Bridal Shower Survival Guide

Easy steps for a great shower.  Showering the bride with friendship & love is the purpose of a bridal shower. 

Who will plan: Typically, the host of the party is the bride’s maid. The bride’s maid and bride work the details together. If it is a surprise shower, then the bride’s family helps out.

Budget: The bride’s maid is traditionally responsible the expenses. The bride’s family often helps by providing the location and/or invitations. Determine how much the shower can cost.

Guest List: Organize your guest list by asking the bride and groom who they would like to have at the shower. Usually the bride and groom’s mother will have a list of who they would like to invite. Get address, phone numbers and email addresses. Decide if it will be a “girl’s only” shower or “couples”.

Invitations: Invitations  can range from the casual (a phone call) to the most formal (printed invitations). You decide what will work for your shower. Be sure to include all necessary information on the invitation.

Theme &  Decorations:While you may feel intimidated about choosing a theme, just consider the couple. If they have lived together, they may not need a kitchen shower, but the bride would love pretty lingerie. If they are moving right after the wedding, cash will allow them to choose what they need.

Selecting the menu:Although your menu should reflect your theme, the time of day is as important, as well as the number of guests. Do not try to outdo the last shower you attended. Make this a day of relaxation for the bride, her guests, and yourself. Consider the amount of time and room available for the shower, as well as any special dietary needs of the bride and her guests.

Location:Choose a location that is easy to get to and will accommodate the needs of the party. If you are planning a theme, consider matching the location. Have an idea of how many people you expect before arranging any final details.

Select the date:The bridal shower is normally around eight weeks before the wedding. Showers are held on weekends and during the week. Try to make the time and day convenient for everyone including any out-of-town guests.
Folklore:”marry in July…”

Selecting the time:If most of the guests attending the shower work, then an evening or weekend shower will probably work best. Consider a weeknight for a change of pace. This will give everyone a night out, rather than a weekend day away from their spouses or boyfriends. If the weekend is the only time that will work for you, try to plan your shower early enough in the day for all who must travel to attend.

Games:Every fun bridal shower includes at least one game. And don’t forget the prize!

Entertainment:Make sure as guests arrive, they are introduced to one another. One way to break the ice is to provide name tags with a small note, such as, “I attended grammar school with Susie”. This is a sure way to start conversations. Make sure to offer your guests liquid refreshments and whatever else you have provided. Set the mood with lighted candles, flowers, and decorations. You want your guests to enjoy the day (or evening) as much as the guest of honor.

source: http://www.bridalshower.com/planning/quicktips.html

Bridal Shower Games

The Purse Game: Have someone call out the names of items that could be found in a woman’s purse (i.e. mirror, lip gloss, nail file, cheque book, red lipstick etc.).  Use some common every day items and some uncommon items.  Whoever takes the item to the announcer first wins a prize.

Wedding Charades: Have each guest come up with a song or movie related to weddings and write them down on a piece of paper. All of the entries will go into a bowl and guests will be divided into two teams. The host will then pick a piece of paper out of the bowl and let one member from each team read it. These two guests will then have to act out the song or movie title to their team and the team that guesses the correct answer first gets a point (The host will keep track of the points). The game will continue until all of the entries have been acted out. At the end of the game, the team with the highest amount of correct answers wins a prize!

Who/What am I?:  Have a theme.  For example for a  black and white theme, use old movie stars, but this game is very versatile so you could use kitchen appliances etc. and fit it to your theme. For the game you print out a picture of the person/object and the name and pin it to your guests back. Then they have to mingle and ask questions to try and guess who/what they are. Its a great game to get people mingling and talking especially if they do not know each other its a great ice breaker.

Bridal Shower

A bridal shower is a gift giving party given for a bride before her wedding.  The custom of the bridal shower is said to have grown out of earlier dowry practices when a poor woman’s family might not have the money to provide a dowry for her, or when a father refused to give his daughter her dowry because he did not approve of the marriage. In such situations, friends of the woman would gather together and bring gifts that would compensate for the dowry and allow her to marry the man of her choice.

Showers are usually coordinated by the bridesmaids, who invite guests to offer gifts for the home of the bride and groom. Traditionally, hosting the bridal shower falls on the Maid of honor. Because gifts are required of those who attend the shower, some communities consider it rude for a relative of the bride to host it, but relative-hosted showers are a common and accepted occurrence in other communities. The shower normally takes place four to six weeks before the wedding.

The number of guests and their relationship to the bride varies widely. In Canada among some immigrant communities parties in community halls with upwards of 300 guests were normal, while other cultures emphasized intimate parties with only close friends and relatives.

Many different customs have developed in different regions and social groups. But the basic format has been relatively unchanged for generations, and emphasizes traditional gender roles. Sociologists like Beth Montemurro note that the ritual of the bridal shower “socializes women into the hyper-feminized traditional wife role”, with its emphasis on the future role of the bride-to-be as family cook, homemaker and sexual partner. But this role is more of a homage to the mothers and grandmothers than a reflection of how the bride-to-be will actually behave in the marriage.