Every part of the long journey to the altar should be memorable and fun, but they do not all have to break the bank. Take, for instance, the bridal shower.

With gas prices the way they are, just getting friends and family to drive to the location is an expensive proposition. If your sister, friend, cousin is engaged and you’ve been charged with arranging the shower, it is easier than you might think to have a grand time without a grand budget. As with everything, a little elbow grease and creativity will go a long way to helping you organize a special event with a minimum of cost.

Alicia on “Togetherness”

“This is, at its heart, a more intimate version of the bride’s reception with only her closest friends and family invited. You will celebrate her upcoming union with stories, laughter and presents. It is that embrace of friendship that is really important, not the presents. So, if you know that some of your friends are doing better than others, set a price limit on gifts or skip store bought gifts all together and ask your friends to make something, whether baked goods, a photo album, or poem.”

Sarah on “Time is on Your Side”

“The trade-off is always the same: the more you do yourself, the less it will cost. But for most of us, free time is not something we have in abundance. So, lean on others for a little help along the way. Include your friends and/or family members in the party planning process. They can be particularly helpful when it comes to gathering multiple bids from vendors like florists or restaurants, comparing different costs and availabilities and making important trade-offs. Don’t be shy – everyone will enjoy the shower more knowing they played a part in making it a success.”

Here a few tips to help you plan a fabulous and cost-friendly shower.

#1 There’s No Place Like Home

Restaurants, arboretums, and hotel banquet rooms are not the only places to hold a shower. In fact, they generally pale in comparison to the warmth of someone’s living room or kitchen. So host it at home – inside or, if weather permits, outside. If you really want to create an intimate celebration, ask each person to bake or bring a dessert. Then the entire event is really just about the people who have gathered. If you’re not comfortable hosting it at someone’s home, try getting space at a tea room. You can get a lovely assortment of sandwiches and baked goods without needing a Platinum card.

#2 Fun and Fancy Free

Find games to play that are more about fun than finances. One popular classic is to break the group into teams and have each team create a wedding dress out of toilet paper. The guests get to be active participants as well as creative. You can make the prize that the winner gets to pick the next game or perhaps gets to choose what clean-up duty she would prefer. And at the end of the day, how many smiles were out determines the success of the shower, not how much was spent.

#3 A Little Hard Work

Think more about the help the bride-to-be will need over the coming months than about gifts. Since the bride will likely receive all the useful items she will need at the wedding, create a “Little Help-her” bowl. Write down chores that the new bride might need help with over the coming months and put them in a fish bowl: things like picking up guests for the wedding at the airport; help with the invitations; pet-sitting during the honeymoon, etc. Then, when someone wins a game, they get to draw from the bowl.