Make a Bridal Shower Fun

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A bridal shower is traditionally planned by the maid or matron of honor leading up to the wedding day, although mothers, bridesmaids and other family members often get involved. The bridal shower is meant to be an enjoyable party where the bride is showered with love, well-wishes and gifts by the bride's best female friends and family. Mistakes are sometimes made in the planning process that can take the levity and enjoyment out of the event for the bride and the attendees. There are some bridal shower ideas that reduce stress to making planning more enjoyable and make the shower more entertaining and memorable. This article will tell you how to make a bridal shower fun.

Steps

Reducing Stress

  1. Speak to the bride before you begin planning. Traditionally, the bride is not involved with the shower, but if she is hard to please, it will be easier to talk through any worries or ideas she might have at the beginning of the process and avoid confrontations that could ruin the day.
  2. Decide if a couple's shower would be more fun. You can co-plan with the best man and reduce the formality of the event, leading to a more enjoyable time.
  3. Determine the budget for the shower to reduce any financial worries. Make sure that anyone who has a large say in what goes on at the shower, is also giving money toward its creation. Collect money in advance, if possible, to pay for reservations, catering or party favors.
  4. Do not schedule a shower that is more than 2 hours long. It is hard to keep a fun atmosphere for a long period of time.
  5. Invite the bride's closest friends and family. Make sure that everyone who is invited to the shower is also invited to the wedding. It can be a cause of resentment if people believe they are being solicited for gifts for a wedding that they won't be attending.
  6. Decorate early on the day of the event, so that you and the other helpers are not rushed. Set up the shower layout to encourage mingling between friends and family of the bride.
  7. Decide if there will be gifts. This is often a cause for worry. If the bride does not want gifts, be sure to say "No gifts" on the invitation. If the bride does want gifts, it is a good idea to create a theme around the gifts she most needs, like kitchen wares or lingerie.
    • The bride can also register for gifts, in which case you should include that information in the shower invitations.

Selecting a Fun Theme

  1. Determine a theme for the shower based on the bride's personality or lifestyle. Possible themes include a tea party, craft night, picnic, wine and cheese tasting, bowling event, dance class, cooking or canning party, a hike, spa day, in-home yoga class or tiki party. You can also theme your party around the type of gift the bride needs to receive. For example a kitchen, bar or entertainment shower.
  2. Pick a fun location. For most weddings, the traditional home or hotel restaurant reception may not fit the bride's preferences. Fun locations include the park, the beach, the library, a backyard barbecue, a gallery, a garden, mini-golf course, pool, museum, boat or sporting activity.

Choosing Enjoyable Entertainment

  1. Provide plenty of snacks. Guests will enjoy themselves more if there is something to munch on. If you decide to serve alcohol at the shower, the appetizers are even more important in making sure the shower doesn't get out of hand.
  2. Play background music to lighten the mood of the shower. Make a list of the bride's favorite songs or make a wedding playlist in the theme of the shower, like beach music.
    • A great wedding-themed playlist can include songs like "Chapel of Love" by the Dixie Cups, "White Wedding" by Billy Idol, "Let's Get Married" by the Proclaimers, "Band of Gold" by Freda Payne, "With this Ring" by the Platters, "Not Too Young To Get Married" by Bob E. Soxx and the The Blue Jeans, "Wedding Bells" by Hank Williams, "Hotel Yorba" by the White Stripes, "Forever in my Life" by Prince and "Love and Marriage" by Frank Sinatra.
  3. Choose an icebreaker for the beginning of the event, so that friends and family will get to know each other. Using the R.S.V.Ps that you received, make bridal shower bingo. Give everyone a card that has squares referring to people the bride knows, such as a colleague, childhood friend, sister or aunt. A guest gets a bingo if she meets people from different areas of her life and fills in the names of those people.
    • You can also do an icebreaker in the style of a scavenger hunt. Make a list of interesting facts and give it to the guests. They have to find who traveled to Mexico with the bride in 2000 or who gave her her first hair cut.
  4. Pick games that reflect the audience that will attend the shower. For example, do not play bawdy games with the bride's mother in attendance. Do not play games that make people talk about their relationship, if you have invited many single people.
    • If your bride does not seem like the type to enjoy indoor games, play croquet or bocce ball instead. This is a great idea if she is sporty.
    • Popular bridal shower games include making a wedding dress out of toilet paper for the bride or for each guest, playing trivia about the bride's life, write poetry or limericks.
    • Play purse bingo, where you get points for common items found in a purse, like a hairbrush, safety pin or pen. Each person allots themselves points according to what they have in their purse and the one with the highest score wins.
    • Make recipe cards and have each of the guests write down their idea of a recipe for a perfect relationship. Bind the cards together with pictures afterward and give them to the bride.
  5. Ask guests to sign a guestbook and include their favorite memory with the bride.

Related Articles

  • Throw a Wedding Shower
  • Organize Bridal Shower Games
  • Host a Theme Wedding Shower
  • Know Who to Include in a Wedding Shower

Sources and Citations

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