Planning The Bridal Shower

While thinking about a wedding shower you may wonder, who throws this party? When do you plan it? Where should it be held? When should it take place and what to feed your guests?
Here are our suggestions for a fabulous bridal shower! A nice description on the history of the bridal shower is shared here at Wikipedia.

The bridal shower is traditionally one of the main duties of the Maid of Honor. Held in her home she is the hostess for this party where the bride to be is the guest of honor.
The rules of etiquette are changing and becoming more lax these days, so you may consider sharing these duties with members of the wedding party.
Here is some advice when planning a bridal shower for the bride to be!

• Always consult with the bride, the groom and families as to how to proceed and what forms of etiquette are important to them.
• When putting together the guest list the Maid of Honor should always consult with the couple as to who to invite.
  
• It's also common these days to use an online invitation service to contact and invite your guests, as long as they are Internet savvy.
• Never invite people to the bridal shower that are not invited to the wedding. This is a etiquette question we get a lot and one we feel all couples and those planning the shower should stick to.
• When inviting guests and picking a date, consult with the Bride and family. You'll want to also pay attention to road closures or major sporting events that will make travel more difficult.
  
• Traditionally the bridal shower is given 6 weeks to 2 weeks before the wedding itself. First, will there be many guest coming from out of town? If so, it's best to include them by having the bridal shower closer to the wedding date.

There are options as to where to hold the Wedding Shower.
Consult again with the couple and family.

• The hostess can host the shower in her home.
  
• A Mother's home.
  
• A restaurant or club (yippie! No clean up, boo the co$t can be steep).
  

Choosing to have a Themed Wedding Shower

• If the wedding itself has a theme to it, specific colors, a design, the couples monogram or subject theme, think about incorporating it into the shower to make the whole wedding event flow and become even more meaningful.
• When planning a themed bridal shower, the invitation should instruct the guests to bring gifts that stay within that theme. For instance, if you are throwing a "The Cookin' Couple" have your guests bring cooking items to furnish her new kitchen with (and no Tupperware type parties either..these types of parties are not suited for bridal showers).
• Just remember when planning a bridal shower to consider this a family afternoon event and act accordingly. No strippers or Lingerie that could make anyone feel uncomfortable. Save those for the bachelorette party!

Questions? Feel free to Ask WeddingSavvy@gmail.com!

Bridal Shower Themes
Here are our idea's for a fun Bridal Shower:

• Tea Party

This is a nice choice especially if you have older Aunts and Grandmothers in the crowd. Many times this will be the first chance for the ladies of both families to meet and chat with one another. Have some tea, some pettifores and finger foods. Have cute Tea Theme invitations. You could even encourage the giving of tea's.

• Garden Party

This is exactly what is sounds like! if there is a nice Patio or garden setting available, then have it there. Purchase some living flowers to decorate and give them away as prizes if you are playing games. have your guests bring houseplants and gardening tools if the bride to be will be having her own garden!

• Months of the Year

In your invitations give each guest a month to give a corresponding gift! This way, they will have red and white dish towels for February, their first ornaments and decorations for Easter, Christmas and Halloween. Let your imagination go wild with this 'different' theme.

• Time of Day

Each guest is assigned a time of Day to give a gift corresponding! Lurch could be a gift certificate for a restaurant near her work. 5pm could give a gift certificate for a relaxing message! A Toaster or coffee pot could be given for the 6am hour!

• Wine Tasting

An excuse to get a little loopy? Maybe... have a wine aficionado come and share different wines and give advice on how to choose and distinguish wines. have some cheese and crackers, some jazz playing in the background..This is a nice idea for Co-ed Showers.

• A Gaming Party

Everyone brings a game they like for the couple. Of course you'll need to get some games together, fun bridal Shower games, and have a fun filled afternoon!

• Romantic Movie Theme

Everyone can bring their favorite romantic movie as a gift. You can decorate with famous lovers from the movies!

Links to Bridal Shower Planning Advice & Games

OurDreamWedding.com
A great resource for planning a shower! Who may host a shower?, Setting a date, Form a shower budget, Choose a theme, The shower invitations, Planning the shower menu, Decorations, table presentation and music, Shower Games, Shower favors, Time for opening gifts.

All About Showers is a fantastic place to find Bridal Shower Themes, information for the Hostess, games and decorations, worksheets and game instructions. A very useful and informative site we highly recommend you visit!

Evite has a great list of party theme idea's as well as guest tracker, budget planner, menu's and recipes and links to local vendors!

Bridal Shower Games A to Z

This website is fantastic. plenty of games and Suggestions to a successful Bridal Shower. Our readers give this site huge thumbs up!

Wedding Outlet
Fun Wedding Shower items listed by theme even.

Don't forget to have a faithful Bridesmaids help make the Ribbon Bouquet from the shower gifts she'll receive! that the Bride will use this on rehearsal night in lieu of her real bouquet!

Image from Holly's Plate,

Happy planning!
~w.s.