right. Outside venue is a budget killer.

[Anonymous]

$1000 seems about right. A not super fancy restaurant with a private room (like Matchbox, for instance), would do food for $25 / person with a private room. Alcohol additional. The more work you do yourself, the cheaper it can get

[Anonymous]

When I’ve been to restaurant baby showers they’ve been small—12 people perhaps in a private room. 40 is a lot. Will you need chairs, tables, music? Do you have a friend with a big house who might be willing to host with you?

[Anonymous]

I've hosted three at venues and we generally spend around $2,000-$2,500. But we're not trying to do it as cheaply as possible. We're trying to make it as nice as possible.

[Anonymous]

I agree $1000 for 40 people is about what I would expect to spend.

[Anonymous]

Is this a best friend? Because I’d never pay $1k plus for just a friends baby shower, that’s insane! Hosting it at your house is one thing but having to pay for a venue, etc is another. Best friend? Yes absolutely! Others? No way.

[Anonymous]

Host it at her house or her parents’ house. It’s ridiculous to pay for a venue.

Do brunch.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Host it at her house or her parents’ house. It’s ridiculous to pay for a venue.

Do brunch.

This

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Host it at her house or her parents’ house. It’s ridiculous to pay for a venue.

Do brunch.

Agree. Ask, nicely, who might be willing to lend a space while you do the prep. For that budget you can get a housekeeping service after and still have saved $$$

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Host it at her house or her parents’ house. It’s ridiculous to pay for a venue.

Do brunch.

This

Yup. 1k is insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Host it at her house or her parents’ house. It’s ridiculous to pay for a venue.

Do brunch.

This

Yup. 1k is insane.

OP here— She and her parents live in houses smaller than mine unfortunately. I wish one of her friends had an apartment party room that we could use, but
she hasn’t mentioned that as a possibility, and it wasn’t an option when I cohosted her bridal shower at her friend’s house (unfortunately that friend no longer lives in the area).

To answer other PPs, we are very close friends, but not absolute best friends. I would not do this for an acquaintance given the costs.

I was kind of hoping to host a nice birthday party for myself this year, at a restaurant or someplace fun, but that won’t be an option if I’m spending so much on the shower.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Host it at her house or her parents’ house. It’s ridiculous to pay for a venue.

Do brunch.

This

Yup. 1k is insane.

OP here— She and her parents live in houses smaller than mine unfortunately. I wish one of her friends had an apartment party room that we could use, but
she hasn’t mentioned that as a possibility, and it wasn’t an option when I cohosted her bridal shower at her friend’s house (unfortunately that friend no longer lives in the area).

To answer other PPs, we are very close friends, but not absolute best friends. I would not do this for an acquaintance given the costs.

I was kind of hoping to host a nice birthday party for myself this year, at a restaurant or someplace fun, but that won’t be an option if I’m spending so much on the shower.

No you don’t put so much in that you can’t do your own bday party. That’s insane. Who is her best friend? Why isn’t she hosting? Why does it need to be 40 people? How far away are you from her friends and family? Does she have other friends who could host?