A Bridal Shower is a fun way to get the bride-to-be in the company of friends and relatives to celebrate the upcoming wedding. It’s a good chance to pamper the bride and to get her blushing. Traditionally Bridal Showers have been a gift giving party before the wedding hosted by the Maid-Of-Honor, who is usually the sister of the bride-to-be, relative or a close friend.
Bridal showers typically are a lady’s affair. If you are hosting the bridal shower be sure to keep the bride-to-be’s personality in mind while planning for the event.
- Feminine: Is she the feminine sort or the more sport loving kind? By keeping the bride-to-be’s preferences in mind you are more likely to come up with a plan that lives up to her expectations.
- Outgoing: If she is the outgoing type with a large circle of friends, then maybe a co-ed shower (which is more a party than a shower) is the way to go.
Increasingly men are getting more involved with all the aspects of a wedding, and couple showers are also gaining a lot of popularity. In the write-up below you can look forward to getting answers to all your questions around a bridal shower and you will be equipped to host a great traditional bridal shower, a co-ed shower or a couples shower with these bridal shower ideas.
Bridal Shower Guests List –For any bridal shower it is typical to include –
- The Bride’s female friends
- The Bride’s female family members
- The Groom’s female friends
- The Groom’s female family members
Depending on your and the bride-to-be’s preferences, the shower could be a small intimate affair with 10-20 friends or a bigger event. It is a good idea to consult the bride, and the bride’s mother and grooms mothers about whom to invite. If you are hosting a co-ed shower, you would want to invite the bride and groom, as well as their close friends (male and female)
Bridal Shower Ideas–Venue : The choice of the venue is frequently dictated by the number of people you wish to invite and the budget that you have in mind. For smaller groups you can host the shower at your home. For larger groups you will need to find an external venue.
Come and Go shower – If you are hosting a large group shower but don’t have the budget to rent an external venue, a come and go shower hosted at your home is a great idea. This shower is more like an open house. The guests could come and enjoy some food and spend some intimate time with the bride. After this, the guest could mingle with any other guests who have arrived at the same time and then be free to leave. With this type of shower, you also get to accommodate varying schedules of the guests invited.
Bridal Shower Date – A bridal shower is best hosted about a month to two months in advance of the wedding date. Avoid the dates too close to the wedding since the bride is likely to have a lot of details around the wedding to attend to. On the other hand if you keep the shower date a few weeks prior to the day, everyone would already be having the wedding on their minds and there would be a heightened sense of anticipation and expectation.
Bridal Shower Theme and the Gift theme Ideas– Pick the theme for the shower and then the gift and all the other details like the decorations, activities and food will fall into place. Your Bridal Shower themes and the gift theme don’t necessarily have to be the same. For example, it is perfectly alright to have a Luau theme for the bridal shower and the Kitchen theme for the gifts. Although there could be master themes where both the bridal shower theme and the gift theme match.
Bridal Shower Invitations Ideas– Once you have made up your mind on the date, the guest list, the theme and the venue, you are ready to send out your invites. An online invitations sent about two to three weeks prior to the event works best. This will give the guests enough time to RSVP. However, as a hostess, you do need to be prepared to receive guests who have not sent you an RSVP.
Bride’s and the grooms gift registry – Showers are all about “showering” the couple. Therefore if the bride and the groom have a gift registry it is a great idea to mention it somewhere on the invite. This way the guests can come in with gifts that the couple not only needs but wants! It is always good to be sure to mentioned the registry details in an off hand manner, as it implies that the guests are not really constrained in any manner to shop only at those stores for the gifts.
Bridal Shower Decorations Ideas – Once you decide on a theme the decorating practically plans itself.
- Along with the decorations, a towel cake makes for a great centerpiece. It is also a gift the bride really appreciates.
- Another good centerpiece idea are these bride and groom wine bottle covers. This great set is perfect to bring a couple of bottles of wine or champagne in. The happy couple will love these adorable “outfits” on their bottles.
It is also traditional to decorate with paper wedding bells, streamers, balloons and tulle. However, be sure not to overdo the whole effect.
Bridal Shower Activities – A bridal shower is likely to have a fair amount of guests that do not know each other. Though not absolutely necessary, bridal shower games and activities can be a great idea. If done well, they can go a long way to get over any ackward silence in the room. (Read More on Bridal Shower Games)
Unwrapping of the gifts – If it is a small intimate gathering, this is a great activity. To make it fun, you could intersperse the regular gifts with some gag gifts. This is likely to add flavor to the whole gift unwrapping activity. The guests would love it too. Also remember that it is traditional to make a bow bouquet with the gift bows from the presents. The bride can then use the bow bouquet at her wedding rehearsal.
However, if it is a large shower or a co-ed shower, maybe you could ask the guests to come along with gifts that are not wrapped, but just decorated. You could then have a separate area earmarked for the display.
Words of Wisdom – Circulating a message book so that guests could write their messages for the bride-to-be is a good idea. A book with messages from all her friends and loved ones is something the bride would cherish.
Bridal Shower Food – A bridal shower should not only be fun for the guests, but also for the planners. A simple menu can do the trick. If you are hosting the shower outdoors, a barbecue would be a good idea. High tea with it’s elegant fare of dainty sandwiches and pastries is also good. Or maybe a brunch shower. The idea here is to serve enough finger foods and not go all out on a whole meal.
Bridal Shower Favors – Remember that it’s not absolutely necessary for you as a host to hand out favors to the guests. After all, the shower was for them to “shower” the bride and not vice-versa.
However if you do wish you could hand out small but interesting knick-knacks as favors. Fun every day articles that go along with your theme or anything heart shaped make good favors for a bridal shower.
Special Touches – You could offer the bride a tiara to wear through the shower. Also arrange for a chair especially decorated at a center point for the bride-to-be.
Some More Details – Keep Felt Pens and Thank You cards ready so that the bride can thank all the guests personally with handwritten notes. Another great idea is to have guests write their name and address on one of the envelopes so that the bride does not have to search for addresses and hand write them all herself.
At the end of the shower, help the bride get the gifts and be ready to transport the bride and her gifts home. A suitcase or travel bag at hand would definitely be appreciated by the bride.
Bring on the bride and the two shall be one!
These are great ideas. I especially like the idea of an open house bridal shower. I am going to try this with my sister’s upcoming shower. Thanks for the tip!
- by rachaelI think I will try to recommend this post to my friends and family, cuz it’s really helpful.
- by GarykPatton