Next to every Bride is her trusty Maid of Honor, and usually an exchange like the one below occurs...At least it did to me!
♥ My best friend just announced her engagement! (YAY!)
♥ I’m the Maid of Honor! (Double YAY!)
♥ I’m in charge of the Bridal Shower! (Uh…. Yea, about that.)
This is where the reality of “oh yea, there are responsibilities that go along with being a Maid of Honor!” sets in. But, that feeling is totally okay and will be discussed in a post dedicated just to being an awesome Maid of Honor (keep your eye out for that!). As far as the bridal shower is concerned, there are several factors that go into the makeup of a smooth and fun party for the Bride. Funny thing about Bridal Showers, they have nothing to do with showers! (what.) Guests are just encouraged to “shower” the bride with gifts for her new home. (ohhh :)
So, where does one even begin with the planning of the bridal shower??
When I was planning my best friend’s bridal shower, she made it easy by telling me what she wanted or didn’t want. Hopefully you will be so lucky, but if not, don’t worry! That’s why we’re here!
First thing's first... GUESTS: Who all does the Bride want at this shin-dig anyway? Most brides prefer to have the guest list open to close female friends and female family members. Aunts, Cousins, Grandma, Mama, best friends, the lovely babysitter you cherish with all your heart, they’re all welcome! But, keeping the guest list small makes it more intimate and easier to manage so the bridal party and family members are a good place to start. The menfolk aren’t typically involved in the bridal showers only because they get bored, but Couples Showers are growing more popular. This is where both the future Mr. and Mrs. are honored at the Shower and not just the Bride.
Quick Tip: don’t forget to send out invitations at least a month or two in advance. This gives room for the RSVP’s to come rolling in in time to properly plan without rushing around one week before.
Once the guest list is figured out, it’s time to decide on a theme that you or the Bride want for the Bridal Shower. Will it be a tea party at her favorite vintage parlor? Or a wine tasting at her favorite winery? Or simply a fun luncheon in the parent’s backyard? Whatever the theme is, just keep in mind who’s all invited. What does the guest list have to do with the theme you may ask?
Funny story real quick - I’m kinda speaking from experience here: I planned a “panty party” for my best friend’s bridal shower. MISTAKE. The lovely bride thought it would be fun, the lovely bride’s grandmother did not. So we switched it to a tea party, which the lovely bride’s grandmother liked much better (don’t worry so did the bride, and we incorporated the panty party for the bachelorette party ;). So, just keep in mind that there will be many ages and many different family/friend roles within the guest list so keeping the theme clean and light hearted is key.
Since the theme has been decided, now here comes the fun! Besides an awesome atmosphere, the Brides favorite girlfriends, and tasty food, it seems that we’re missing something… hmm… Games! What are we all going to do at this amazing Bridal Shower? Play some awesome games, of course!
Bridal Musings
Games at a Bridal Shower serve many purposes but mainly they serve as ice breakers and it creates a fun atmosphere for everyone! There are so many different games to choose from, but one thing to keep in mind when selecting what games is the audience. Remember that guest list? Grandma probably doesn’t want to discuss the undergarments that the Bride’s friends have selected to give her :)
Here are a few of my favorite bridal shower games:
♥ Bridal Bingo
o Similar to tradition bingo. Every guest receives a bingo card and a pencil and plays this while the Bride opens her gifts. As each gift is opened, guests cross off the item on their bingo card until they cross out a whole row. Up and down, diagonal, sideways, it doesn’t matter! This is great for keeping guests involved while the Bride is occupied with opening her new treasures!
TIP! Don’t forget to have someone writing down who gave what, though, this will make it easier to organize the Thank You cards.
♥ Marriage Madlibs
o This is a top contender for all time favorite Bridal Shower Game for me. Each guest is handed a Madlibs card, which is basically a poem or a story about the couple, marriage advice, or suggestions on the wedding vows with a bunch of key words missing. It’s up to the guests to fill their card out with words to complete the story. Then the cards are collected and the Bride reads them all out loud! No two Madlibs are alike and it makes for some hilarious fun. This is a good game to play a little later on into the Bridal Shower when everyone has loosened up a bit.
♥ Purse Raid
o This is a game that is good for a strictly all girls bridal shower because it’s time to get down and dirty with what’s in everyone’s purse! Everyone gathers around and has their purse handy, then one person (this means you of Trusty Maid of Honor ;) ) calls out some items commonly (or not so commonly) found in a purse. Whoever has the most items wins!
Wedding Bee
♥ He said, she said.
o Does everyone think that they know the bride and groom best? Think again! Everyone is handed a paper with sayings that either the bride or groom say. Guests try to guess who says what and whoever guesses the most wins! There are several variations to this game too. The sayings can be favorite sayings, dirty habits, or quotes from Facebook/Twitter. This is a great game for couple’s showers too.
♥ Toilet paper wedding dress designer.
o This is a fun game that gets everybody up and moving! The guests need to be broken into even teams or how ever it works best with the amount of people but keep the groups around 3 people, I’ve noticed that works best. Then each team is given a roll of toilet paper. One person from each team becomes the “bride” and the other team members create a wedding dress to present to the Bride! Make sure there is a time limit set because this one can take some time. Then, the Bride chooses which dress she likes best and that team wins!
A couple last minute tips:
♥ Don’t forget pencils!
♥ Bring along some small prizes for the winners and keep in mind that there might be multiple winners for a game or two so bring extra!
♥ Print out extra copies of any handouts needed for the games in case there are any unexpected guests.
♥ Unless there is going to be only one person in charge of initiating the games and explaining the rules, it’s a good idea to discuss with fellow bridesmaids who is in charge of what ahead of time. This way there are no surprises and it takes all the pressure off one individual. After all, everyone wants to have a good time!
There are so many games to choose from and online there are awesome print outs to make it so easy to plan! These games are actually really fun and get everyone interacting and laughing and that really is the whole point of getting everyone together, to celebrate the Bride!
