Bridal shower planning can be such a big responsibility. Often times the brides friends, family and future in-laws will be strangers. We wrote this article just to get rid of the strange feeling of attending or organizing bridal showers! The right bridal shower atmosphere has a lot to do with interaction and games, this will create an atmosphere of joy and sisterhood, helping to strengthen bonds with friends and family while forging new bond. So don’t worry! We have everything you need to create a fun bridal shower. Just sit back, relax and play your way to a successful bridal shower! Today a bridal shower is generally thought of as a gift that is given to the bride-to-be with the purpose of ‘showering’ her with the things she needs to help her equip her home. But, a bridal shower is of course not just about gift giving but an occasion when friends and family can get together to celebrate the forthcoming wedding of the bride and groom.

In addition, although a little uncertain, the origins of the bridal shower are thought to derive from the story of a bride with no dowry who was ‘showered’ with gifts from friends and neighbors, thus enabling her to marry the man she loved.

From those early bridal showers to those of the present day, although traditions may differ from one part of the country to another, certain customs have evolved and become established as good bridal shower etiquette but it should always be remembered that these are not rules and decisions on etiquette may depend on what the bride and others involved feel is right in her particular circumstances.

Traditionally a bridal shower is hosted by the maid of honor (if she is married she is called the matron of honor) and she is helped by the other bridesmaids, alternatively it is hosted by a close friend of the bride.

A bridal shower is not traditionally held by a relative, best friend or friends as the case may be  however, as the maid of honor is often the bride’s sister, this has now become much more acceptable.

It is also not uncommon for the bridal shower to be hosted by a sister-in-law-to-be or a mother-in-law-to-be.

This will depend on the bride’s schedule or host; so it’s a good idea to choose a provisional date and then check with the bride and anyone else who is closely involved in organizing the shower that they will be free on that date. One to two months before the wedding is usually ideal, as at this time the bride-to- be should be relaxed enough to enjoy her bridal shower. Too close to the wedding and diaries may become full and thoughts may be focused on any last minute problems that may occur.

 

Favor/gift ideas for bridal showers

Although it is not essential that the bride/brides gives shower favors to the guests, even a small, inexpensive gift will be very much appreciated by them. After all, they have shown their support for the bride by attending the shower and generously given a shower gift. Favors can range from notepads, biro’s, hair pins or ribbon, nail polish to candles and photo frames, make-up items etc.. as comfortable as the price is for you. The giving of favors will show your gratitude and they may become treasured keepsakes and reminders of the enjoyable occasion.
Give your guests quality favors but at a very affordable price.

The usual number would be between ten and twenty or more, but this will largely depend on the size of the bride’s close circle of family, friends and co-workers and where the shower is to be held.

Try and limit the amount of guests invited as far as is reasonably possible, as this will make the bridal shower easier to organize as well as to cater for.

A bridal shower is usually held at the home of the shower hostess or if this isn’t suitable at someone else's home; it can also be held at a church or a rented hall.

Alternatively a bridal shower can be held at a restaurant but do bear in mind that if you choose this option then your costs will increase considerably. Other considerable location are the Spa, Beach, club, cinema and so on.

 

Games

The movies and media are swamped with reality TV couples, relationships and marriage related shows and films. Most women end up watching the popular relationship based sitcom and shows on television. So why not test their knowledge a bit? These games are also a great way to get a quick idea of who amongst the friends know more…

 

Bridal Trivia Bridal Shower Game #1: Know the Bride

In a spin off on the original game of Trivia, bridal trivia follows all the same rules except the questions are all about the bride. Make a list of 20 trivia questions about the bride – her favorite food, her favorite dinner place, the travel destination that tops her list of places to see and similar questions. The questions should be such that the answers may be known to her close friends but not necessarily. You could put in a couple of very obvious questions at the beginning just to get everyone in the mood of the game. Make copies of the list of questions. Get the bride to fill in one sheet, which is the master answer sheet and get all the guests to fill in answers that they think are correct. The guest with the most correct answers wins.

 

Bridal Trivia Bridal Shower Game #2: The Bride’s Courtship

If there’s one thing that will come up at the bridal shower it is how the bride and groom met and their love story. So why not play a game around it? Make a list of questions related to the bride and groom’s courtship. Where did the bride and groom meet? What was the bride’s first impression of the groom? Where did they go for their first date? How did the groom propose? Where did he propose? Where are they going for their honeymoon? Then get the girls to fill out the answers as per their knowledge. If someone doesn’t know the answer they can make a guess or put down something really funny instead. Read out the answers and let the bride tell her story.

 

Bridal Trivia Bridal Shower Game #3: Back In Time

This one looks really neat if done well. Make a list of major events in the bride’s life and the years they took place. You may need to consult with her mother or sister for details. Include things like year of birth, year of graduation, year of first kiss, year of college graduation, year of first date and the like. Make a dateline and put all the items in the order they occurred leaving the year blank. Let the guests fill in the year they think the event occurred in. You can make a large version of the dateline on good poster paper and decorate it for the bride to keep as a memory of the bridal shower and a keepsake.

 

Bridal Word Scramble#4:

Print out enough copies of scrambled words relating to weddings, gifts or romance, for you to give one to each of the guests.  Give each guest a copy of this list and a pencil. Get them to unscramble as many words as they can, writing the correct answer in the adjacent space, in a set amount of time say ten minutes.
The guest who gets the most answers correct is the winner. Most of the scrambled words are fairly easy to solve, but if everyone is having trouble with any of them, then give them a clue to the answer.

 

Purse raid#5:

A game that challenges your bridal shower guests’ A – Z knowledge of weddings. Download the template, print out one sheet for each bridal shower guest then have them fill in a wedding-related word that begins with each letter of the alphabet. The winner is the one who has the most answered in a certain amount of time, finishes first in an untimed game, or have the girls vote on the best answers for a little twist.

 

Spicey#6:

Get a cute spice rack full of many spices and then cover each of the containers with construction paper or something similar. You then write a different number (or letter) on each spice. Once the bridal shower guests arrive pass out paper and instruct them to smell and/or taste each spice and write down what they think it is. The person who gets the most right wins the spice rack, or it can be a gift for the bride!

You’ll be surprised how many spices people DO & DON’T know! Also, if you’re on a budget you can just place different spices on small plates and not buy a whole spice rack. Most people have enough spices in their cabinets to play this game well enough.

 

 

Ask each guest to carry along a picture of herself with the bride. Get an empty scrapbook and decorate the cover so that it reads something like “BRIDE’S NAME & Friends Forever”, or “With Love to BRIDE’S NAME”. When each guest comes, ask her to stick the photo in the scrapbook and write some fond memories that she has of times shared with the bride. It makes a beautiful keepsake scrapbook for the bride.

If possible, try to arrange for a Polaroid camera so that guests who show up without a photo, or don’t have one with the bride can have one taken instantly. That way no one will feel left out.

This game is a lot of fun. Draft a template, then print out two game sheets. Before the bridal shower the groom is asked to fill out the game sheet with a series of questions about the bride/relationship. The bride, at the shower, is asked to fill out a game sheet with the same questions. See how compatible their answers are!

The guests get to tick right or wrong predicting how many questions they think the bride will get right? The winner is the person with the closest guess of how many the bride will get right… for extra fun print out a game sheets for each guest and see how many they can answer about the bride & groom!

2 game sheet are on the template, one with 12 questions, one with 16, use your favorite. Just make sure the bride and groom answer the same one.

 

ADIEU

Farewell, advice especially from older colleagues (already married ladies present) … best wishes

Watch this space for the part two with details on how to host Guys in the bridal showers of today - co'ed**************************************************************************