A little lost when it comes to planning bridal showers? The first thing to do is to get the girls (bride, bride’s closest female relatives and/or friends) and have a brainstorming session. Settle all the details–date, venue, theme (if any), invitees. And then…

Three months or more before the bridal shower

• Create a tentative guest list and have it finalized by the bride. Ask for their contact details (complete name, email, contact numbers, address).
• Share your ideas about how to incorporate the theme through decor, food, invitations and whatnot into the bridal shower. Make sure to get the “feel” the bride wants to achieve for her shower.

Two months before the bridal shower

• Contact invitees farthest from the venue, so they could make travel arrangements.
• Send Save the Dates to people by email, if you wish; make personal or phone calls on the more important or hard-to-find guests.
• If you’re making the invitations yourself, start getting the supplies.
• Double-check the contact details; update them if some have moved or changed numbers.
• Have the venue reserved on the chosen date. Ask if they have specific rules about decor, outside suppliers, and other details.

One month before

• Have the invitations finalized and printed. Mail the bridal shower invites.
• Buy and/or make the shower favors.
• Remind other people involved of their expected contributions.

Two weeks before

• Prepare your outfit and your gift for the bride.
• Check if there are still any purchases left to make, make a list and get them.
• Follow up on the RSVPs.

One week before

• Confirm venue reservation, supplier’s deliveries, and final guest head count.
• Assemble and wrap bridal shower favors and game prizes.
• Finalize layout of the venue.
• Check in with other people you’ve delegated bridal shower tasks to.

One day before

• Check with suppliers, reminding them of the event and their products/services promised.
• Call the girls and ask them to come early the next day to help  you prep.

Bridal Shower Day

• Arrive at the venue ahead of time and set up everything needed.
• Welcome the guests warmly.
• Have fun!

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Yes, there is such a thing as bridal shower etiquette. Whether you’re planning to hold  a lavish event, or just a small get-together with home-cooked food, it’s always nice to make sure you don’t unintentionally step on any toes. If you follow the advice below, you’ll be sure to offend no one and create a happy, friendly atmosphere not just for the bridal shower or wedding shower, but for the wedding itself, too.

DO:

• Clarify who will throw the shower. Usually it’s the Maid of Honor, but if she’s not capable and/or available to do so, other members of the wedding entourage, or any other of the bride’s friends should step in.
• Invitations are traditionally sent by post, but other methods are increasingly becoming accepted too.
• Check with the bride to see if all the people she wants to be there, will be there; and all those she doesn’t, won’t.
• Involve the groom–ask him to drop by if he can. It’s a nice bridal shower tradition that not everyone is aware of.
• If you’re having a destination wedding (and thus can invite only a small group of people), invite those who won’t be able to make it to the shower so they can still take part of your wedding celebration somehow.

DON’T:

• Host the shower if you’re the bride’s relative (unless there really is no one else who can do it). When a relative of the bride hosts the shower, guests may see it as a tacky and inappropriate move–it may seem like the bridal shower is hosted primarily so the bride could get presents.
• Send the invitations too late. Send them at least a month before the event.
• Send out the invitations without running it, and the guest list, by the bride first.
• Forget all about the groom. If he can’t make it to the shower, make his presence felt with special touches, like a photograph of the couple thrown in with the decor.
• Invite people to the shower if they’re not invited to the wedding, if the wedding involves a large number of people.

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Does the bride-to-be love travelling? Or is the couple holding a destination wedding? Hold a travel-themed shower for the bride, featuring a place where she has always dreamed of going. Here are some cute elements of travel that you can incorporate in the bridal shower:

Passport

Passports are the ultimate symbol (and primary requirement) for international travel. Passport invitations are pretty easy to make. Plus, they can also double as a little notebook favor for the guests.

Postcard

Postcards combine foreign excitement with vintage charm. These babies can serve as a literally mailed invitation. They can also be a quaint (and cheap) part of the decorations–they look great both on walls or on tables. The guestbook can also have some visual highlights, using postcards as the main feature.

Map

Yes, you should include a map to the bridal shower venue (specially if it’s at a remote location). But you can also use new or used maps to decorate– hang some on the walls, or use them to wrap favors, gifts, and even centerpieces. You can also use it for games–ask everyone to place a pin on where they first met the bride, or pin a world map to a cork board and ask guests to mark the places where they want the couple to visit.

Foreign Language

Use foreign language for popular words like welcome, thank you, kiss, or love. Use them on invitations, banners, or even in games.

Luggage Tag

Luggage tags–not just for identifying luggage! Use cards shaped like luggage tags for escort cards, table numbers, or gift tags. Or put quirky trivia about the soon-to-be wed couple on luggage tag-shaped cards, and leave them at random places in the shower venue for the guests to find.

