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All You Need To Know About Bridal Showers
Weddings are a fun time to celebrate the marriage of two
people. The wedding in and of itself is usually a great party with the bride
and groom along with their friends and family. Before the actual wedding, there
are most often other parties and celebration to attend and hold, such as a
bridal shower.
A bridal shower is not a bachelorette party—it is a wedding
shower for the bride which traditionally “showers” the bride with necessities
she will need for when she is married. The bridal shower celebrates the
upcoming marriage and helps to “prepare” the bride to be married. At most
bridal showers there is food, presents, games and decorations, and most
importantly, women having a lot of fun.
Planning a bridal shower can be a daunting task, but is
really relatively simple. In most cases, the matron of honor is responsible to
hold the bridal shower. It’s always a good idea for the matron of honor to
discuss the bridal shower, and seek help from, the other bride’s maids, the
bride’s mother and in some cases, even the bride herself. A bridal shower is
usually held four weeks prior to the wedding date. Every culture and family has
their own customs and traditions for bridal showers; so really, it’s up to you
how to go about the bridal shower.
It’s best to plan a bridal shower for a weekend, the best
day seems to be a Saturday and usually in the mid-afternoon. There’s a lot to
be done in preparation for the bridal shower, so it’s best to get a jump start
on the planning. You will need a theme, a guest list, invitations to be sent
out a month prior to the shower, a location, food, decorations, games and party
favors. Even if you are planning a small bridal shower, there is still a lot of
preparing to do before hand.
Choosing a theme for a bridal shower can be a big task, if
you even want a theme. If you do opt for a themed bridal shower, it allows you
to be really creative in terms of food, decorations, location and invitations.
If there is a theme for the wedding, you’ll likely want to stick with that
theme.
There are a lot of themes to choose from and the best way to
narrow down the field is to consider the bride herself—what does she like, what
are her hobbies? If that doesn’t help, look to the season that the wedding is
being held in. For example, a spring wedding could translate to a garden shower
party. If you don’t want to back yourself into a corner, stick with a color
theme. You could even just have a “high tea party” or a dessert party. The
choices are endless.
Invitations are important and its best to start on these
early. You will need to create a guest list, and then get them addressed and
sent out to the appropriate people. It can be a tedious task that requires a
lot of detail. For the most part, the bridal shower is only for women; however
modern day brides and bridal showers have couples attend, both men and women.
So, who should you invite? You need to ensure that you’ve invited the entire
bridal party, the female family members of the bride and groom, and female
friends who are close to the bride and groom. You can choose any type of
invitation you want, and if you have a theme, stick to the theme and let the
guests know that the bridal shower will be themed. Depending on the size of the
bridal shower, you may be able to draw the invitations up by hand or you can
have them sent out to be done. You should send the invitations between four and
six weeks in advance to allow those invited plenty of time to RSVP for the
engagement and to make room in their calendars to attend.
The location of the bridal shower can be pretty much
anywhere, smaller ones may even be held in the home or yard of the matron of
honor. However, if you have a large guest list, you will need to find alternate
arrangements for location. For larger bridal showers, consider a hall or
banquet facility. Another consideration can be a party room at a local
restaurant.
If you plan to decorate for the bridal shower, stick to the
theme or color palette you have created. Allow the location of the bridal
shower to help you with the decorations. The decorations need not be elaborate,
but rather simple and pretty. Tables with table cloths, matching chairs,
plates, napkins and such make a nice touch. If you are holding your bridal
shower in a banquet hall, many provide decorations in a variety of colors,
which helps with the decorating conundrum.
Games are always fun to include in the bridal shower. They are a great way to
relieve some stress for the bride, which is common before the big day and it
also allows her friends and family to have some fun.
There are many different bridal shower games to choose from,
so it can be hard to choose which one to have—again, look to your theme if all
else fails. You should have an idea of how many games you want to play through
the bridal shower—usually three games is the golden number. When you are considering
games for the bridal shower, take into consideration the theme of the shower
and, of course, your guest list. For larger bridal showers, you can do a “decorate
a bride with toilet paper”, and for smaller bridal showers, stick to games
where people answer questions about the bride.
You can also include party favors at the bridal shower and
once again, you allow in many choices. Depending on your budget, you can have
some specially made or the matron of honor can hand make them with the bridal
party. Specially ordered candy bars can be ordered with the wedding information
printed on it can be ordered, or for a more meager expense, you can wrap mints
in tulle and tie them with a ribbon, keeping with the theme. There are a lot of
ideas for bridal shower favors, look to your creativity and find one that works
well for you. Some other ideas you could use are: scented candles, plants,
seeds, mints, candies, matches and more.
Now, what do you take to a bridal shower for a gift?
Remember, the purpose of a bridal shower is to shower the bride with gifts that
she will use to make a home for her and her husband. While this may seem
old-fashioned, even in modern day society it makes sense. For the couples who
are young and just starting out together, there will be a lot of things that
they don’t have. Traditional gifts for a bridal shower are small appliances,
dishware and bedding. The bride and groom will likely register at a retailer or
two to make it easier for people to buy gifts and to help the number of
duplicate gifts they are given. If you can’t find a gift, consider a gift card
to the place they are registered at so they can choose a gift that they will
like, enjoy and make use of.
Hosting and attending a bridal shower is a lot of fun—so try
to keep it that way. There’s a lot of stress put on the wedding itself, but the
bridal shower is one of the best parts for the bride—make sure she enjoys her
day.
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