A Some-What Frugal Wedding Shower

My sister and I threw a wedding shower a couple weekends ago for Lindsey, the soon-to-be wife of our cousin Ryan. Ryan and Lindsey are having a 1940's vintage inspired wedding next month and we wanted to pull that idea into the wedding shower. Everything turned out so beautifully that I just have to share.

I picked up some perfect invitations at Target back in March! They were on 75% off clearance and only cost $0.98 per pack. They were printed on recycled paper and fit with our color scheme perfectly.

We bought three huge boxes of mason jars on craigslist to use for decorating. We used the largest ones for flowers and the smallest for candles. We got the flowers at a roadside stand which also saved us a bunch of money.

We used the pint size jars as cups. I picked up some green striped straws at the party store for $2.99. I made a Beer Raspberry Punch which was pink and looked so cute in the jars. I had bought a flat of raspberries for $10 at the produce stand earlier this summer and flash froze the berries to use in the punch.

We wanted to give Lindsey a momento of the shower, so I picked up a Groupon for Flirty Aprons ($15 for a $30 voucher). We had all the guests sign the back of the apron with a fabric pen. These aprons are so cute to begin with and with the added personal touch, I hope Lindsey will remember the shower every time she wears it.

For the favors, we filled pint jars with beans and added a notecard with a recipe to make bean soup. I picked up the cheapest jars I could find at Walmart (poorly reviewed for canning, but perfect for our purposes) and got 15lbs of beans at Cash & Carry for $15. These were on the way to being super frugal favors, but then I found the cutest cards at Target and I couldn't resist. I'm embarrassed to admit how much I spent on them (cough$0.50eachcough), but they completely made the favors and I got tons of compliments on them.

For the food, we went for ease over frugality which was definitely the right choice. We did save money where we could.

* I made the blackberry pie using blackberries from my yard.
* We picked up a package for chicken on 50% clearance to make the chicken salad.
* We used some loaves of bread that Franz bread sent me for the sandwiches (win your own here).
* Most of the rest of the ingredients came from Costco, which saved us money over the grocery store.

All in all, I think this party turned out great. I love throwing parties, but it can get expensive. With some advanced planning, I was able to save money and still throw a beautiful event. Thanks for letting me pat my own back (and my sisters') and show off our hard work.

What are your best tips for saving money on party planning?