Bridal Shower
One of the fun things for the bride-to be as she prepares for her wedding is the bridal shower. Bridal showers are a great way to gather groups of friends or relatives together to help celebrate the upcoming event. Often, the maid of honor will host a shower for close friends with the other bridesmaids assisting her. In addition, a close relative, such as an aunt or cousin, may host a shower with relatives from both sides of the family as the main guest list. The location for the shower can range from extremely casual, such as in a living room or backyard, to the extravagance of a ballroom or conference room in an upscale hotel or reception center. Most bridal showers generally fall somewhere in-between these extremes.
A favorite restaurant, especially one with a private room, can be an excellent place to hold a bridal shower. If you go this route, be sure to reserve the space at least two months in advance. Other options might include a favorite park, using a picnic-theme or the beach if you live near the ocean. Both the beach theme and the picnic theme can be done at someone’s house and be just as much fun as going to the real thing. Since the shower is for the bride-to-be, the type of shower and the venue will be geared toward the kind of things she likes. Once you have decided on the venue and the date, you need to get the invitations out as soon as possible, so that people can put it on their schedules. Bridal showers are notorious for low-attendance, so invite plenty of guests and get an R.S.V.P. if possible, to minimize this problem.
Most showers include games to help keep things moving along. Many commercially produced games are available at bridal shops, in books, and online. If you plan games, you should have small prizes for the winners. If you plan an open-house type of shower, you don’t need as many games, but you might have those who drop in share some piece of advice or a recipe or such, perhaps dependant on the theme of the shower. This brings us to the gifts. Most of the time, shower gifts are for the new couple’s home and are based around the theme. Bridal showers can be lots of fun and really help the new couple get a good start on the things they need to make their new home together.