Gifts

If people ask  what gifts the bride would want, tell them to get travel essentials like luggage, travel kits, and other useful stuff. And then, watch the bride’s face glow with happiness as she unwraps each gift!

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Since guests at bridal showers will mostly be of the female population, why not go all girly on special touches? This is the bride’s special day, where people she loves gather to wish her well on her upcoming wedding. She can choose to go all-out on feminine touches, unlike for wedding preparations where she has to consider his groom’s, friends’ and family’s needs. Here ar ea few ideas:

Bridal Shower Invitations

Bring out the bows, polka dots, flowers, and rhinestones! Incorporate these girly images either in print, or as 3D embellishments. Use Barbie pink (for literal girliness), or ultra soft pastel hues, or even bridal white.

Bridal Shower Themes

The bridal shower theme works best if it involves something the bride has always loved, and connected with her ideal of love and marriage. Go ahead and have that whimsical fairy tale theme for the daydreaming bookworm of a bride. Have a cooking-themed shower for the domestic goddess. Or maybe high tea for the always-poised bride-to-be. For those girly girls who can’ get enough of prettifying themselves, have a beauty-themed shower.

Bridal Shower Activities

Ask the guests to relive their favorite moments with the bride. For the crafty bride, set up a scrapbook station and ask guests to bring a small item connected with their favorite moment with the bride (ticket stubs, candy wrappers, photos). Or set up a jewelry-making station and have someone share simple ways on making their own accessories. Borrow elements from a pajama party and hold a truth or dare game, or get them to share their favorite beauty products. Have them style the bride, or have them share their favorite look for the bride.

Bridal Shower Favors

Girls like sparkly, pretty things. Go ahead and give them bling! Dolls never get too old for girly girls, too. Another great idea is giving away sweets–you’ll never go wrong with it.

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Bridal shower favors are given to guests as a way of showing appreciation for their attendance at the party. Favors also serve as their remembrance of the special event. Choosing a bridal shower favor can be difficult so here are a few simple tips to follow:

• Keep it simple, especially if you are trying to stay within the budget. Giveaways as simple as personalized mugs will do. Or personalized keychains. They are inexpensive yet useful.
• Consider girly bridal shower favors. Since the guests are all female, a set of feminine products is a great idea. Give each guest a small beauty bag filled with lip gloss, nail polish, small colognes, eye shadow and other makeup essentials. To get more value for your money, buy sample-sized make up pieces in bulk.
• Do-it-yourself bridal shower favors. Handmade crafts, such as champagne glass gel candles, are popular shower favors. And so are baked goodies. You may also consider preparing a CD compilation of the bride’s favorite songs placed inside a personalized case with liner notes thanking the guests. Do-it-yourself bridal shower favors are a great way to make the guests feel special for participating in the celebration.
• Be naughty. Give the event a little fun twist by giving away some racy lingerie to the guests. You could even push the envelope a little further by adapting a lingerie-themed bridal shower party. Just make sure that everyone is comfortable with the theme.

Selecting your bridal shower favors shouldn’t be as hard as planning your wedding. Follow these simple steps to help you get the best favors for your guests.

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Hosting a bridal shower party requires shelling out some cash. But with careful planning and creativity, you can set up a memorable shower party without spending too much money. After all, it’s the thought that counts, not the cost. Here are some tips to help you host a bridal shower on a budget.

• Set the date and plan ahead.
  • About 2 months in advance, just enough to give you time to prepare and consider various options.
  • Booking a caterer or a venue several weeks ahead could get you a significant discount.
• Create a budget.
  • This will help you have an idea on the total amount you can spend.
  • Sit down with some friends involved in the planning and start laying down the budget.
  • Items you need to budget for:
    • the food
    • entertainment
    • décor and gifts.
• Ask for help from the bride’s friends and family.
  • Help could be in the form of extra cash or sponsorship for certain items needed for the party, such as the cake and decors.  For instance, you could ask the bride’s family if you could use their house as the venue.
• Improvise with the décor.
  • Buy raw materials and make the décor with the help of some friends. Or you could just borrow the items from anyone you know.

A bridal shower doesn’t have to costly to be special. With a little practicality and some helping hands, you can honor the bride-to-be with a fantastic shower she’ll treasure for the rest of her life.

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Throwing a bridal shower party for a friend who’s getting married? Make the shower party more fun and exciting by giving it a theme. If you find it hard to come up with a theme, consider the following suggestions:

Follow the couple’s wedding theme.

Is it going to be a garden wedding? A beach wedding maybe? You can make the bridal shower theme consistent with the theme of the wedding. Or if you prefer, you can just make use of the wedding’s color scheme.

