Bridal Shower Ideas

The bridal shower is often one of the few “wedding season” events that the bride is sort of off the hook for.  Showers are routinely thrown by the maid of honor, the mother of the bride, mother of the groom, or other friends or family members.  Occasionally a bride will help plan it herself but for the most part it’s the one main event that she can just be the happy guest at.

Note to those planning the shower: In addition to the more traditional bridal shower that just includes the bride-to-be there’s also a fairly recent trend of doing a “couples” shower.  I think it’s great to be able to include the hubby-to-be if he’d like to be, but most men I’ve spoken with have said they would take a pass on that kind of request.  So if you’re thinking about throwing a shower and wanted to go this route, you may want to ask if he’s willing first.

If the bride lives a long distance away from family & friends or where the wedding will take place then you could do a mail-away shower (this is what my family did for my shower for Baby C).  Everyone attends the shower as usual but takes their present without wrapping it.  Let everyone see what the gifts are, play some games, have some food, and then the host provides wrapping supplies so that everyone can wrap their gifts and the couple still gets to enjoy the excitement of opening them.  If possible make a call to the bride-to-be and pass the phone around so everyone can say hi.  It’s also good to try and take as many pictures as possible and then include a copy of them all in with the gifts (the host packs up the presents and ships them to the person of honor).

Bridal Shower Themes

Themes are fun and make planning – and sometimes purchasing – easier.  There are all manner of different themes to consider.  One idea that I think is neat is a “calendar shower”.  This is where you assign each guest a different month (this shower would be best with guests in multiples of 12) and they purchase gifts that can be used in that month.  This might be especially nice for a young couple that’s never really lived on their own much before; they could potentially end up with decorations for each season and holiday, maybe some outdoor-dining items for the summer, etc.  If you want to go with this theme, here are some gift suggestions:

• Winter Months: Cozy blankets, snowmen decor items, holiday decorations (Christmas, etc.)
• Spring Months: Vases, gardening tools, picnic basket & items, holiday decorations (Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, Valentine’s, etc.)
• Summer Months: BBQ and BBQ gear, sports items (boccie or croquet set, lawn darts, horseshoes, etc), pool gear, outdoor dining items, cooler, patio furniture, July 4th decorations
• Fall Months: Wine, holiday decorations (Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc.), seasonal decorations like wreathes

You could also go with a home-show themed shower.  For example, the Pampered Chef has a bridal shower show as one of their special services.  I attended one of these shows once many years ago and it was a lot of fun.  The bride (or couple!) can go through the Pampered Chef catalog and create a wish list of items that she (they) would love to have to start building their new kitchen.  Guests can either purchase from their wish list, give a gift certificate, or choose an item on their own.

Bridal Shower Games

Bridal Bingo is a common game played at showers.  You can create and print custom cards for free or choose from printable pre-created ones.  The host (or a younger guest; they always love being included) can either call words off from a master list or (especially with customized ones) you could have them be items the bride has in her bag, gifts that she receives, words she says during the party, or even ask the bride some trivia and have her answers be the bingo words.

If you’re doing a couple’s shower, you might want to play Cinderella.  Have all the men leave the room for a moment.  Then have the women take off their shoes and place one shoe from each of them in the center of the room.  Then put the mates in a bag or an empty room.  Call the men back in and ask them to pick out their partner’s shoe and return it to their Cinderella.  How observant is your honey, anyway?

Do you have any fun bridal shower ideas or suggestions?  What about a story of your favorite shower moment either as a guest or guest of honor?