How to Throw a Bridal Shower

A Maid of Honor’s Guide to Hosting a Shower

May 5, 2009 Alison Bender

From gloomy old aunts to tacky games, bridal showers can be downright painful. Here are a few quick pointers to throwing a fun, successful shower.

The bridal shower falls under the maid of honor’s responsibilities. It can an elegant affair or a potluck lunch—the only thing that matters is that it suits the bride’s personality! Here are a few tips to make it easy and, more importantly, fun.

Guest List

The bride (or the bride’s mother, if the shower is a surprise) should provide a guest list. It shouldn’t include everyone attending the wedding, but family members, close members of the groom’s family and select friends and family friends. Not everyone who is invited to the wedding should attend the bridal shower, and certainly people who are not invited should never be invited to the shower. A recent trend is to have “couples showers,” where bride, groom and their friends and family are invited. The traditional shower, however, is all women, and dates to dowry-less brides were “showered” with gifts to appear as a better catch.

Invites

Bridal shower invites can run the gamut from expensive to Wal-Mart-bought to online e-vites. It is generally acceptable to put the places the bride registered (after all, a shower is all about opening gifts), but it’s preferable to put the bride’s wedding website, assuming it has a link to the registries.

Gifts

As the bride opens each gift, it’s the maid of honor’s responsibility to write down who gives the bride what. All ribbons should be collected and attached on a paper plate; the bride carries her “ribbon bouquet” during the wedding rehearsal.

Games

Let’s face it: Way too often, bridal shower games are incredibly lame. It there are a lot of old relatives in attendance, the relaxed, not too risqué games are probably a good idea. Even so, stretch beyond the bridal bingo with a few more appealing options.

• Scrapbook: Ask everyone to bring pictures of them with the bride, then arrange a scrapbook table—markers, sequins, tape and glue—so that each guest can make a page of well wishes for the bride on her union.
• Jewelry making: For the bride on a budget, get beads in her wedding colors, then have guests each craft their own earrings, necklace, bracelet. It’s a fun way to make sure all the bridesmaids match, without forcing anyone to spend a fortune!
• Spa Day: Stock up on face masks, foot scrubs, nail polish and, of course, champagne. If finances allow it, hire a massage therapist for the party as well, or check in with a Mary Kay representative for makeup trials and lessons.
• Never have I ever: This (traditionally drinking) game can get out of control real fast, so either keep it tame or only play with appropriate audiences. Guests take turns each stating something they have never done—every guest who has done that thing has to take a drink. For the grandmother-in-the-audience shower, questions might be something like “Never have I ever been to SeaWorld.” For the wilder crowd, questions may get a little racier. It’s a fun way to get to know the group.

The copyright of the article How to Throw a Bridal Shower in Wedding Planning is owned by Alison Bender. Permission to republish How to Throw a Bridal Shower in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

A sample bridal shower invite

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