Fun but frugal wedding showers
By Amy Brown-Bowers • Bankrate.com

For flowers, consider buying potted flowers or wrapping ribbons around household plants as they cost much less than cut flowers. "You don't need all kinds of streamers and balloons. It looks much more elegant when you have just a few flowers or plants," Dos Ramos says.

If you do want cut flowers, Manailescu suggests going to a grocery store to buy a bunch and then to arrange them yourself in decorated vases.

For a great wow factor at little cost, Manailescu shares a tip she used at a recent shower: Pick up a chocolate or champagne fountain from Costco for about $50 each. "People were freaking out and it was so beautiful and it was so cost effective," she says.

Thrifty gifting
Martyn suggests "using your skills" when coming up with a gift. "If you're a graphic designer, maybe you can make some beautiful stationery for the couple to use to do their thank you notes. I myself enjoy working with flowers so I would maybe offer to do some of the flowers for the shower as opposed to buying a gift."

Dos Ramos says to hit the baby or wedding registry early to pick up some of the lower cost items or pool with others for bigger items.

For a thoughtful and inexpensive baby shower gift, Dos Ramos suggests creating an "advice" book for the new mom or bride and passing it around to friends and family before the shower.

The overextended invitation
Everyone has a story of someone they know who was invited to their co-worker's brother's fiancé's bridal or baby shower. "If you don't personally know the bride, there is no obligation for you to provide a gift," Martyn says, adding, "it becomes a little stickier when perhaps you know the parents of the bride."

In that case, she suggests a small token gift, for example, some kitchen utensils from the registry for $20. If you don't know the bride or mom to be, "It's absolutely OK to decline," Dos Ramos says.

While she has planned showers with over 100 guests -- "basically, a wedding for women," she says -- she believes showers should be intimate events attended by close friends and family.

"When you're extending the invite to people you don't really know, it is kind of like a gift grab," Dos Ramos says.

Build a budget
Set a budget and view sticking to is as a personal or group challenge.

Laurie Wyngaarden, a research lab technician at a Toronto hospital, is planning a bridal shower this summer with two other bridesmaids. They set a strict limit of $150 total. "We've been really good about budgeting that," she says. (For more advice on thrifty wedding gifts, check out Bankrate.ca's story Surviving wedding season -- as a guest.)

To stay on track they are holding a picnic with homemade finger foods, watermelon and lemonade. The prizes will be inexpensive, and they are making their own invitations.

As with a wedding, "you can spend just a little bit or you can spend thousands," Martyn says. "The goal in the back of my mind if how to have a great event on the minimal amount of money."

Amy Brown-Bowers is a writer in Toronto.