Use the bride’s hobbies and pastimes as inspiration.

Incorporating the bride’s interests will make the shower party more special for her. So, let’s say the bride is a history and trivia buff, you may choose to decorate the venue with historical artifacts you can buy from bookstores and specialty shops. Then set up a trivia game for everyone to enjoy! But don’t stop with the décor and game. Order a cake designed to match the theme. The menu should also be consistent with the chosen theme.

Just pamper the bride, since it’s her last days of being single.

This is the perfect time to spoil the bride (and her guests as well) with spa treatments. Either hold the shower party at an actual spa or in someone’s house since there are spa treatments that can be done at home, such as massages, foot baths and cucumber eye patch.

The bridal shower party is your chance to give the bride the time of her life. Host it well with a theme and ensure that your friend will have a great time celebrating her remaining moments of singlehood amongst girlfriends.

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The bridal shower cake completes a bridal shower party. It serves as the highlight of the shower party, pretty much how the wedding cake is to the wedding reception. Of course, since the party is all about the bride, it only makes sense to pick the type and design of cake that references her interests. Below are some suggestions on how to pick the bridal shower cake the bride will surely love:

Bride’s favorite cake

Ask the bride what she likes. It’s better if she gives more than one choice. If you are not able to ask the bride and the day of the shower party is getting near, choose something with chocolate.

Bride’s favorite hobbies or sports

You could choose a cake design that reflects the bride’s favorites. Is she a shopaholic bride? Then choose a cake custom-designed with shoes, clothes and cute accessories made from edible gum paste. Does she love to experiment in the kitchen, cooking new dishes? A cake with a chef topper or gum paste kitchen would be a great idea.

Bridal shower theme

If all else fail, the “safest” route in choosing a bridal shower cake is to match it with the bridal shower theme. If the bridal shower has a princess theme, then you might want to order a cake inspired by the Disney princesses. Naughty and nice theme? Then have a cake made with scantily clad men as décor. Although try not to offend anyone by going overboard with the naughty design.

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Can’t decide on what gift to bring to a bridal shower? If you are having a hard time coming up with a unique bridal shower gift, then try thinking of a theme and make a gift basket based on it. A gift basket is an inexpensive present you can easily make yourself. To give you some ideas, here are some bridal shower gift baskets you may consider making:

Kitchen Spices Gift Basket

A cute gift for a bride-to-be who loves to cook, a kitchen spices basket will let her stock her kitchen with common spicy ingredients. Just line the basket with cloth and then inside, arrange several high quality spices such as ground pepper, salt, basil and garlic.

Not For a Cook Gift Basket

Quite the opposite of the above basket idea, the recipient for this one is the I-don’t-cook-I-prefer-to-microwave type of bride. Stack your basket full of microwaveable dishes plus a microwave cookbook, and several types of microwave-friendly bowls and covers.

Personal Care Gift Basket

Let the bride-to-be pamper herself with manicure and pedicure sets, foot cream, hand cream, body lotion, bubble baths, votive candles, and eye mask. You may also throw in a bath pillow and soothing music CD for good measure. Try to include a spa gift certificate, if there’s still room in your budget.

After arranging the items inside the basket, put some tissue paper to serve as fillers. Then wrap the basket up in cellophane or use some curling ribbon for the finishing touches.

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Throwing a bridal shower party for your friend? Do not limit yourself with the same old bridal shower theme, like an afternoon tea party or a casual female-only get-together. Honor the bride with something a little different. You can make the shower party memorable by thinking outside the box and trying out any of these ideas.

Back to School Theme

Bring back your old school days by having everyone dress in school uniforms. You may decorate the place to look like a small classroom and serve food and drinks in trays or lunchboxes. Then play a mini-quiz bee using questions that are related to the bride and groom. Don’t forget to prepare several personalized pencils or notebooks as favors.

Pirate-themed Shower

If the bride is a fan of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, then this theme is perfect. (However, if she haven’t seen any of the films, just make sure she’ll enjoy this.) Set up typical pirate decorations, like a big chest filled with beads and faux coins at the entrance (guests may deposit their bridal gifts inside the chest). You may prepare some pirate-themed games, such as mini-treasure hunts. Chocolate coins in gold and silver foil presented in small treasure chest boxes are great ideas for favors.

Pajama Party Theme

Have a girl’s night in, complete with pajamas. Ask everyone to be in their pajamas and spend the night with pampering activities such as manicures, pedicures and massages. The decorations may be simple (balloons, streamers, ribbons, etc.). For favor ideas, try a bottle of perfume or cute trinket boxes.

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