There’s no doubt that a digital invitation is free and takes only 10 minutes to set up. Eventifai’s 2026 etiquette guide believes digital is “the norm” for baby showers now, and it’s hard to argue that.
So we’re not going to tell you a printed tea towel is better than a free one.
The argument is that the invitation is also the favour. A baby shower tea towel buys two things: something to invite people with, and something to send them – to say thanks.
What Are You Already Spending On
Most Australian hosts spend up to $600 on a baby shower for 15 – 25 guests. A part of that is a favour budget, and favours have the worst survival rate of anything at the party.
The 2026 research is particularly blunt about it. A keepsake and other practical items are pushing out the usual generic giveaways. Guests are looking to keep favours that do not feel disposable.
We’re not going to argue what you would otherwise spend on a favour, because it could be anything from a $2 bag of sugared treats to a $15 candle.
| Digital invite plus a separate favour | Tea Towel Invitation | |
|---|---|---|
| Invitation | Free, or up to about $50 for a paid template | Included |
| Favour | A second purchase, priced per guest | Included |
| 50 guests | Two suppliers, two decisions | From $8.50 each, $425 delivered |
| 100 guests | Two suppliers, two decisions | From $8.00 each |
| Small list | Favours usually carry their own minimum | No minimum. One towel, under $35 delivered |
| Twelve months later | The invite is archived, the favour is gone | In a kitchen, still being used |
On raw unit price, the free invite wins and always will. What it does not do is cross the second thing off your list.
A tea towel works in a kitchen whether or not it has a due date printed on it. That is the whole reason this one survives the drawer.
What Do You Put On One?
A tea towel gives you roughly four times the printable area of an A5 card. The print area is 60cm by 40cm on a 70cm by 50cm towel, so the limit is taste rather than space.
There are two halves to get right. The information half has to work as an invitation:
- Who the shower is for
- Date, start time and address
- RSVP by, and who to
- Anything guests need to know, such as a wishing well, a theme, or a no-gifts request
The keepsake half is what stops it reading like a notice board:
- The mother-to-be’s name
- The baby’s name, if it has been chosen and is not still a secret
- The due date
- An illustration, a scan photo, or a drawing from an older sibling
A word on the gender line. Plenty of people use it, and it prints fine. But a tea towel is a slow-moving object, and if the plan is a reveal, it should happen at the shower rather than in a letterbox six weeks earlier.
Sending a photograph or a scan? Send the file at roughly 3,500 pixels on the long edge. That works out to about 150 DPI at full print size, and it is the difference between a soft print and a sharp one.
Only need a Few? No problem, we can print any full-colour design. Personalise Here
(No Minimum Quantity)
Which Fabric and Print Method
Three fabrics.
- Cotton is the cheapest and the usual pick
- 50/50 cotton-linen blend gives the best print result and the best hand feel
- Linen is the premium option
Our invitations guide goes through the trade-offs properly.
For print method, your design will decide it. Multi-colour with faded edges, a photo or full-colour illustration has to go on digital, and that is where most baby shower artwork lands.
A 1-3 colour design, with names and a date with solid colours, only gets cheaper on screen printing. Usually 30 or more pieces is a big enough run to justify making the screens.
If you want a different guest’s name on every towel, that has to be digital too. Screen printing runs one design through the whole batch. That is exactly why it is cheap at volume and impossible to vary.
When To Order by Working Backwards
A baby shower usually has a fixed deadline, so your timing is worth a bit more attention here than for any other kind of party.
Polite etiquette says invitations need to be in the post 4 to 6 weeks before the shower, or 6 to 8 weeks if a decent share of your guests are travelling.
Most showers sit somewhere in the last trimester, which means the mail-out date is locked in well before anyone has thought about printing.
Work backwards from the mail-out date, not from the shower:
- Your mail-out date – 4 to 6 weeks before the shower. This is the real deadline.
- Delivery to you – everything has to be in your hands, with envelopes, before that date.
- Print – which happens after you approve the proof and not before.
- Proof and approval – we prepare the artwork and send it to you (nothing goes to print until you sign it off)
- Artwork and quote – send us the design, or send the details and let our designers build it.
Start the conversation earlier than feels necessary. Proofing is where dates get corrected, and spellings get fixed, and it moves at the speed of your inbox rather than ours.
Ordering Eighteen Of Something
Most showers are not bulk orders. A party of twenty has nothing to do with the 150-unit price you see quoted on printing sites.
There is no minimum here. A single personalised tea towel, any design, is about $25.00, and one is a perfectly normal order.
Under 50 towels, the per-unit price is a quote rather than a published tier, because a short run costs much the same to set up as a longer one.
That cuts both ways, and it is worth knowing which way it cuts for you.
If your list is close to 50, ask what 50 costs before you order 30. Sometimes the extra towels are nearly free, and spares get used anyway: the grandparents, the people who could not make it, and the one that goes to the wrong address.
Send Us the Details
Send your details, or your artwork, through the quote form. If you would rather hold one before you commit a guest list to it, ask for a sample. Conditions apply, but it is the cheapest way to see how the print sits on the fabric.
Everything is printed here in Australia on water-based inks certified to Oeko-Tex 100, and nothing goes to print until you have approved the proof.
Doing a bridal shower or a wedding for the same family? The bridal shower and wedding invitation pages cover those.
